If you’re selling your piano we may be able to help, see our PIANO ADVICE page for details of how our AGENCY works.
We are acting as AGENTS for most of the pianos listed on this site. If you’re interested in any of them please ring Kevin on 07771 642787 or send an email.
I undertake all action and keys work from minor repairs to full overhauls. After being in the trade for over forty five years I have plenty of experience to draw upon. I have now scaled down my operations and therefore don’t offer full restringing on grands although it is sometimes possible to carry out this work in situ. Previous reconditioning prior to my “downsize” included a Steinway Model K upright, a Bechstein Model V grand, and two identical Bluthner grands both with the unique and much loved patent Bluthner actions.
A typical full action and keyboard overhaul of an upright piano would cost in the region of £1500 – £1750 but could vary considerably depending on whether, for example, the hammers were going to be replaced or recovered or if there was extensive moth damage to the felts in the action or key frame. Prices for overhauling grand piano actions is usually more in the region of £2250 – £2500, again depending on how much work is needed.
To restring an upright piano, depending on type and size, would be in the region of £1750 and from £2750 for a grand.
I don’t offer a full re-polishing service anymore but for older pianos with a French Polished finish I can strip, stain and hand wax pianos which vastly improves their appearance. All polishing work includes buffing and lacquering brasswork. Prices start from around £850.
Sometimes it would not be worth considering spending a lot of money on a piano depending on the age and quality of the instrument. Investing in a new or good previously owned one could be a wiser option. I can give you the necessary advice to enable you to make a sensible decision.
We are based in St. Albans and tune pianos all over Hertfordshire (and beyond!)
Regular tuning will ensure continued pleasure from playing your instrument. We recommend tuning twice a year to allow for changes in temperature and, more importantly humidity. Over time, all the moving parts of a piano will be affected by both playing and environmental factors. These will affect your piano’s performance.
Whilst tuning we can observe the piano’s action and make small regulating adjustments to help the piano play more efficiently. The other advantage of regular tuning is that we can advise on any further work that may be necessary at an early stage rather than let the piano deteriorate to a state from which it may be more difficult and expensive to recover from.
Tuning will make your piano sound at its best, improving the tone of each individual note and the piano as a whole. It is important to note, however, that the design of the piano and the quality of its components and assembly will affect how well it can be tuned.
I am qualified and experienced to tune aurally (with only the aid of a tuning fork). However, professional electronic tuning devices (ETD’s) are extremely accurate and I use one in tandem with my long years of aural tuning experience. In fact, about 75% of the process of tuning in this way still involves aural skills.
However, ETD’s enhance these skills and help to produce a good scale and octaves, and more accurate pitch raises on even the most difficult of pianos. The ETD I use is an expensive sophisticated software designed only for use by professional tuners, it isn’t a device which would enable a non-tuner to be able to tune! Setting the pin which is vital, and achieving good unisons are skills that can only come with proper training and years of experience.
Get an email reminder for when your piano is due for tuning. And enter Mr. Brice when prompted for the name of the tuner!
Brooklands Pianos was established in 1986 in St. Albans by Kevin Brice who has now been a professional piano tuner and repairer for over 45 years. He has been a member of the Pianoforte Tuners’ Association for over 30 years and has served on its executive council for two separate periods. He trained as an apprentice with H.G. Rogers and Son in Highgate under the guidance of the late Henry Rogers, his son Graham and the workshop manager Karl Elmendorf, who has also sadly passed on.
He has tuned, repaired and restored a vast amount of pianos in private homes, schools, music colleges, recitals and concerts over the years and has benefited from ongoing high quality training at Pianoforte Tuners’ Association Conventions as well as also lecturing in classes at these annual events. He has also visited piano factories to gain insights into manufacturing processes both in this country and abroad, namely Kemble, Milton Keynes (now sadly closed), Fazioli in Sacile, Italy, and Stuart & Sons in Newcastle, Australia.
Although Brooklands Pianos do not directly employ our other two tuners they both have been closely involved with Kevin and the company for many years. We all still go out tuning together when there are multiple pianos at the same venue.
 Jennifer Johnson is vastly experienced having graduated from the London College of Furniture in 1986 with a B.Tech HND in Stringed keyboard instrument manufacture and design. Although she has her own long standing customer base she still tunes Brooklands Pianos customers’ pianos on behalf of Kevin, a task she has been doing for more years than I, or she, can care to remember. |
 Kevin’s son Ralph joined Brooklands Pianos as an apprentice on a permanent basis in the Summer 2005. He is currently working part time at Kawai Pianos in Milton Keynes doing final preparation work and tuning on their pianos. Then he’s mostly out and about tuning in private homes, but comes in to Brooklands Pianos workshop from time to time and assists his dad when necessary. He has been full time for about fourteen years now and has successfully built up his own tuning round clientèle. |
