Piano Rebuilding

Pianos are very sturdy instruments and the good ones will easily last over one hundred years. A good piano is always worth rebuilding. Rebuilding is often confused with reconditioning. Reconditioning partially addresses the condition of the piano and may include reshaping the hammers, partial restringing, regulating the touch and various adjustments.

Rebuilding assumes the entire piano except the outer case, the inner rim to which the edges of the sounding board are attached, the cast iron plate and the damper blocks is to be replaced. In a complete rebuilding the soundboard is replaced, the bridges are replaced and the action- whippens, shanks, hammers and damper felts - are all replaced. The keys are replaced if they are badly deteriorated which, often, they are not.

After replacing all of the parts with new ones the new strings need to be tuned between 5 and 10 times to allow them to stabilize and to stretch so they can hold the tuning for a few months. The action parts need to be adjusted and regulated so they perform their travel according to specs and the hammers need to be voiced, tone regulated, to bring out the optimal musical tone of which the piano is capable.

When considering having your piano rebuilt there are two concerns to be considered: There are many rebuilders who do excellent work replacing the new parts but whose musical knowledge is lacking. They tend to install hammers that are loud, bright and quickly turn strident and unmusical sounding. There are rebuilding establishments who choose replacement parts primarily on a cost basis. Since rebuilding a piano is a major job, one that is expected to last 20/50 years, insisting on the finest replacement parts available is, always, in the piano owner’s best interest.

The pianos I rebuild receive, in every case, the finest available sounding boards, bridges, action parts and damper felts and the most musically excellent hammers and bass strings made. Every piano I rebuild becomes a remarkable instrument as soon as it is rebuilt. Its musical tone will improve with playing and its musical qualities will keep seducing the player, student or professional, to play on.

...."I strongly recommend Mr. Isaac’s hammers. I am blessed (or cursed) with a critical ear. The tonal response that my piano offers now meets my expectations now because of the hammers Mr. Isaac produced."

...."Cadenza hammers are another milestone in the history of piano making.  These hammers are more stable than any other hammer I've worked with.  They come to me right out of the box with the exact correct tonal spectrum needed for expressive piano performances."