Spinet Piano Maintenance

Many of our customers opt for spinet pianos because they are relatively short, weigh less, and can fit into a small space. They range from 36” to 40” in height.  They don’t have a great tone or volume in the bass and are not capable of producing the touch of a standard upright piano, but they still offer the customer the experience of an acoustic piano for a smaller size.

The maintenance on spinet-sized pianos is the same as other acoustics where they need regular tuning, cleaning, regulation, voicing, etc. but there are various additional issues that are unique to a spinet–sized pianos which can make them more difficult to work on.

In order to accommodate for the short height, spinets have a very unique action called a “drop action” “indirect blow action” or “inverted action”  with rods or elbows under the keyboard connecting the key to the action. Another unique feature of the spinet is the keys are shorter than those in a standard upright in order to allow room for the action to drop down below the level of the keys.

Many times spinets have several plastic parts like plastic elbows which over time become very brittle. Especially will older spinets, they will crumble with little effort and will result in sticking and problematic keys. 

This is something that can be replaceable and we would recommend if there are more than 1-3 breaking, offer to replace all of them so you will not have to come back over and over again. It will save you, the customer, money and you several trips.  Remove them all with pliers and replace with new.  The newer plastic is much more durable.