Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum I have a question.

Hello fellow forum junkies!

I just purchased a twelve-year-old Yamaha G2 and I am very pleased with it's touch and tone. Very easy to play Chopin's intricate waltzes.

After it was tuned I noticed two things wrong with the sound. Most of the higher treble notes have a very punchy attack. The other problem was that the bass strings were tubby. I understand that replacing the bass strings will fix that problem, but what about those punchy treble notes? How do I fix this? Could a good technician fix this with correct voicing?

Thanks!
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Joel

Hello Joel,

Re-check the age of your piano. It has been more than 12 years since the G2 was discontinued and replaced by the C2. Hopefully you are only off by a few years.

Replacing tubby bass strings may be the right solution, but there are other things to check first. The first thing to check is basic service like tuning, voicing & regulation. Voicing may also improve your treble.

It may be worth restringing the entire piano once you learn more about it. Good luck.

Well you're right now that I think about it. G's are not that young, but my local technician and I inspected it thoroughly and it has no structural problems.

Voicing could definitely help in the upper register.
Changing the hammers from the Japanese Imadegawa to a German Abel or Renner, or Ronsen is something to consider. Unless it was used in an institutional setting, you should probably get away with a serious voicing on the existing hammers, string contact points, regulation, etc.

Could you give me a ballpark estimate on a full set of Renner hammers?

The cost of parts, as expensive as they may be, are the smaller component of the total cost of a piano refurbishing job.

Replacing hammers entails a lot more than simply exchanging parts. The new hammers must be fitted, aligned, filed,and shaped, and voiced. The piano will need at least a partial if not a full regulation.

Hourly rates for a technician and voicer can vary significantly, depending on the economic situation in your area. You will have to talk to a few local shops to get a price idea.

Don't let the price point be the deciding factor in choosing the technician to do the job. The right technician, putting a bit more effort into the fine voicing and regulation can make a huge difference, even using the same type of hammer.

For home use, a set of hammers can easily last a few decades. It may hurt a bit less to look at it as a long term investment in your piano playing pleasure, to be amortized over twenty years.