Should I try to tune my piano myself?

rexter

I'd love to get my piano in tune this year to record some stuff with it.

We looked for a piano tuner a while ago and gave up.

Should I just watch some Youtube videos and DIY? Any major pitfalls? Will I be decapitated by a snapping piano string?

TheMarlin

I image it’s like tuning a 50 string guitar with a floating Floyd Rose. 

Could be frustrating, but if you're blessed with patience and a calm personality, go for it. 

I get very sweary soldering small fiddly things, or delicate things (given this fists of ham and fingers of butter).  But even I would have a crack at it. 

Sporky

Definitely yes, and then record playing something on it. 

WezV

TheMarlin said:

I image it’s like tuning a 230 string guitar with a floating Floyd Rose. 

FTFY

WezV

But yes, it can be done, but probably won't be perfect on your first go and you may end up permanently tweaking it for a couple of years

My Granddad showed me when I was a teenager.  He did piano repairs as a career whilst his blind brother did most of the tuning.  At that time it was one of the only jobs they taught at school for the blind

rexter

Hmm... these responses make me think I'm underplaying the complexity of it in my mind!

Good points on how many strings ctually need to be tuned.

It's only really out on the lower register. Maybe I'll try one string and see how that goes...

BillDL

Have you first tried tweaking the truss rod? 

VimFuego

rexter said:

Hmm... these responses make me think I'm underplaying the complexity of it in my mind!

Good points on how many strings ctually need to be tuned.

It's only really out on the lower register. Maybe I'll try one string and see how that goes...

as I understand it, the issue (and skill) isn't tuning one string, it's making sure all the other strings are correctly tuned to each other.

rexter

BillDL said:

Have you first tried tweaking the truss rod? 

If it hadn't been passed down through the family I'd have my eyes on the 'old growth mahogany' to make some guitar necks with! 

rexter

VimFuego said:

rexter said:

Hmm... these responses make me think I'm underplaying the complexity of it in my mind!

Good points on how many strings ctually need to be tuned.

It's only really out on the lower register. Maybe I'll try one string and see how that goes...

as I understand it, the issue (and skill) isn't tuning one string, it's making sure all the other strings are correctly tuned to each other.

I can see that, a lot like adjusting each string after tuning one on a guitar, but ad nauseum...

blobb

WezV said:

But yes, it can be done, but probably won't be perfect on your first go and you may end up permanently tweaking it for a couple of years

My Granddad showed me when I was a teenager.  He did piano repairs as a career whilst his blind brother did most of the tuning.  At that time it was one of the only jobs they taught at school for the blind

There's a very popular misconception about blind people being piano tuners. Lot's of people think that because you don't have one sense fully functional, the other senses become 'enhanced' in some way to compensate. This leads to the assumption that blind people develop amazing hearing, smell, taste or touch. 

They don't.

As you rightly point out. The reason why you see blind piano tuners is simply because it was the only thing they taught at the school for the blind!

EricTheWeary

WezV said:

But yes, it can be done, but probably won't be perfect on your first go and you may end up permanently tweaking it for a couple of years

My Granddad showed me when I was a teenager.  He did piano repairs as a career whilst his blind brother did most of the tuning.  At that time it was one of the only jobs they taught at school for the blind

We had an upright piano (my mother could play quite a lot from The Methodist Hymnbook) and ever so often we would have the blind piano tuner visit with his wife. It's a peculiarly old fashioned notion that seems to belong to an era of sending children up chimneys but it was the only way to get it done then (I think). I'm sure that artists like Elton John would have a piano tuner as part of their touring entourage as if you start moving pianos around they tend to go out of tune. 

BillDL

rexter

Yep this one has moved all over the country since the 1950s I believe, Liverpool, Northumberland, Birmingham, Wales, London, now Norfolk! 

And I don’t think it’s been tuned for at least 30 years. It was actually pretty good until the last move from London to here.

rexter

Think I’m going to restart the search for a local professional 

rexter

BillDL said:

The two guys with a white van who moved it from London to my house here may have watched this as a training video

thecolourbox

I looked into doing it (very briefly) when I was evaluating possible career changes, as I thought it would make a good thing to be able to do alongside my piano playing and other related things to have a repertoire of services.

But I'm sure I remember that it took like 3 years of apprentice style training and experience before you properly mastered it and could trade as a trained piano tuner. I didn't have three years to spare so I gave up on that idea pretty quickly.

I'm not sure I'd piss about with mine too much but I suppose it depends how good you are with practical things and how much you care about the instrument itself.

The piano tuner I call on isn't blind, for what it's worth. I think he charged me about £80 which isn't that much more than a guitar set up and there are a lot more strings and mechanics on my piano than the average guitar!

WezV

VimFuego said:

rexter said:

Hmm... these responses make me think I'm underplaying the complexity of it in my mind!

Good points on how many strings ctually need to be tuned.

It's only really out on the lower register. Maybe I'll try one string and see how that goes...

as I understand it, the issue (and skill) isn't tuning one string, it's making sure all the other strings are correctly tuned to each other.

it is exactly this,  but coupled with the difficulty of dealing with high tension on friction tuning pins.  it's not just correctly tuning to each other, but making sure they stay that way through the rest of the process and beyond

It's also common for the pin block to be worn on older pianos so they can struggle to hold full tension on one or more strings.    Sometimes you can just tune down a bit to resolve this.  Sometimes it needs a pin block repair/replacement

merlin

Definitely go pro. To do it yourself will require specific tools and materials if it needs any re-leathering, re-felting etc. Plus you'll need to fully understand how a piano is tempered, which is seriously different to anything else. 

Sporky

Also don't you have to do some weird tuning on pianos? Top notes a bit sharp, low notes a bit flat or something? 

rexter

I'm glad I sounded this out on here, I have enough half finished DIY and guitar projects at the moment without adding a destroyed piano to the list too!