Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Middle E key squeak

Hello. I just purchased a 2010 Yamaha m460. The piano had not been tuned in a few years, and I had it tuned yesterday. I notice when playing the E key to the right of middle C has a slight creaky/vibration noise which originates at the key itself. This appears to have something to do with the tension of the wooden board which runs along the top of all of the keys and is screwed in from the left, center, and right (don't know its technical name). I've called the piano tuner and they stated to basically deal with it and I could pay for a full regulation at my next tuning 6 months from now.

Could someone enlighten me as to the technical name of the wooden beam i am referring to, and possible fixes for this problem?

Thank you.

The technical name is the key upstop rail. If it's a squeak, lubrication at the Key button bushing felt might fix it. A second source could be a bit of wood from one key rubbing against the adjacent key. If there is a support screw for the key up stop rail next to that key, that could rub too. If there is a supporting nut for the key up stop rail resting on the key in question, that could cause noise or sticking. It's always good to check those nuts when tuning as they are often loose, and resting on the key.

Thanks Bob. There is indeed a support screw in the area of that key. Should the key upstop rail have any looseness to it or be super tight? It was extremely loose and I tightened it slightly but not to much as I didn't want to overtighten it -the noise is still there but quieter.

The key upstop rail should be tight, supported by the nut underneath it. The support screw should have two nuts, one underneath the rail, supporting the rail and one above the rail, making the rail tight. The nut underneath should not touch the top of the key. The nut on top of the rail holds the rail tight against the nut underneath the rail.

Remove the top nut - pull up on the rail and feel for the bottom nut. Make sure the bottom nut is above the top of the key. Press down on the rail and try to lift the front of the key. The key should lift about 1/8 inch at the key front before contacting the bottom of the rail. Avoid too much lift. Once the bottom support nut is adjusted to the correct height, the top nut can be screwed down. Check the key front still lifts up a bit, as screwing the top nut down might lower the rail a bit.

The top nut should be tight. The rail should not be loose.

The Yamaha M460 is an upright piano. It has a sliding key cover, rather than a hinged fallboard, at least according to the current photo on the Yamaha website. I didn't find a nomenclature diagram in Igrec that gave me a name, but Reblitz calls it the fall strip.

Just wanted to pop in and thank you for the detailed advice. Your solution solved my problem and also allowed the upstop rail to be fully tightened.

Thanks much.

In UK piano parlance that wooden rail in uprights is often called the nameboard (and the strip of felt on the bottom of it is Nameboard Felt).