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I got my piano tuned today, and a couple of the keys fixed as well (one key wouldn't play if hit softly). Before the tuning, it had a very bright sound. After, it is mellower.
I don't think he revoiced it by modifying the hammers, but i wasn't watching so i can't say for sure.

What could have caused this, and more importantly, how do i restore the bright sound?

The piano is a Baldwin Acrosonic from circa 1960. The tech i used called it "complicated" -- i think he's used to Russian pianos and i' m not sure if they're any different.

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    by "it lost its brightness" do you mean "he tuned it"?
    – Dan Hulme
    Sep 29, 2016 at 22:03
  • @DanHulme A piano can sound bright while being in tune. Last time it was tuned it didn't change the whole sound of the piano.
    – Scimonster
    Sep 29, 2016 at 22:06

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The Baldwin Acrosonic name was made in three models, with different heights. The lowest "spinet" model is "complicated" in the sense that any other spinet is complicated, because most of the action is below the level of the keyboard not above it and therefore less easily accessible for doing repairs to just one or two keys.

It's hard to believe a tuner would re-voice the whole piano without asking you first - and charging you for several hours extra work compared with just tuning it, if he/she did a proper job!

Maybe the unisons have been tuned too "perfectly in tune," which tends to kill the brightness of the tone.

I suppose it's possible the tech took the action frame out of the piano to do the repairs and didn't replace it in exactly the same position, which could affect the tone because a different part of the hammers would be striking the strings. Whether it was actually "out of position" before the work was done, or replaced in the wrong position afterwards, is an unanswerable question without actually seeing the instrument. (We're talking fractions of a millimeter here, not a gross error!)

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  • It was only a few hours of work, so I don't think he intentionally revoiced the whole thing. He also didn't remove the frame, so the "too perfectly in tune" explanation seems most likely.
    – Scimonster
    Sep 30, 2016 at 5:22
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    @Well, that'll take care of itself soon enough , then...
    – Kilian Foth
    Sep 30, 2016 at 7:47
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    @Scimonster "He also didn't remove the frame" - just to be clear, I don't mean the cast iron frame that holds the strings, just the assembly that holds the hammers and the rest of the action except for the actual keys. You need to remove that to do almost any type of repairs to the keys or action, and it's only a 5-minute task to take it out or replace it.
    – user19146
    Oct 2, 2016 at 18:44

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