Piano Key Replacement

Over the years your piano will show signs of wear and tear, where you are over and over using the same notes. Piano key replacement is an important part of your upkeep and piano repairs as it will ensure the complete safety and beauty of your instrument.

Why would my piano need this?
Over time, as your instrument ages, it will eventually need its keys replaced. It may just be well used, they may have become discolored, or they may be chipped or broken. These are all things that affect the overall aesthetic of such a beautiful instrument but may also affect your playing. A piano repair such as this is obvious when its needed. By working with a professional you get rid of any risk of damage by doing it yourself, and gain assurance that your instrument will look and play beautifully.

Do you take up the whole key?
In this process we do not replace the whole key, only the keytop. This is the shiny white part that can be seen. The wooden underside, known as the keystick, remains and we only replace the top part, unless some kind of damage has occurred.

Methods of replacing the keys
This is the common place method for key replacement. First off, we remove all the tops of the keys, including the fronts. Next a process is undertaken which ensures your keysticks are completely flat and ready for the replacement. After this smoothing has taken place, we use a specialist glue to adhere the new tops to the keysticks. Once they are in place in our experts will meticulously ensure that everything is neat and perfectly aligned.

Alternative to ivory
If your piano is fairly old, it will have keys made of ivory. As we do not replace with that any more, we use a new kind of keytop material that has a very similar aesthetic but is ethically and environmentally friendly. It is extremely high quality and even has a similar feel to your original keys. In order for it to look great and as close to the original you really need a professional to install them as it is a delicate and specialist job. All of our piano technicians are highly experienced in this field and will be happy to do a beautiful job for you.

 What is the new material that we use?
The new material that we use instead of ivory is a form of acrylic plastic. They look extremely similar to ivory and have a similar feel to them. As they are slightly thicker, they lie flat on the keytops and can have a slicker look than previously found with ivory keytops. They are proven to be actually more durable than their predecessors and are extremely resistant to damage. Aside from these excellent features they are also obviously more ethical and considered far more environmentally friendly, as it is possible for them to be reused or recycled in someway after your next replacement.