Anthony Woods Piano Tuning, fourth generation piano tuner || About Page

Welcome to Anthony Woods Piano Tuning

Piano tuning and repair has always been more than just a business to me. I have been a piano tuner/technician serving for over 25 years. As a child, I loved the sound of the piano and started taking piano lessons when I was 7. I also loved to tinker with almost anything mechanical and quickly learned to appreciate the intricate workings of a piano as I would watch our family piano tuner lay out his special tools and carefully tune and adjust each of the 88 notes on the family piano.

Piano tuning, repairing, hammer voicing, and piano action regulating are the four specific areas of my servicing expertise. Over the years, I have accumulated extensive experience working on all makes and models, both grands and uprights — Steinway, Schimmel, Yamaha, Kawai, Baldwin, Young Chang, Pearl River, Schafer & Sons, as well as many more brands.

My history as a piano tuner and technician began in the late 1800’s. My great uncles worked as piano tuners in Cramer Wood & Co around 1890. In 1918 my Grandfather Patrick Woods joined them to start a seven year apprentice. My dad Fergus joined Patrick in the Piano business in the 1950's and tuned for Old Pigott Music Shop in Grafton Street, and Waltons Music until his retirement.

I now keep my long standing family tradition in place and I currently tune pianos for some of my father’s clients and their children who now have their own families who fondly remember him calling. I am contracted to tune and service the pianos for Waltons Music in South Great Georges Street store and Their Blanchardstown Store. It’s a profession I love and enjoy.

I was fortunate enough to receive one-on-one training from a highly skilled, third-generation piano craftsman, my father. He carefully taught me the finer points of piano tuning, repair, voicing, and action regulating, but he also instilled in me a fervent respect for the history and evolution of the modern piano.

I count it a privilege that a substantial number of long-term customers have entrusted the care of their piano to me over the years. Each of the many pianos that I have tuned is unique — as individual as the needs and tastes of the people that own them. No two pianos are exactly alike. Each piano truly has its own “personality” and I find the process of bringing a piano into perfect tune and proper mechanical function to be very satisfying. Whether high-end grand or modest practice piano, I've always taken pride in achieving the best possible sound and performance from each instrument.

Please feel free to contact me if there is anything I can help you with or if you have any questions.

-Anthony

Tips for keeping a good piano

Have the piano serviced regularly
Not just tuned every 6-12 months. Have repairs and adjustments made to make the piano the best it can be, not just "get by." The piano should be fully regulated every 5 to 10 years, depending on how it is used. That means you'll need to find a tuner who can not only make your piano sound good, but one who can work to keep it playing well.
Control the humidity and temperature
Humidity changes are a piano's worst enemy. Temperature changes cause humidity levels to change. This is one reason neglected pianos wear out. Get with your piano technician and explore ways to keep the humidity levels consistent around your piano.
Keep liquids off the piano.
One of the most common rebuilding repairs is to get rid of water rings from the top of a piano - and that's just a cosmetic problem. Plants on pianos is not a good idea. A spilled cup of coffee can total devastate a grand piano action, its pin block, the finish - and puts the piano right into the shop. It may be a romantic idea to have a beverage on the piano, but is it worth the risk?
Keep the piano clean.
Dust your piano with a feather duster or slightly damp cotton cloth. On grands, keep the lid lowered to keep dust from settling on the sound board - it also tends to warp the lid of the piano. Clean the keys with a slightly damp cloth. This makes it much more pleasant to look at and to play.