Delving inside the piano

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I have inherited the family piano. I learned to play on it, my mother and aunt learned to play on it. More than likely my grandmother also learned to play on it, she certainly played it. It dates from 1898 (you can look up the maker and the serial number). Before I moved it to our house I had a piano tuner come and look at it, in case it wasn’t worth moving. At first he looked dubious but when he tried it he found it was actually in quite good condition, although it needed a few repairs. He fixed a couple of things but recommended replacing the check tapes (also known as bridle straps I believe). He said either we could do it or he could, but it would be much cheaper if we did it. Well two or three years have gone past already and I didn’t get around to it. Finally I sent for a set of new tapes, which cost £25.95 including delivery so not bad. But now they have been hanging around for three months already waiting for me to do something with them! Finally yesterday I opened up the piano and took out the workings. This looks daunting but is actually quite easy to do. I could see the tapes but couldn’t quite figure out how to replace them because although one end just loops over a little spike, the other looks as it is fixed for good! Eventually good old YouTube yielded an answer. Originally the tapes would have been pushed into the hole before another wooden part (which I think is called the jack) was pushed in and glued, so basically they are intended to be permanent. To replace, you can just cut off the old tape and glue a new one on the outside beside the hole. Obviously not quite as secure but then modern glues are better than 19th century options. It should be quite simple, although a bit fiddly. I can see why it would be expensive to get a professional to do this though. Replacing one tape is not too hard, but then you just have to repeat another 87 times! The photo shows the inside of the piano with just the strings, all the moving parts are out. Our lodger has been having fun singing and making noises into the piano because the strings alone reverberate in response in quite a startling way! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2026.