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Since 1961 Stolze Pianos has

1957 Wilfried leaves South Africa to go to East Germany to learn piano building with Kurt H

Spends 4 years in EG

Left German to return to SA to begin

1961 Bothners Factory – assembling pianos

1962 Move to Pretoria and joined father working from home tuning , repair and selling PiANOS for South Africa

1967 Opens the first Stolze Pianos music store in Schoeman St Pretoria

1984  Outgrows the first store and move to a larger store in Schoeman St Pretoia

1986 Close the Stolze Pianos on Schoeman St to concentrate on the growing number of inhouse tunings and repairs

2010 Continues to service over 1000 clients across South Africa

Grand Pianos:  How To Take Care of Them

We learn along the way that nothing lasts forever—pets, people, things.  Certainly not grand pianos.  But you could make it last a little longer by properly taking care of them.  Here’s how:

Keep it clean.

It could be cumbersome to keep on dusting something as big as a grand piano, but something as minuscule as dust can ruin your piano keys.  Just think about how much one these granddaddies cost—as expensive as a car, if not more—and you would surely be motivated enough to care for it.

Exposure.

Never place your piano under direct heat.  Humidity affects the piano keys and strings and could cause it to be off-key.  You can opt to use a humidifier to regulate the temperature of the room where the piano is located.

Play it.

Do not think that by not using things, you would be able to extend its life.  It’s a common misconception.  With pianos, the more that you do not use it, the more likely it is for the strings to get brittle from inaction.  Besides, it’s only by playing it that you get to find out if you need to have it tuned.

Full Service.

Grand pianos need to be maintained by a professional technician at least twice a year.  Just schedule it along with your dental check-up so you won’t forget.

Just follow these simple tips and your piano would surely outlast you.

Having a piano in your very own home can be a very pleasant thing.  Just imagine the beautiful music it brings in the house as your child or anybody else plays the piano.

A piano at home will also ease problems in coming up with ways to entertain guests.  But since pianos don’t come cheap it’s important that it is properly maintained.

As you make sure that the outward appearance of the piano is clean, so you should make sure that its strings are properly tuned.

If you own a piano but you’re not quite sure how to go about its proper maintenance then here are some basic piano tuning information.

• The frequency that the stringed instrument should be tuned would depend on the piano’s condition.  The usual room temperature where the piano is placed, the frequency that it is used and how old it is are factors that determine the regularity of its tuning.  Most often, a piano tuning twice a year would be enough for proper maintenance.

• Once you have decided on having your piano tuned, it very important that you hire someone with the passion for piano and takes the responsibility of piano tuning very seriously.  Choose someone who will treat your piano as if it were his own.  Be prepared to pay 400 – 700  Rand for services from an expert though.  Don’t worry that it seems to be more costly than you expected.  This fee will guarantee that there will be no other additional repairs required afterwards.

• If for some unfortunate reasons that you were not able to pay attention to your piano for some time thus leaving it in a not so good condition, more than one tuning is most likely required.  Tunings done more than once is not a strategy for a piano tuner to charge you more.  Tunings done gradually and several times are important to avoid over stretching and eventually breaking the piano strings.

When you invest on a piano purchase, make sure that tuning is done regularly to ensure that your stringed instrument lasts longer beautifully.