Your piano should be tuned at least once a year and as often as every 3 to 6 months if the piano is used more frequently. Specializing in piano tuning, moving and repair, we are the state’s premier piano service company. Our highly-trained staff of three full-time technicians serves over 1,500 pianos annually across WV and the tri-state area. We provide professional piano moving services with our team of fully licensed and insured movers. We also provide a full range of piano repair and restoration options. Call us today and allow us to care for your piano as much as you care for your piano!
Humidity fluctuations are the predominant reason that pianos go out of tune and develop various other symptoms that warrant repair and/or regulation. Dampp-Chaser humidity control systems are the most effective way to regulate and stabilize the humidity levels in the piano at their intended level of 45% relative humidity, causing pianos to play better, last longer, and stay in tune.
Only use a professional piano mover to move your piano! You will avoid injury to yourself, your instrument, and your home. We offer piano moving packaged with a standard tuning service at a discounted rate. Call us for a free quote over the phone.
We strongly recommend using only a professionally trained piano technician to service your piano. It would be a good idea to ask if the technician is a member of the Piano Technicians Guild, and also check references. We have listed our credentials and testimonials on this site and would be glad to provide more if requested. We are recommended by nearly every major music store in Charleston and Huntington. Please call and check for yourself!
Occasionally we are so booked up with piano work that we may not be able to get to your piano as fast as you would like. Please let us know, and we would be glad to give you the contact information of another professional technician in the area. You may avoid serious damage to your piano by only calling highly trained and skilled technicians to service your instrument.
It is obviously beneficial to take every protective measure to prevent damage to your piano. However, keeping a piano off of an outside wall is not the complete answer to damaging humidity fluctuations. Your piano is made primarily of wood and is greatly affected by daily and seasonal changes in humidity. Extreme swings from hot to cold or dry to wet are harmful to your piano. Dryness causes the piano’s pitch to go flat; moisture makes it go sharp. Repeated changes in relative humidity can cause sticking keys, sluggish action parts, and cracks in the soundboard.
Excessive humidity can cause rust to develop on the strings, tuning pins, and other metal parts. The only practical and effective answer to such humidity problems is to have a humidity control system installed inside the piano. These systems consist of three parts: a humidifier for adding moisture to the air, a dehumidifier for eliminating excess moisture, and a humidistat, or control unit, which senses the relative humidity of the air within the piano and activates the system to add or remove moisture as needed.
A standard tuning can range from $140-$155 depending on where you are located in our service area. If your piano has gone without tuning for an extended period, it may have dropped far below the pitch at which it was designed to perform. It may require a procedure technician’s call a pitch raise. A pitch raise procedure is a quick, preliminary rough tuning of the entire piano, in order to stretch the strings and balance the tension on the soundboard and bridges of the piano. Depending on how long your piano has been neglected, it may require one or more pitch raise tunings before your piano can receive a fine tuning. Each pitch raise tuning is an additional $90. We often tell our “In Town” customers, if you’re not sure when the last time your piano has been tuned, ballpark between $230-$245 to have your piano professionally serviced.
Pianos are designed to be tuned at least once per year. When pianos have gone more than five years or so years without being professionally tuned, they may require a procedure called a pitch raise. This is a rough tuning of the entire piano to bring the piano back up to pitch. Severely neglected pianos may require multiple pitch raise procedures before a fine tuning can be accomplished. We also offer all-day service appointments for pianos when multiple pitch and action adjustments need to be made. During these appointments we are better able to focus on cleaning, lubrication, tuning and action adjustments so your piano will perform at its peak level.
We recommend the use of Cory Care Products. Cory offers a specific polish for any piano finish, as well as the best key cleaner in the industry, which can be sprayed directly onto the keys without harming the instrument. We are an authorized Cory Care distributor and keep most products in stock. The Ultimate Care Kit includes: Key Brite Cleaner, Piano Polish, Cleaner Cloth and Polisher Cloth.
No. Most digital pianos begin having issues after 10 years when they are out of warranty and the parts are no longer manufactured. We also do not know anyone else in the area who will perform these types of repairs. For this reason we do not recommend that customers purchase a digital piano as a long term solution for their piano needs. However, digital pianos might be a good investment when someone requires the technology or portability they offer.
It is very rare that we will purchase pre-owned pianos. If your piano is over 30 years old, it is highly unlikely we would purchase it. We do however, for a fee, haul off unwanted pianos for recycling. We will on rare occasion agree to take a valuable, newer piano on consignment. Contact us to learn more about these options.
Kanawha Piano is owned and operated by Shane Lowther.
Shane is a graduate of the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology, which is the largest school in North America teaching piano technology. Shane is also a Certified Dampp-Chaser Installer, Certified QRS PNOMation Technician and an Associate Member of the Piano Technicians Guild. The PTG’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards of piano service by providing members with opportunities for professional development, by recognizing technical competence through examinations and by advancing the interests of its members.
Shane has attended PTG training events in Kansas City, Charlotte, Nashville, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Orlando, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Furthermore, Shane has completed extensive piano technology training at Montana State University, the Mason & Hamlin piano factory, and additional factory training in Shanghai, China.
Shane is a 2005 graduate of REC W School of Audio and Music Production, Chillicothe, OH.
Monday-Friday: 12pm–7pm
Saturday-Sunday: Closed
2927 Pennsylvania Ave.
Charleston, WV 25302
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