Key Levelling

[DavidKay]

Here's a picture of the middle section of my keyboard which seems to be all over the place. Before I bought it, the keys had been re-covered which has left rather ugly mismatches of space between them and in the instance shown here there is actual interference between two keys (although both are still playable)

Is it usual for the plastic tops to overhang the sides of the wooden part of the key? It's the randomness of these overhangs which make the keyboard rather unsightly.

However, the picture also shows that some keys are tilted which seems even more serious, no?

Fortunately the piano plays wonderfully and it's really just these apparant aesthetics that are annoying. Would these problems be easy (and inexpensive) to rectify?

[mdw]

No the key tops shouldnt over lap the sides. Who ever fitted them has just stuck a set of tops on and not finished the job. They have done about 1/4 to 1/3rd of the whole job. The leaning keys are either worn bushings or some times the keys can twist. Check the bushings to see if they are loose. It may just be the photo but it looks like a big overhang on the front as well.

[sussexpianos]

This job has "bodge" written all over it. I have seen many pianos where a technician(so called anyway) have done this the worse one was when 2-5 notes went down at the same time.
As MDW sugests, check the bushings as well. The tops should be flush with the sides, the shoulders ( where the black keys stop) should be even. The keys need to be leveled and the depth of touch regulated. You will find that if the bushings are very worn then you are not getting the correct ratio of key to hammer and thus making playing difficult.
Take photos and ring the person who did it and ask them to finish the job. If no joy, get a good technician to try and finish it and claim this back, maybe through the courts.

[DavidKay]

Yes they were well and truly bodged. Closer inspection revealed that some overhang and others didn't even reach the sides. However I've removed each key and successfully filed the keytops back so that all the spaces are very closely matched.

Unfortunately there are a couple which aren't even mounted flat so the key gives the appearance of leaning over, and one other is mounted flat but the key itself is slightly warped.

I ended up just replacing a few felt punchings under the centre rail bushes to lower the keys and now all are reasonably level. Realistically the value of the piano doesn't warrant the cost of a specialist refurb of the keyboard so I am doing this myself. I would like to remount two key tops myself and was wondering how I could first remove them safely.

[Openwood]

I'd be tempted to ask for my money back. How could anyone leave a job looking like that?

[mdw]

I'd be tempted to ask for my money back. How could anyone leave a job looking like that?

That would be quite good for our local cowboy. My favorite one of his "repairs" is the soundboard repair. He stapled it with a staple gun!!! Admitidly it did stop the first crack from getting wider. The problem was where the staples went in then opened up as a crack either side of the first one. The saving grace was that the piano was a piece of junk before he started. Just a shame the customer paid him good money in the first place.

[DavidKay]

I'd be tempted to ask for my money back. How could anyone leave a job looking like that?

The proceeds of the sale went to a charity I support so I don't really want to approach the donor and make a fuss. Besides, I suspect that because the job is such a shambles it must have been done by an ambitious DIYer instead of a trained technician - I doubt a paying customer would have accepted this.

[PianoGuy]

Besides, I suspect that because the job is such a shambles it must have been done by an ambitious DIYer instead of a trained technician - I doubt a paying customer would have accepted this.

You'd be surprised what some people pay good money for. Unfortunately it's often the good guys that look as if they're the rogues when they try to tell some people that they've wasted their hard-earned.

I would indeed be surprised if the person who did that work was trained, but I would wager a monkey that some poor bu**er paid out for the repair.

[Bill Kibby]

The first step in setting up a piano action correctly is to get the keys working right, otherwise you have no hope of regulating the action.