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Hi- I'm a piano student in Montreal, and was wondering if anyone has noticed unusual scraping over black keys on the fallboards of very old pianos. A few old old Steinways at McGill University have this type of wear, and I mentionned it to my piano teacher today, who also has it on his piano at home (it was there when he bought it). Neither of us can figure out how they get there- I don't know why anyone would play so far up the keys and hit the fallboard enough to make that much damage!

William

Thats why your teacher tells you to trim your finger nails. I spose it's also possible the key cover contacts the black keys when closed, which causes the wear.

You can get a fallboard cover, piano dealers should have these.

If the piano is lacquer, you can remove the fallboard and use 1600 grit wet sandpaper. Using this with water or an oil, like lemon oil, will remove the scratch marks. You can follow with Rottenstone, which is a very finely ground powder, and a rag wrapped around something flat (an old fashioned chalkboard eraser works great too), again using a furniture oil as a lubricant so you polish the surface and do not scratch it. You can also use pumice, followed by rottenstone. Or, you can use a water based car buffing compound (like Meguire's).

Do none of the above if the finish is old enough that water or oil will penetrate the finish into the wood. Especially oil or wax. . . you don't want to let anything like this get into the wood!

There are lots of fairly easy cosmetic solutions. You might find that simply taking some furniture oil and rubbing it onto the surface will hide the scratch marks. Problem is, on a satin finish the result will be more of a high polish.

There are also some cleaner type products specifically for pianos that you might feel more comfortable using. Ask at a piano dealer, they usually have something that will at least improve the looks, if not remove the scratches.

I suppose it could be from untrimmed fingernails... but these are pretty deep... and playing up the keys to touch the fallboard seems bizarre!

I hit the fall board occasionally when playing frantic songs like Malaguena. Also, I notice that I hit the fallboard more often when playing my mom's upright Yamaha than when playing our Walter Grand. Especially when that little hinged piece of wood that holds the music is flipped down. Are the keys of the upright Yamaha shorter than grand keys? Jodi

While in the studio of a piano teacher in Appleton, Wisconsin, I was able to play a bit on her Steinway. It had good solid feel, and great sound but after a while I noticed that the fallboard behind the middle 3 octaves was just shredded. I asked her about it and she said that she would "occasionally get a little deep into the keys." When I questioned her use of the word "occasionally," she laughed and we moved on to a different subject. I don't think I ever found out how old the piano was. She's a small woman but is really energetic and electric in her playing so I'm pretty sure that's where the wood scars came from. I haven't seen any other pianos with that much fallboard wear, but I then I haven't seen a plethora of professional pianists' private pianos. (I litter letters with little alliterations when I'm not down at the sea shore selling C-cells) :rolleyes:
A salesman once pointed out to me that the keys on CWalters pianos (uprights at least), were longer than those on "many other brands." I can't remember exactly, but I think he was talking around 3/8 inch longer.
Bob