The truth piano shops don't want you to know

No one is taking too seriously about your first few tunings

You might assume that the initial factory tuning, or the first adjustment by your local shop, would be the pinnacle of perfection, akin to the flawless state of a brand-new iPhone straight out of the box.

However, this is a common misconception when it comes to pianos.

Contrary to popular belief, the first few tunings of a new piano are not taken very seriously by piano shops or tuners, primarily because new pianos are inherently unstable.

(This instability is largely due to the new strings, which are experiencing high tension for the first time, as well as the soundboard being pressed by the bridge. )

Typically, a piano is tuned six times in the factory before it's shipped out. These tunings are generally set slightly above the standard 440Hz, often around 444Hz, to compensate for the pitch dropping during shipping and storage. It's easier to fine-tune a pitch down rather than up, after all.

Moreover, the financial incentives for initial tunings are low. It's common to hear customers complain about promised free tunings that never materialize, as many tuners are reluctant to prioritize these lower-paid tasks.

In the factory setting, efficiency is key. Imagine you're managing a production line with the goal of tuning each piano multiple times.

The focus is likely on streamlining the process while achieving an acceptable level of quality, rather than perfecting each instrument.

For instance, Yamaha uses a tuning app (PT-A1) that standardizes tuning across similar models by allowing tuners to replicate an exemplary tuning. While this ensures a baseline quality, it fails to acknowledge that each piano, even models identical on paper, is unique.

Ultimately, it's the skill and dedication of your final piano tuner that will endow your instrument with its distinctive character(the soul).

While factory and initial shop tunings provide a starting point, they are merely the first step in a journey toward achieving the rich, soulful sound that makes your piano truly yours.

Regulation and voicing

A good piano technition is consists of good tuning, regulation, and voising.

But as far as i know in Melbourne, even the top secondhand shops do not care about regulation and voicing for the second hand piano.

It is no point to pay up to a thousand to keep the so called "touch". As long as the piano is working, and not too bad.

That means it is sellable.

The buyers of the second hand pianos care more about the shining outside

So compared to the brand new piano, all the secondhand piano you buy in Melbourne should be regulated, if you are not fussy about the voicing.

What i often found is the basic key depth is wrong for those piano, not even Yamaha second hand

Key depth is directly affecting how you feel on playing. Say you are practicing on a piano with the key depth of 8.5mm, it will be very strange to perform on the standard 10.5mm key depth.

More seriously, if the key depth is wrong, 90% the rest of the regulations are all wrong.

So make sure ask your tuner to regulate your piano in addition to tuning.

For new pianos, same thing happens as well.

It is also not guarenteed a brand new Yamaha is well regulated.

On a production line, if one person made some mistakes, the next person have to build on his mistakes and the finally result works.

But it is too much trouble for the factory to redo the person's job, as everything else needed to be changed accordingly.