Piano Key Leveling is important and is the foundation to a good regulation. Do your keys look like this?
If the piano keys are not level than there is no way to get consistency from key to key when playing or when doing a fine regulation.There are many problems that can occur from this; when playing the keys feel all over the place: some feel spongy, have more or less dynamic range, bobble or even block against the strings. Occasionally the hammer will not even sound the string. A normally enjoyable piano will be at best a chore to play and at worst unplayable all together making it impossible to be musical or have fun.
But, to repair them (make one piano key level with the others) and begin to bring back a musical sensation and a fun experience there is a simple solution. Simply add or take away paper and felt punching to the balance rail, which is located midway back on the key frame (midway back on the key stick) out of sight to the performer. It’s the fulcrum for the key stick which is like a teeter-totter.The punchings can be seen in the photo below in the area where a few keys have been removed. The new ones are in the yellow box. The front rail punchings are easier to see here.
The paper punchings are very thin, starting as thin as about .001
This repair is very affordable and will help bring life back to a piano. I often get calls from customers asking if there is anything I can do for their grandma’s old piano which they just inherited. Of coarse, I always have to look at the piano to give an accurate estimate but I have done some for as little as $40.00 Dollars. If it is done during the time of a tuning the cost is always cheaper than if I come out just for the repair. There have even been occasions where I was tuning and fixed a small Piano Key Level issue and included the repair in the cost of the tuning. You never know!
This repair could be a general maintenance consideration or a step in preparation for a major action regulation. Consider bringing fun and musicality back to your piano!