Question : I’ve got a quick query about my Life Saver system. As of last night, the ‘Pads’ light has been flashing. I’ve been expecting the ‘Water’ light to come on for the last week or so but there’s no sign of that. Should I fill up as normal or not? Don’t want to stuff anything up….!
Answer:
If you take the bottom out of the piano by pushing the stick up over the lipp of the top of the door and pull the door toward you. Then lift it off the 2 dowels.
Check the pads on the bucket
If dry.
Then the box in the middle 5 cables out of it.
The white small one is like a phone plug. Squeeze the total and pull down to unplug then put it back in.
Does the light flash?
Yes.
Fill up and the light will go out again. 10 minutes later the red will go off
No.
If the pads are wet and the red light is flashing remove the middle black plug and put it back in.
If still flashing with wet pads give me a call.
In my opinion the best method to learn the piano is to have a dedicated piano teacher!
There are lots of different methods teachers use. If you try and it’s not ringing you bell then change. I used 6 teachers to get my 2 daughters through to just playing for enjoyment. Don’t give up.
We have a range of recommended teachers. See them on our blog.
The best place to place your piano in the home is on a inside wall. This will help with the tuning stability and keeping the humidity levels even is good for pianos. That’s why we recommend having us install the Dampp-Chasser Piano Life Saver System. If your piano needs to be on an outside wall.
Related blog: Humidity effects on pianos.
This will depend on the type of finish.
If you piano is under about 50 years old and the finish is high gloss then we recommend Brillianize Polish. It should be used with a micro fibre cloth. Brillianize is available at Piano Magic.
If your piano is older it may have either a French Polish finish or a Spirit Laquer
French Polish is generally an older finish and often is dull because an oily Polish has been used in the past and dust has collected on the finish.
Gillie Stevens has a Polish called “Cleaner and Reviver” used with a cotton cloth and elbow grease your piano can look a treat.
Spirit Laquer finish.
Some older and especially American pianos have a crazed finish. The only way to improve this finish is to have it stripped off and replaced. Piano Magic has a dedicated specialist French Polisher
This depends on the piano. Contact us today and Gary can make his professional assessment! To learn more about tuning pianos to A440 read our blog “Piano Pitching to A440.”
Some pianos can’t be tuned to pitch. Pitch or Concert Pitch is the standard pitch all instruments are tuned to so they can be played together.
When you get your piano tuned a good tuner will talk to you about what the piano is being used with and if the piano is flat and needs a pitch raise. This is normally about $165 on top of the tuning fee.
Why the extra cost? When we do a pitch raise the string we have just tuned will drop in pitch and so we need to tune the piano twice to get it to sound nice. The whole point of the excersize.
Pianos will drop in pitch over 12 months so if the piano is not tuned for years it needs to be pulled up to pitch.
Can the piano be tuned on the pitch it is at. Yes and a lot of piano are tuned below pitch. Some even sound better tuned flat. However it is not recommended if the piano is being used for practice with someone learning.
So why is this. The main reason is confusion. You play the piano at home every day then go to the piano teacher for the lesson and the pitch is higher. Your lesson is 30 minutes and you make mistakes because the piano sounds different so you might lose 10 minutes going over pieces that you would have played perfectly at home.
Call Piano Magic 9477 5866 to have the tune checked on your piano. Gary can always make it sound better.