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I'm completely open to replacing them with new. The reason behind doing this was simply a diagnostic step. I will go through the remainder of the bass strings that are definitely 'off' and do the same twist to them. After which, I will make a decision on replacing the strings.

Again, thanks for all of the help so far.

Aside from the string problems, most of the issues you mentioned can be corrected with regulation, which is much much MUCH cheaper than rebuilding. I’m pretty sure most experienced techs can correct most iof those ssues in a full day service

I would agree at this point. It's fairly easy to see that the bass strings definitely need to be replaced. As far as the action, easy to see that the it needs more work than the rest of the piano. So, speaking of, what should I expect to pay to have the action rebuilt if I opt to not do it?

I know the following would need to be done.

All new felts
New back checks
Voice or replace the hammers
New key bushings or use the materials that expands them
Service the knuckle on the shanks?
Adjust everything

Your post's last sentence in the first paragraph is a little confusing -- but, in any event, I think you'll get more useful answers if you ask techs in your area after having them look at your piano -- I myself would be very reluctant to post a payment estimate publicly on the basis of a customer's evaluation of his own instrument --

I can understand. Of the techs that have looked at it so far, I was given ball park pricing. As an example, one quoted me $1500 to steam the felts (that are falling off) and adjust the regulation. That price seemed pretty steep as it did not involve the replacement of any parts, only steaming felts to bring life back and then adjust. I'm not sure if that is normal but it seemed high since it would all be completed at my home during the day.

Something is not right with this whole scenario.

Turbomatt,

I agree that something is amiss. I can also highly recommend Steve Cunningham in Leesburg, VA.

Pwg

I think it much wiser to describe the musical faults you want corrected and then hiring a piano technician who says they can fix them.

But then again I am not that much a fan of DIY.

If you guys would look, feel free to send me a private message with what I should have been quoted for the action service I described. As well, what I could expect to pay for an actual rebuild of the action.

Ed - I really do understand the bad light of DIY. With that in mind, let me mention a few things. Over the past few evenings I have worked towards 'fixing' the dead sound from the bass strings. I have read what I could as well as asked questions here. With that, I will say that I very much enjoyed working on the piano. Granted, it was nothing serious. However, it was still fun and I learned a little. In the few little efforts I made, I made an actual positive difference. Do I know exactly what I'm doing? No, I sure don't. Am I learning and having fun, yes.

Now I'm learning the beginner steps of tuning, which I will make sure to read and try to understand. As an example, I put 3 twists on the two Bâ™­2 strings this evening. Prior, I took a reading of around 116Hz (I think? It's on my notes). After the twists I used the frequency as my target. I think it's safe for me to assume that this is not the optimal way of tuning but it definitely is an improvement. After I get all of the bass strings twisted, I'll have the piano properly tuned. For now, I'm definitely having fun and enjoy all of the assistance and feedback.

Hi All - Wanted to take a moment to update this thread, which may end up being the last update for some time.

I have successfully pulled off 6-7 bass string sets to put twists on them. After trying a few different methods, they all ended up with 4 twists. My focus was on keeping the technique uniform across the strings that were removed. Now I have a question regarding frequency readings from these effected strings, which may lead me to believe the strings are just bad.

After reinstalling the string(s), I used a mute to isolate down to one string then bring it up to pitch. I immediately noticed a large oscillation in the frequency reading. If I was say targeting A2, the frequency would sweep sharp to flat without ever settling. They all still sound off in general and the frequency readings back that up. So, I moved to the lower bass strings (that sound ok) and upper strings and noticed this frequency oscillation did not happen. Only the strings that sounded 'dead' or flat have this issue. None of the flat sounding strings seem to hold a steady pitch or frequency. Is it safe to assume that the strings are in-fact in needing to be replaced at this point?