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Prep, prep, prep. Everyone talks about it, but I am starting to suspect that very few here know what it is.

The following is standard operating procedure at Piano Craft for all new Grand Pianos. This is nothing new. It comes from our experience, and the recommendations of manufacturers such as Mason & Hamlin, Bluthner, Steingraeber etc. This work is appropriate for all grand pianos.

The following is regulation and does not include the multiple tunings required for stability, voicing, or multiple follow up services. I know a lot of this will need explaining, so I am hoping the fine techs who contribute to this forum will chime in. You will notice a lot of redundancy in this process.

Phase 1: Estimated time 12 hours

1 Bed key frame to key bed
2 Lubricate key frame guide pins
3 Polish capstans
4 Level keys
5 Set key dip
6 Regulate end keys of each section completely
7 Adjust hammer height on remaining keys to match samples
8 Escapement on remaining keys
9 Drop on remaining keys
10 Space hammers to string ( square and travel as needed)
11 Space repetitions to hammer shanks
12 Space back checks with bending pliers
13 Adjust jack to knuckle
14 Adjust back checks
15 repetition springs
16 repetition lever height
17 readjust hammer height to samples
18 readjust hammer line slightly if needed for after touch
19 even out aftertouch on sharps with front rail punchings
20 retighten all action screws

Phase 2: Estimated time 8 hours

1 Adjust hammer height on remaining keys
2 Escapement on remaining keys
3 Drop on remaining keys
4 Space hammers to strings ( do not square and travel with this step)
5 Check spacing of repetitions to hammer shanks
6 Space back checks with bending pliers
7 Adjust jack to knuckle
8 Adjust back checks
9 Repetition springs
10 Repetition lever height
11 readjust hammer height
12 re-evaluate aftertouch on naturals, adjust slightly if needed
13 even out after touch on sharps by adding or removing front rail punchings
14 retighten all action screws
15 readjust back checks to 1 1/4" if geometry permits

Above times do not include the following:

Lubricate trapwork and tighten all trapwork screws.

Regulate damper pedal:

1 lost motion at 1/4"
2 Key bed upstop adjusted or present to allow damper lift slightly above that of sharp damper when lifted with key
3 Up stop adjusted slightly above lift of dampers with sustain pedal pushed

Shift Pedal

1 Check each hammer for excessive shift.
2 Check pressure of cheek block guide plate on guide pin in action
3 Shifts easily and smoothly

Sostunoto

1 doesn't pick up dampers when depressed
2 holds any and all dampers lifted by key before pedal is pushed

I hope this is useful.

Keith, what do you mean by sample keys? Are the samples provided by the manufacturers or is it something to adjust according to the customer's desire?
Do you do the same prep for all pianos, no matter what brand/provenience?

Keith:

You're doing this on each and every Bluethner and Steingraeber you're getting from Germany?

norbert

oh, great, keith. now every piano owner here is going to get piano anxiety over whether their piano was prepped like you prep yours.

just a little advance soothing: calm down, boys and girls. if you like your piano, don't worry about what prep was or wasn't done on it. and if you have a problem with your piano, call your dealer.

Question: After 20 hours of "prep" as Keith D. Kerman described, how many repetitions of, say, Beethoven's complete "Moonlight" sonata, can be played on the piano before you deem it needing another round of adjustment by a technician, again?

axtremus: what level of servicing are we talking?
What Keith has layed out is not some special super duper prep ... I have a feeling he and I, and maybe Manitou will talk ourselves horse trying to explain to everyone here that this is basic. It's what EVERY new piano needs (and doesn't get).

So to answer your question... what level of prep do you want?
Assuming you have the basic level of prep described above, you can maintain that at any level you the customer feel is appropriate.
A concert level or servicing would require this work to be done, or at least touched up before each performance.
The average person might have this work touched up twice a year at each tuning.
I tried hard to sell "service agreements" to customers where we would address these types of issues at each tuning, not once every 10 years.

And yes, Pique's right, if you like your piano there's no problem. And if you have a problem, yes call your dealer.
But if you come to this forum to become "educated" about pianos, and to become a "smarter shopper", then pay attention to these things.

We break the piano down into 5 sections and regulate the end keys ( 10 keys total) in each section completely ( step 6 in phase 1 above). These keys become the samples for adjusting the hammer height on the remaining keys ( step 7 above). If you need to change something, you want to know after 10 keys, rather than after 88. The hammer height is set to get the correct after touch.

We do the same basic prep on all of our new grand pianos. We have a standard that we are always trying to meet. Some pianos reach that standard more easily than others, and this is not always about how much the piano sells for.

