In yesterday’s blog I discussed piano tuning, today I thought I might touch on regulating a piano.
Generally speaking, regulation has little to do with the tone of the piano but, more to do with the way the piano feels while you are playing it. Each part of the piano is made of wood and wool/felt with some metal parts. On occasion the metal part needs small amounts of dry lubricant which can be applied by a technician only to help the parts move more freely.
At PianoSD.com we employ Accutone Piano Service, Paul McCloud who is a certified technician and can do this type of procedure where he takes each of the 88 keys and weighs them to be sure the down weight (the amount of weight it takes to push the piano key) is correct. He also measures the up weight (the velocity the key returns to its correct position) and makes adjustments where necessary. This can be a very tedious process because the piano technician has to insure that each piece of the piano is free to move. Dry lubricant has to be applied at the right pivot points in order to obtain the maximum benefits for the piano.
As I said in my opening that regulation will not change the tone of the piano although it may appear to if you had a completely unregulated piano to start with and the technician brings it back to its proper regulation. Paul McCloud of Accutone Piano Service here in Mission Valley at PianoSD.com will take each key individually and begin the process of being sure that each key not only weighs the right weight but, also the keys are free to move up and down and the hammers are free to move and play.
A proper regulation should take a couple of days 8-12 hours to complete if it is in really bad condition but after that the piano will most likely fell better than the day it was delivered to your home. It will feel much more balanced and almost alive. You can reach Paul McCloud of Accutone Piano Tuning at www.pianoservsd.com.
If you have questions regarding piano regulation I would be glad to help you.
Stop by sometime we would love to meet you
Ric Overton
