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For Sale

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You can view the full catalogue of pianos and stools here…

Recent additions to our catalogue –

I may be getting older and a bit decrepit but my passion for pianos is undiminished!

I want to see all pianos that are in good condition being played and enjoyed rather than deteriorating from lack of use and regular professional maintenance.

Therefore I will be focusing more on my work as a piano selling agent for private sellers. If you want to sell your piano look no further!

The way it works is……..

You can make an appointment for me to come and see your piano, inspect and assess for value. I will take photos and make a note of dimensions, its age, and a general description of its condition, then I will publish it on this website. For this service there is a £75 fee. (Hertfordshire)

In addition, if I am successful in introducing buyer to you there will be a 7% commission payable to me. For pianos that sell for £750 or under there is flat commission fee of £50.

FOR FULL DETAILS go to “PIANO ADVICE” page

 

 

View the full list of pianos for sale…

Tuning

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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.

Piano Tuning reminder

Get an email reminder for when your piano is due for tuning. And enter Mr. Brice when prompted for the name of the tuner!

Expertise

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Pianoforte Tuners’ Association logo

Brooklands Pianos was established in 1986 in St. Albans by Kevin Brice who has now been a professional piano tuner and repairer for over 50 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.

jenniferJennifer 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.
about_usKevin’s son Ralph joined Brooklands Pianos as an apprentice on a permanent basis in the Summer 2005. He also gained valuable experience  at Kawai Pianos in Milton Keynes doing final preparation work and tuning on their pianos. He has been full time for over twenty years now and has successfully built up his own tuning round clientèle.