What kind of Piano do you play?

David Alpern I bet it sounds wonderful!

David Place Beautiful place to study!

Victoria Chan Digital pianos are pretty good these days and do simulate things like sympathetic resonance. You'd be surprised how terribly the damper timing/regulation can be on an otherwise professional grand piano! Sometimes the dampers don't even fall on the strings evenly, and it's something that needs regular, special maintenance from a technician. 

Robert Smith Ah, that's good to know. I suppose they both have their pros and cons. One of the reasons I got a digital piano was also the ease of maintenance.

Victoria Chan maybe your problems with the pedal sounds are because your expectations have exceeded what the instrument can do and that must be an indicator of your progress! I completely understand how this suits your needs at the moment when you don’t want to  wake up the children or keep them awake - maybe one day Victoria!

Eleanor I bought my first piano, a Hellas, Greek name, Swiss cabinet and Chinese action, when I was a student of about 18years. I had a job in a cocktail bar in Piccadilly Circus to make the repayments. It was an ex hire model and it wasn’t a bad piano, l have certainly played worse. That year was tough with college and working at the weekends but I never regretted it. Years later I sold it to a student of mine when I bought a Boston upright and as far as I know they still have it.

Eleanor LivingPianos.com has beautifully restored pianos for sale, shipped anywhere in the continental US, and is highly regarded. They offer zero percent financing. The pianos are fully guaranteed and come with lifetime trade in. Robert Estrin, the owner, is also a piano teacher,concert pianist. His father was a Baldwin Artist. Worth checking out if you want a really first class piano for much less than the cost of a new one. I play a digital, but if I were looking for an acoustic I'd definitely include him in my search, because of recommendations from people I trust, and because I enjoy and admire his online demos.

Carol Chua I replaced all the felts and had MANY other things done to my family's 1945 Steinway.  Despite the large investment, I was never truly happy with the results.  I eventually sold that piano.

Carol Chua 

Jenny Harrison Carol, I would get another opinion about the felts. Hard felts can usually be softened with needling. There are also chemical treatments.  My tuner needles a few felts every time he tunes, which is twice a year.

Jenny Harrison Good point, Jenny!  My old felts had been needled so many times, we couldn't improve them any longer.  So, I replaced everything!

Jenny Harrison Hi Jenny  so nice to hear from you.  And thanks for the tips!  I had the hammers needled before.   Yes  I found another tuner who said he could steam it.    So I'm still waiting for him to find time.     I was not willing to replace the whole set of original hammers as it would change the whole piano tone quality. Notwithstanding the costs of Sgd6000 to Sgd7000.  to replace.    . As the sound has become hard  i had stopped playing on it.  But I will not give it up.   I bought it 26 years ago for the sound quality. 

While waiting to have it resolved, i bought a digital Italian piano  Dexibell.  It has a true to life sound quality. (T2L).   As close to acoustic as possible. 

This digital piano has 8  speakers and produce solid good quality sound.   It is a beautiful state of the art for digital pianos where i could make changes to the tones to the way i like it zand many other functions I couldn't describe.    This is another joy to have.   

Carol Chua How interesting that steaming can improve hardened hammers. I would be tempted to try this out on one or two hammers, but only because I have a nice steamer that could hit the right spots.  Friends call me intrepid for a reason, lol.  There is probably a youtube video on this method. 

Gail Starr Sorry to hear that.   It's a shame to have to give up a beloved piano. 

I grew very attached to My steingraeber. 

What piano did you replace with? 

Jenny Harrison  Haha. Indeed it will be brave of you.

Finally he picked up the hammers yesterday.  Maybe I'll learn a thing or two when he brings back the needled hammers.  Then he will work with me at my house till we achieve the tonality i like using steam and or more needling.   My Steingraeber still has good tones.   I just need to mellow it.  

Carol Chua I have a Steingraeber upright and had it voiced and regulated recently. It is almost at the level of my Steinway B!  Which model do you have?