Piano Tuning in McDonough, GA

The Georgia Piano Tuner is tuning pianos in McDonough, GA today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned!

100 Year Old Glue Let's Go of an Upright Jack Flange

I tuned an old Cable upright piano in Loganville, GA today that had a broken glue joint on one jack flange.  There are 88 jacks in every piano, that's right, one for every key.  The jack is what pushes the hammer up to strike the string when your finger pushes down a key.  The jack flange attaches the jack to a lever called the wippen.  It is very common in what I call "Big Ol' Uprights" for the glue joint that holds the jack to the wippen to fail, especially if the piano has been victim to an assault by a young child who has pounded the keys too hard.  When the jack flange, glue joint fails the jack is no longer able to push the hammer up to hit the string which results in a dead note.  Most of the time, with some long surgical tweezers, a long flat head screwdriver and some wood glue, I can carefully work some fresh glue up under the broken glue joint and then set the jack flange assembly back into it's correct position.  And if I'm lucky, which I was today, the glue has dried enough that the note can be played by the time I reach that note during the tuning process.  There are times when I have had to remove the entire action and take the jack flange assembly off the action rail to reglue and reposition the jack correctly.

The Georgia Piano Tuner tuned pianos in Loganville and Conyers today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned!

The Georgia Piano Tuner is tuning pianos in Monroe today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned!

Piano Tuning in Covington, GA 770-787-4890

Covington, GA is a small town that has a lot going for it.  Located about 35 miles east of Atlanta, Covington/Newton County is home to beautiful antebellum homes, a quaint town square and a very active Arts Association.   It is also rapidly becoming known as “The Hollywood of the South” due to the many movies and TV shows that have been filmed in this area (The Odd Life of Timothy Green, The Vampire Diaries, In the Heat of the Night, The Dukes of Hazzard, Madea’s Family Reunion, etc.).

The Arts Association in Newton County offers programming such as Covington Regional Ballet, Creative Kids Camp, Newton County Community Band, Oxford Singing Children, Oxford Youth Singers, Musical Theater Camp, Time Flies Young Adult Choir and True Colors Youth Art Exhibit.  This organization also sponsors Concerts on the Square and the Summer Concert Series.

Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to claim Newton County, GA as home and counts Covington as part of our local service area.   Also, owner Richard Bazemore is the only Registered Piano Technician that both resides in and services this area.  This means that pianos located in Newton County can benefit from the expertise associated with a Piano Technicians Guild RPT as well as having access to our best rates for all of our services!

Piano Tuning in Lake Oconee, GA 770-787-4890

Lake Oconee is the newest Georgia Power reservoir in the state of Georgia and is located just above Lake Sinclair in between the cities of Eatonton and Greensboro.  It is one of Georgia’s largest lakes and finds itself spread out in the four counties of Putnam, Green, Morgan and Hancock.

There are at least five upscale, gated golf communities distributed around Lake Oconee’s shoreline: Reynold’s Plantation, Reynold’s Landing (formerly Port Armor), Harbor Club, Cuscowilla and Great Waters.  In addition to the above, there is also Water’s Edge, an equestrian community and the newly created Del Webb at Lake Oconee community for adults age 55+.  And if you’re considering a shorter term visit, the Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation offers award winning, luxury accommodations that will please even the most discriminating guests.

OPAS (Oconee Performing Arts Society) was formed in 2007 and claims as its mission: “to entertain, enrich and educate our diverse regional community by presenting high quality performing arts.”  Past OPAS performances include Amahl and the Night Visitors, Phil Driscoll, John Lithgow, Raul Esparza, Crystal Gayle, Michael Feinstein, Jeffrey Wells and Ricky Skaggs.

Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to offer the entire Lake Oconee area competent and comprehensive piano tuning, maintenance and repair services.  We are located just a short drive west down I-20 and usually frequent this area several times each month.  Also, owner Richard Bazemore, RPT, is one of the very few piano tuners servicing this area that can claim to have earned the title “Registered Piano Technician” with the Piano Technicians Guild.  Our clientele in this locale includes The Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Lake Oconee, OPAS, several local churches and many residences.