Keith,
what are You using for:
2 Lubricate key frame guide pins

Yes.

KB, thanks for your explanation. And I certainly thank Keith for outlining the steps for "prep"ing pianos for the readers' education

My question was, using Keith's own "prep" procedure and his own standard, how many iterations of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata can the piano withstand before it stopped meeting that standard (and reach a point where it needs a technician to adjust things to bring it back up to standard again) ? Assuming, of course, that the piano is kept indoor with proper humidity control just as in Keith's showroom. Just wondering if Keith might have a rough, "order-of-magnitude" estimate that he is willing to share.

Lithium grease

Did you call me Meith?!

The phase 2 part of my initial post is what needs to be monitered and maintained by your tech. It is hard to answer your question because different pianos are more or less stable in different areas. The better the piano is, and the more often the prep work gets gone over ( just like tuning) the more stable it will become. All of this work that I am describing will make the piano better down the line as well. It doesn't just dissapear, but it must be maintained.

20 hours seems like a lot, especially when it involves names like Bluthner, Mason and Steingraeber.

Without naming names, could you please give us an idea of the range of hours spent? In other words, what is the least amount of time spent when a piano arrives in particularly fine condition. How much time must you spend on a piano that needs a lot of work. It would be interesting to know how much variation there is in the condition of pianos arriving from the factory.

Also, do you find significant variations in quality control among products from the same manufacturer?

Thanks Keith for your answer.

If you don't mind a another follow-up question:

How well would the "prep" survive a move? Say, the dealer put in 20 hours of prep, then the mover moves the pianos 50 miles over to my house and the truck sustained a few bumps and pot holes -- how much of the "prep" would survive?

I ask because, well, I'll be moving my piano in the near future -- I have planned to arrange for a technician to do some voicing and regulation work after the move, I'm just curious to predict how much a move would change my piano's state of "prep."

Keith and KB both characterize the procedure as "basic prep" needed by all pianos.

So I am also curious about why the manufacturers don't get it done (while "part 2" has to be repeated by the dealer/technician from time to time, the factory could have done "part 1").

Of course, if moving the piano from Germany to the US would undo a lot of the prep, then it becomes quite reasonable that the factory leave the prep work to the dealers. Then the question becomes -- is there a better way to package/ship a piano to preserve its "state of prep"?

Thanks.

(That "Meith" thing was an unintended slip of finger, and has since been corrected -- no offense intended, my apology for the mistake.)

Steve,

Bluthner, Steingraeber and Mason & Hamlin all arrive in generally very fine condition. They still all basically recommend what I described in my initial post. It takes us, on average, 20 hours to do this work. Some techs are faster at this process than others, but the way you get fast is by doing it over and over, and that's what my techs do. I titled this post "Basic Grand Piano Prep" , and I meant basic.

By the way, if you don't sell the piano for 6 months or a year, the process must be repeated ( although it goes faster and faster each time ) and the hours add up even more.

Ax:
We always seem to come back to this point!

The customer doesn't demand it. This business like any other is governed by supply and demand. People don't demand a higher level of prep and/or service and therefore don't get it. The manufacturer has all sorts of things governing what they can and can't do. Cost of production, keeping competitive, etc. And all of these things can't supercede what you the customer are willing to pay for a piano.

I don't think the regulation shifts that much during transit, I just don't think it's leaving the factory at it's highest level.

I have been called much worse than "Meith". No apology needed, I thought it was funny.

If your piano is properly secured in the move, most of the prep will be maintained. The problem will be the different climate in your new house.

The better manufacturers do go through most of what I am describing, multiple times, to a very good standard, and it doesn't get messed up being moved from Germany, or Boston. It does change dramatically from the change in climate, and new pianos just require being gone over again and again to get them stable.

There are of course pianos that arrive from the manufacturer in very bad condition, and this means that the dealer has to do more of the factories job, but more likely than not, it will just be at best an unfinished poorly responding piano.

*message deleted*

Keith - Thanks for an informative thread. Could you also describe the level of service you recommend to your best customers for after the sale - i.e. how often to tune, what type of regulation etc. Also, do you think this is needed for pianos other than Tier One grands - e.g. for Japanese uprights, for Tier 2 uprights, Pramberger grands etc. Thx

Keith,

In your original post you are inviting a technical discussion among techs on the subject of prep. Yet you did not post this in the Piano Pechnician's Forum where such discussions would normally occur. You put it in the Piano Forum where all the consumers frequent.

It therefore gives the appearance that you are actually attempting to create a free advertisement for your store rather than honestly being interested in a tech discussion. The other dealers here have shown class in not bringing this up, but I am neither a dealer nor classy.

Regards,

Rick Clark