Four things every used piano needs...

1) Action Regulation: Pianos have approximately 12,000 parts, most of which are moving parts - parts that must move effortlessly for decades free from their neighboring parts. The tolerances of some movements can dip below 1/1000th of an inch! Most of these parts are made of wood, and we all know what time does to wood. That said, it's amazing pianos even work at all, let alone for decades under seemingly impossible circumstances. Every NEW piano (there are NO exceptions) needs to be regulated before delivery. So it's safe to say that used pianos need it that much more.

2) Tuning: This is the most obvious one. Tuning involves turning the tuning pins to achieve the desired tone. It does not necessarily involve any other parts of the piano, unless the tuner encounters problems tuning the piano which lead him/her to other repairs.

3) Voicing: This is a high level skill which only a fraction of all technicians attempt and at which even fewer excel. Voicing is the art of altering the hammers to change the timbre of a piano's sound. Hammers can be softened, hardened and reshaped. Sometimes, only a few notes within a piano appear to need voicing adjustments. Sometimes, the whole piano is too "bright" (sharp sounding) or too mellow (muffled sounding), so voicing techniques are applied to slightly or significantly alter the tone.

4) Cabinet Work: From simply touching up a cabinet to a complete refinishing job, high-quality cabinet restoration work is challenging and requires excellent equipment along with seasoned craftsmen.  In other words -- it's expensive!  The expense is necessary, however.  The condition of a piano's cabinet is more important than customers care to admit.  If it doesn't look nice, there will not be as many customers interested in the piano.  Good dealers know this, and take care of the cabinets before offering them for resale.  Putting 20 ugly ducklings out on the sales floor and making only a couple of nice ones shine simply doesn't cut it.  Don't be ashamed to admit that "looks are important".  Cordogan's understands that a piano should compliment an environment -- not take away from it.  Only dealers without adequate refinishing facilities would dare to challenge a customer with guilt-laden responses like: "whaddya buyin' here...a piano or a piece of furniture?""Isn't having a good PIANO more important?""You can get a guy out to your home for, like, fifty bucks and he'll make it look like new!" (at which time your family will be gasping for fresh air for days from chemical fumes, and you'll realize "like new" means different things to different people).

For a more detailed list, click here for Cordogan's Piano Restoration Checklist!