Old Piano Tuning Tools

Over the years, a tuner will meet older tuners who learned their trade maybe a generation or two ago. Invariably, these old guys - certainly in the UK they are almost always guys - are full of stories, and often a great source of tips and ways of doing the routine and time-consuming jobs of restoring a piano.

When they retire - they still hang on to their tuning kit for as long as possible! Occasionally younger tuners inherit these old tools and they become memories of the person who used them for so long. Really, some of the tools belong in a museum but it is always fascinating to hold these relics of former times. 

Here are some of the old tools that have been passed on to me: 

A 'T' Hammer and a wooden 'papps-type' tuning wedge. 

A few regulating tools - key spacers, set-off regulator, a not-quite-so-old check-bender and spoon-bender.

Tuning lever

This very old tuning lever I now use as part of my own kit - my normal lever has detachable heads which is perfect for most pianos but I found that the head for smaller tuning pins was not small enough for some of the old pianos I tune from time to time. One day I thought I'd look through the box of old tuning tools and discovered this little wonder! It has a small star head and is the perfect lever for these old pianos with tiny tuning pins. After a good clean and varnishing the handle, it is now a valuable part of my own kit!

Technical File

© Steve Burden