Piano Tuning in Conyers, GA 770-787-4890

Conyers, GA is the only city that lies within the confines of Rockdale County.  The name “Rockdale County” was inspired by the granite strata that lie underneath the soil throughout this area.  Rumor has it that Conyers was spared burning during Sherman’s famous March To the Sea thanks to a friend of Sherman’s who lived in the area, but who’s exact whereabouts was unknown.  Therefore, Sherman supposedly prohibited his troops from burning the town so that his friend’s home would remain intact.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit was founded in 1944 by 21 Trappist monks from Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky.   It is now home to 36 monks who have dedicated themselves to a life of prayer and contemplation.  The Monastery is located in southeast Rockdale County on GA Highway 212.

The Georgia International Horse Park opened in 1995 and hosted all equestrian events for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.  Annual events at GIHP include Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival, Fabulous Fourth and Big Haynes Creek Wildlife Festival.

The Fine Arts in Rockdale County are promoted and supported by Conyers-Rockdale Council for the Arts who’s programming includes a Theater Series, a Music Series as well as family and children events such as Summer Drama Camp, ArtSmart and Preschool Pops.

One of the highest musical expressions of the Fine Arts in this area is voiced by the Covington/Conyers Choral Guild.  The CCCG, founded in 1982, is comprised of approximately 70 local singers and is conducted by Mr. Roger Waters.  Bi-annual concerts are performed in both Rockdale and Newton Counties.  Rehearsals are conducted weekly in the Rockdale Auditorium.

Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to offer the Conyers & Rockdale County area competent and comprehensive piano tuning, maintenance and repair services.  We are located in adjacent Newton County and usually frequent this area several times each month.  Also, owner Richard Bazemore, RPT, is one of the very few piano tuners servicing this area that can claim to have earned the title “Registered Piano Technician” with the Piano Technicians Guild.  Our clientele in this locale includes the Covington/Conyers Choral Guild, the Rockdale Auditorium, Conyers Presbyterian Church, Smyrna Campground and Presbyterian Church, Heritage Hills Baptist Church, the piano studio of Mary Jackson, Remington House as well as many other churches, schools and residences.

Piano Tuning in Madison, GA 770-787-4890

Madison, GA has earned the titles “Prettiest Small Town in America” (Holiday Travel Magazine) and #1 Small Town in America (Travel Holiday Magazine).  Named after President James Madison, it is also rumored to have been spared burning by Sherman on his infamous March to the Sea because of its inherent beauty.  It is more likely; however, that the true reason Sherman did not burn Madison was due to his ties to the Union supporter, Senator Joshua Hill, whose residence was located in this most scenic Georgia town.
Madison is the county seat of Morgan County, which also is home to Apalachee, Bostwick, Buckhead, Godfrey and Rutledge.  Hard Labor Creek State Park, one of Georgia’s largest state parks, is located here as well.  Morgan County is one of four counties that can lay partial claim to being home to Lake Oconee, a 19,000 acre Georgia Power reservoir that provides some of Georgia’s best fishing, boating, championship golf and waterfront homes.

This beautiful small town also has the largest historic district in the state of Georgia, making Madison a national treasure of antebellum homes and buildings.  The downtown area is home to art galleries and museums, antique dealers, specialty shops and fine restaurants.

The Madison-Morgan Cultural Center is housed within the 1895 Romanesque Revival red brick building that once served as one of the South’s first graded, public schools. The MMCC offers diverse fine arts programming throughout the calendar year.

Whether you are looking for the perfect setting for a wedding or just a really nice place to stay for a couple of nights, be sure to check out the many B & B’s that are in this area.  Madison Oaks Inn & Gardens is just one of many fine, restored antebellum homes that now provide luxury accommodations for those looking to take a step back in time and experience the true South as it was when “cotton was king” and life moved at a much slower pace.

Other attractions in the area include: Madison Museum of Fine Art, Southern Cross Ranch and the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum.

Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to offer the entire Madison-Morgan County area competent and comprehensive piano tuning, maintenance and repair services.  We are located just a short drive west down I-20 and usually frequent this area several times each month.  Also, owner Richard Bazemore, RPT, is one of the very few piano tuners servicing this area that can claim to have earned the title “Registered Piano Technician” with the Piano Technicians Guild.  Our clientele in this locale includes Morgan County High School, Madison Oaks Inn & Gardens, Madison Baptist Church, Madison Presbyterian Church, Madison First United Methodist Church, Morgan County Senior Citizens Program, as well as many other local churches and residences.

Piano Tuning in Monticello, GA 770-787-4890

Monticello, GA is the county seat of Jasper County and is located about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta.  Jasper County is name after the Revolutionary War hero Sergeant William Jasper who gave his life trying to retrieve a flag during the siege of Savannah.

If you are ever driving through and looking for a good place for lunch, stop in at Sgt. Jasper’s Treasures where you can have a great meal and then shop for antiques all in one place!
Country music legend Trisha Yearwood is from Monticello, GA.

 Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to offer the entire Monticello & Jasper County area competent and comprehensive piano tuning, maintenance and repair services.  We are located in Newton County, just a short drive north on GA Hwy 11 and usually frequent this area several times each month.  Also, owner Richard Bazemore, RPT, is one of the very few piano tuners servicing this area that can claim to have earned the title “Registered Piano Technician” with the Piano Technicians Guild. 

Piano Tuning in Monroe, GA 770-787-4890

Monroe is the county seat of Walton County, GA.  Originally known as Spring Place, the city was later name after our fifth president, James Monroe.  The city has also become known as the City of Governors since four of Georgia’s governors were either born or grew up here.   Besides Monroe (county seat), other communities located within Walton County include Between, Good Hope, Jersey, Social Circle, Walnut Grove, and part of Loganville.
Walton County boasts of 27 sites that are on the National Register of Historic Places, nineteen of which are located in Monroe.  Some of these include the McDaniel-Tichenor House (Monroe), the Briscoe House and Mill Site (Between), the William Harris Family Farmstead (Campton) and the Casulon Plantation (Good Hope).
The Fine Arts are very much alive and well in the Walton County area.  The Wayfarer Music Hall hosted 18 or more concerts in 2011 alone.  On Stage is Walton County’s community theatre that has produced over 115 shows since its inception in 1974. The Monroe Arts Guild, located in the old downtown post office, houses several galleries, a black and white darkroom and a pottery studio.  Musical arts in this area are well supported by the Walton County Music Guild which oversees the Walton County Choral Society and the Walton Symphony Orchestra Ensemble.  The WCMG also offers music scholarships to local high school, middle school and home school students who show significant musical ability.
Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to offer the entire Monroe & Walton County area competent and comprehensive piano tuning, maintenance and repair services.  We are located just a short drive south down GA Highway 11 and usually frequent this area several times each month.  Also, owner Richard Bazemore, RPT, is one of the very few piano tuners servicing this area that can claim to have earned the title “Registered Piano Technician” with the Piano Technicians Guild.  Our clientele in this locale includes Bible Baptist Church, Christ Community Church, Faith Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Monroe, Full Gospel Holiness Church, The Cottages of Monroe, Tim Stewart Funeral Home, Walker Baptist Church, the Walton County Music Guild as well as many other churches, schools and residences.

Piano Tuning in Jackson, GA 770-787-4890

The city of Jackson, GA is the county seat of Butts County.  Located about 40 miles south of Atlanta, Jackson has a lot to offer, especially to nature lovers and outdoors enthusiasts.  And, for those who love trivia, it has been determined that Jackson is the center of the population of Georgia.

Jackson Lake is one of the oldest Georgia Power reservoirs that was created upon the completion of the Lloyd Shoals Dam in 1910.  A relatively small lake, it can generate up to 21,000 kilowatts of electricity and provides opportunities for watersports and fishing to the surrounding area.

Butts County is also home to two Georgia State Parks (High Falls State Park & Indian Springs State Park) as well as Dauset Trails Nature Center.  And if you’re interested in great places to eat, be sure to include Fresh Air BBQ and Buckner’s Family Restaurant on your itinerary whenever you happen to find yourself in this area.

