Piano Restoration and Rebuilding for Akron
Restoring pianos for Akron, OH
Akron is a straightforward run past Cleveland, and a city whose church and school music departments have kept a remarkable number of pre-war uprights in service.
We rebuild fine pianos for Akron owners, Steinway, Baldwin, Mason & Hamlin and many others, at our own facility: restringing, pinblock and soundboard replacement, complete action rebuilds and hand refinishing.
What we take on for Akron customers
Major repair and full restoration only, at our shop in Buffalo. No tuning, regulation or minor repairs in Akron: those belong to a technician near you, and we would rather say so than sell you a long-distance callout. Getting the piano here is our problem, not yours. See how our service area works.
Working with the Western Reserve
The drive is about three hours, so Akron collections usually ride along with Cleveland work. That keeps transport simple and keeps the cost of getting the instrument here down.
Akron grew fast in the rubber years, and the houses built with that money were furnished with pianos to match. A century later those instruments are often structurally sound under a tired finish, which is exactly the case where a rebuild returns more than a replacement would.
E.J. Thomas Hall and the Akron Symphony keep a standard in the city, and the teaching studios around them produce the sort of customer who notices whether an action repeats cleanly. That is the standard we regulate to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my old upright actually worth rebuilding?
Often, yes. Instruments from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were built with multi-laminate pinblocks, thick hardwood veneers, sand-cast plates and solid spruce soundboards, and no plastic. See the makers we rebuild. We will also tell you honestly when one is not worth the money.
Can you do the work in stages to spread the cost?
Sometimes. Refinishing and action work can occasionally be separated, but structural work has an order that cannot be broken, and moving an instrument twice adds cost. We will lay out what can sensibly be phased when we quote.
Do you work for churches and schools?
Regularly, and rebuilding pianos for schools is one of our specialities. For an institution with several instruments we can phase the work so a music department is never left without a usable piano.
What does regulation actually change?
It is what lets a pianist communicate with the strings and soundboard efficiently. An unregulated action feels vague and uneven no matter how good the piano is underneath, and regulation is part of every rebuild we deliver.