Let’s go over how to get that sucker outta there!
Last week, we had a little chat about pencils and pens that make their way into upright pianos. It’s super common….and annoying for all involved, yes? I didn’t cover this situation with grand pianos in the last post, so let’s go over it now. It is a completely different set up in those bad boys, so it’s important to cover the logisitcs separately.
The most likely location of an object that has fallen in a grand piano is in front of the action, on top of the keys. Pencils easily slip in through the fallboard (the piece that closes over the keys and lifts up). To get a pencil out (or other sneaky small objects), you will need to take the fallboard off. And of course, not all grand pianos have them fastened on the same way. Newer grands are great because you can often just lift it off. Older grands tend to have the fallboard attached with screws. If it’s screwed on, there are two locations where the screws may be located.
Alrighty, let’s go over the three ways to get that front off.
1. The easy scenario: Open the fallboard. Pull up. Done.
2. The fairly easy scenario: Open the fallboard. Locate two screws. One on each side. Unscrew them and set aside. Then, pull up. Done.
3. The least easy, but still pretty easy scenario: Open the fallboard about halfway. Locate two screws. Wait, where the heck are they?! Look on the side edges of the fallboard. Unscrew while holding the fallboard about halfway open. Set screws aside. Slide fallboard toward you. Done.
4. There is actually one more scenario. Wah wah wah…Some fallboards are attached to the two blocks on either side of the keybed. If you’ve checked the first three possibilities and you still can’t figure out why it won’t come off, it’s going to be this scenario. If you look underneath the two blocks on each side, you will find screws directly underneath them. Unscrew those. Wiggle the blocks to make sure they are free. Then, lift up the fallboard, as explained above. Done.
Now that you can see inside the front of the piano, you can do a visual inspection around the action (hammers and all that stuff) to see if you can spot that pesky pencil. Note: I found that harmonica I mentioned in the last post in a grand and I have no idea how it got in there. So weird, but I digress.
Do you see anything? Yes? Great, pull it out!
Don’t see anything? Bummer. Call your piano tuner.
Musically,
Marta
The Piano Gal