Pianos In Tune, LLC is proud to offer the entire Jackson and Butts County area competent and comprehensive piano tuning, maintenance and repair services.  We are located in Newton County, just a short drive north up GA Highway 36 and service this area frequently.  Also, owner Richard Bazemore, RPT, is one of the very few piano tuners servicing this area that can claim to have earned the title “Registered Piano Technician” with the Piano Technicians Guild. 

The Georgia Piano Tuner is tuning pianos in Conyers and Covington today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned

I tuned 4 pianos, all grands, in the Lake Oconee area today. One Kawai in Reynolds Plantation, one Yamaha in Cuscowilla, and one Boston and one Samick in Great Waters. Two are pianos that the owners have tuned every 6 months (yea!)and the other two are tuned once a year (can't complain about that either). I also had a quick stop in Harbor Club to install a key that I had replaced the keytop on for a little spinet piano. All jobs went smoothly and I was home before 5 pm which is pretty good considering I had over 90 minutes in traveling time!

The Georgia Piano Tuner is tuning pianos in the Lake Oconee area today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned!

I'll Have My Pimento Cheese With a Little Pepper Jelly, Please!

After performing a pitch-correction on an old Henry Detner grand piano in Rutledge, GA this morning, I decided to drive over to the downtown area to have lunch at The Caboose.  This is one of my favorite places to eat in this area due mainly to their Pimento Cheese with Pepper Jelly sandwich (both of which are homemade).  For just a little less than $7.00 you get the sandwich, chips, pickle slice and your drink, plus you get to eat inside a real caboose.  They also have home made root beer here as well as canned pickles and preserves for sale.  Stop in and check them out next time traveling down I-20 between Madison and Social Circle, they are less than 5 miles from the interstate!

The Georgia Piano Tuner is tuning pianos in Rutledge today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned!

Tune My Piano Twice?

I had a piano tuning job in Decatur, GA today that required me to tune the piano twice.  This is a common occurrence when the piano tuner is called to tune a piano that has not been tuned in a long time.  The term "a long time" could be any amount of time greater than two years.  Most piano manufacturers, by the way, recommend that pianos should be tuned twice a year in order to care for them properly.  I tell my customers that they should tune their pianos once to twice a year as a minimum if they are being played and no less than every other year if they are not being used regularly.

What most people don't realize is that pianos will go out of tune even if they are not being played.  As a matter of fact, normal piano playing will not cause the piano to go out of tune much at all.  The greatest factors that affects the piano's tuning are temperature and humidity changes in the environment where the piano is located.  For instance, if you had your piano tuned in early fall when the AC was still on, and then had a cold snap that caused you to turn the heat on for a night or two, odds are your piano will noticeably out of tune the next time you play it.  Why?  Because the environment around the piano changed.  This is the same phenomenon that causes a guitar to go out of tune when it is tuned at home, then thrown in the car and has to be tuned again later that same day when it's time to play the gig.  Guitar strings and tuning pins are very similar to piano strings and tuning pins in that it doesn't take much to cause them to move away from that perfect tuning you just gave it.

So, the truth of the matter is, that pianos will go out of tune even if they are just sitting there and not getting played.  And, if neglected long enough, the strings can get so far out that they either cannot be brought back up to standard pitch or they stand a good chance of breaking when you require your tuner to bring your piano up to standard pitch.

The rule of thumb here is that if a piano is more than 10% (or "cents") above (sharp) or below (flat) from standard pitch then it will require at least two tunings for the tuning to hold at standard pitch for any reasonable amount of time.  The reason for this is that it has been proven that piano strings will drop about 25% of the distance they are pulled up within the amount of time that it takes to tune the piano.  For example, if your piano is 100% flat (that would be one half step flat from standard pitch) and you instruct your piano tuner to bring the piano up to standard pitch, then the piano will be approximately 25% flat (1/4 of a half step flat from standard pitch) by the time he or she is done with the first tuning.  So the second tuning brings the piano closer in from 25% flat to 6.25% (or less) flat from standard pitch.  If you follow this line of reasoning on out, you can see how it could take more than two tunings to bring the piano back to standard pitch if it is even further out than 100% flat.

Piano technicians call this process of tuning a piano twice in one visit a "pitch raise" or a "pitch correction".  Generally speaking, this procedure involves the first tuning to serve as a faster and less accurate tuning to just get the whole piano within the parameters so that the second tuning can serve as a normal "fine tuning" just as if it the piano had been tuned a year or two ago.

