Had a screw loose…. (A piano thread…)
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For at least the last ... I dunno maybe 6 months, my piano has had a clicking noise when I pedal. I could hear the noise in the bass area below middle C, but it wasn’t tied to any specific notes, more like just caused by pedaling and half pedaling. I don’t think other people noticed it while I was playing, but you can kind of hear it in some of the recordings I’ve made lately. I tried not to let it drive me crazy, but I’ve really wanted to get it fixed for a long time now!
I noticed that it was worse when the indoor humidity was lower. When my tuner came in the summer, he pulled out the action and figured out that the noise was in the back action (a term I didn’t even know before then) and he said there was probably a loose screw, or maybe a few loose screws. At the time, he explained that to get to those screws, the entire back action would have to be removed. We discussed my understanding of the symptoms (esp. the timing of when it was worse) and based on that, he recommended that I wait until winter when the humidity was lowest. Then he would come and remove the back action and tighten all the screws.
That day finally came, yesterday!
He pulled out the action…
Here’s the back action, you can’t see the screws in question yet…
Here he’s pointing to the screws with his right hand. He ended up tightening every single one of these screws.
Actually, these photos are out of order, I think this was when he was explaining how the back action works…but I can’t remember!
Another shot of the back action…
Anyway, it was slightly less than two hours. And now…. No clicking!!!
A lovely way to start the new year
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Nice photo description - Glad everything went well. This is a job where many starting techs get 'lost in the weeds' when trying to get everything back together properly. Damper work can be finicky!
Clicks and noises in general in and around the piano can be difficult to find, consider yourself fortunate that the diagnosis and repair seems straightforward.
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Nice photo description - Glad everything went well. This is a job where many starting techs get 'lost in the weeds' when trying to get everything back together properly. Damper work can be finicky!
Clicks and noises in general in and around the piano can be difficult to find, consider yourself fortunate that the diagnosis and repair seems straightforward.
@Rontuner said in Had a screw loose…. (A piano thread…):
Nice photo description -
Thank you!
Glad everything went well.
Me too!
This is a job where many starting techs get 'lost in the weeds' when trying to get everything back together properly. Damper work can be finicky!
I would have been much more nervous about this with some of the other tuners I've worked with in the past, mainly the ones who were less experienced. I might have mentioned this to you before, but my current tuner is the former head piano tech from the music school at my uni, he spent over 20 years taking care of the 500+ pianos here. And since he's been taking care my piano, I've had zero complaints, zero concerns.
Clicks and noises in general in and around the piano can be difficult to find, consider yourself fortunate that the diagnosis and repair seems straightforward.
Yep! Partly it's because this was a pretty straightforward problem, partly it's because my piano is such a good instrument.
The piano I had before this was a Petrof upright (model #115, 45 inches tall). I had purchased it used, I estimated (based on resources online) that is was built around 1990.
That piano had a lovely, distinctive voice. But it was as rickety as the day is long! Squeaking and clicking, creaking and wheezing! With that piano, my approach was just to ignore it!
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Given the complexities of a piano's action, I would imagine identifying the source of a problem such as you described can't be easy. You're fortunate to have someone skilled working on your instrument.
Thanks for the illustrated diagnosis and cure. It was very interesting.
Big Al
