It is practically impossible to talk about pianos, piano tuning, and piano care without talking about the humidity.
A first step in understanding how humidity is effecting the piano is knowing what the humidity is in the home or room where the piano is located.
An accurately calibrated Taylor 5565 Hygrometer/Thermometer will work just fine. Its easy to see, and this Taylor 5565 has calibration ‘screws ‘ accessible from the back (see above photo), which can be used to calibrate both the hygrometer and thermometer using a sling psychrometer.
If you have one, just let me know when I am there, and I will be happy to check the calibration and adjust it for you while servicing your piano.
There are many vendors that carry this Taylor 5565 Hygrometer, and I am sure there are other good analog hygrometers out there that have the adjustment screws on the back. Just make sure the one you buy can be calibrated, and is of reasonably high quality.
One of my customers has a wet bulb/dry bulb hygrometer hanging on his wall – also made by Taylor. It needs water in it all the time, and in order to know what the humidity is, both dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures need to be noted and those 2 temperatures are used to calculate the humidity using the ‘tables’ on the front. But it is accurate.
I am not a big fan of ‘digital’ hygrometers.
When we moved to Tucson a few years ago, we brought 3 or 4 small digital hygrometers with us. After leaving them right next to each other for a few days, they all read differently - and there was a 15 % difference between them! That’s a lot. And, of course, there was no way to calibrate any of them. I threw them into the trash and ordered the Taylor 5655. Now that I have it calibrated, it works really great! There may be some of the higher end digital models that can be calibrated, but if you do decide to buy one of the digitals, just make sure you know how to calibrate it.
Dave Buus, Tucson AZ said:
Bob, My wife is deeply pleased with the performance of our Kawai as a direct result of your skills. I just stood near the piano and luxuriated in 'Porgy...(Read more . . . )
Dr. Fred Fox said:
Thank you, Robert. Steinway sounds great! Dr. Fred Fox Green Valley, AZ Listen to Dr. Fred Fox(Read more . . . )
A. Thomas, Vail AZ said:
It never sounded this good!(Read more . . . )
Mary Kaye Masters said:
"My Wurlitzer Spinet NEVER sounded this good!" That's what I told Bob, when I called him a few days after he tuned my piano for the first time. ...(Read more . . . )
Chuck Littau said:
I am not a customer, but a good friend and fellow technician. We are going to miss Bob in Kansas City and Tucson is acquiring one of the best piano...(Read more . . . )
David Gardner said:
When cleaning out a storage area that had been overlooked for over 10 years, I found an old black Yamaha studio piano that my predecessor had apparently put there. ...(Read more . . . )
Ron Steen said:
Bob Conrad has taken care of our 12 pianos here at the Cathedral since 1977 and in all those years, we have never had a problem with his work. He...(Read more . . . )
Ruth R. Blake said:
Bob has tuned and taken care of my two matching Steinway grands for over 30 years. When we moved and I no longer needed one of the grands, he...(Read more . . . )
Ann Marie Scahill said:
I bought my Steinway in 1980, and had some very bad experiences with tuners until I met Bob Conrad. He was recommended to me by the largest Steinway dealer in...(Read more . . . )
Schmitt Music, Overland Park, KS said:
To Whom It May Concern: Robert Conrad has provided exemplary service for Schmitt Music and Jenkins Music for many years. He is very professional. Our company sells the Steinway Family of...(Read more . . . )