The Georgia Piano Tuner is tuning pianos in Decatur today.  Call 770-787-4890 to have your piano tuned!

7/6/2012 - Broken Elbows

I went to tune a piano in Athens, GA today that had broken elbows. 
No, I am not talking about a piano that had been visited by loan sharks or mafia hit men.  What I am referring to is a piano part that is found only in spinet piano actions.  The elbow in a spinet action is found on all 88 key/hammer assemblies and is located below the keyboard.  They are easily seen and accessed by removing the knee board and by looking into the piano while sitting on the floor.  Elbows can be made of either wood (good) or plastic (not so good) and look just like a human elbow that is bent at a 90 degree angle.



Broken elbows are easily diagnosed on a spinet piano when you see keys that are resting in the down position, as if someone had played them and they never returned back to their original height.  Plastic elbows that were made for spinet actions 50-60 years ago are notorious for deteriorating and becoming  fragile and brittle to the point that they can break with very little pressure applied from playing the keys.  Once a plastic elbow is broken, the link from the key to hammer is interrupted and that particular key will no longer cause the hammer to strike its corresponding string.



In most cases, if one elbow has broken, then it is only a matter of time before many others will follow suit.  Therefore, it only makes sense to replace all 88 elbows at the same time even if only one or a few are presently broken.  This job usually takes 3-4 hours if performed by an experience piano technician and will wind up costing considerably more than if replacing only the affected elbows.  But once done, it is a permanent repair that will not need to be repeated during the remaining life expectancy of the piano.  So, if this is the only issue with a particular piano, then it usually is worthwhile to have your piano technician to replace all 88 elbows in one visit (make sure he/she knows in advance that this may be an issue before they arrive to tune).  In the end, this will be much less frustrating than to replace just the current broken elbows only to have others break shortly after your technician leaves your house.

7/3/2012 - Loose Tuning Pins

It happened again today.  Went to see a first time client in Snellville, GA who had just bought a piano off of craigslist and wanted to have it tuned up for her daughter who was beginning to take piano lessons.  At first glance the piano seemed decent enough.  It was a little spinet that looked good with an action that seemed to be in good shape.  But as soon as I played the first few notes, I knew this was going to be a story without a happy ending.  Many of the keys played 2 or 3 pitches when my fingers pushed them down, which is a good indication that loose tuning pins might be a problem.  This was confirmed when I put my tuning hammer on the pin and found no resistance at all when trying to pull the string up to pitch.

Loose tuning pins are really just an indication of a much bigger problem, that being a disintegrating tuning pin block.  This is the piece of wood that the tuning pins are inserted into.  And when this piece of wood begins to deteriorate, it usually spells the beginning of the end for most pianos, because to properly fix the problem the piano has to be totally rebuilt (price tag being somewhere between $5-10K for an upright piano).  Yes, you can go out and buy a new upright piano for less than the cost of having an old one rebuilt.

While there are a couple of "dirty" fixes that can be done which may or may not help: such as removing the loose tuning pin and replacing it with one the next size bigger, or laying the piano on it's back and injecting super glue around the tuning pins, these procedures are not guaranteed to work.  So, the owner is faced with either putting out more money for a "fix" that is not warranted, spending big bucks on having the piano rebuilt, or just trashing the piano and starting all over again with a yet another unknown quantity.

This is not to say that you can't find a good used piano from somewhere other than a reputable piano dealership.  But, if you decide to purchase a piano in this manner, it would be wise to have the prospective instrument inspected by an experienced piano technician before committing to buying it.  This will assure you that you are buying a quality instrument free from significant problems or issues.  Most technicians I know usually charge about the same as their tuning rates to go and inspect a piano as long as it is located within their local service area.  If you are considering buying a piano that is not close to home, then it would be a good idea to find a Registered Piano Technician with The Piano Technicians Guild who lives close to the piano and pay him/her to inspect the piano and report back.  The Piano Technicians Guild website has a Registered Piano Technician locator feature by which you can enter in a zip code and RPT's will pull up by order of proximity.