Anyone ever detail a piano?

ntwillie1

ntwillie1

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I know, I know, this is auto geek and people discuss detailing cars, boats, and the like. But, I figured I'd ask anyway in case anyone has ever come across my issue.

I recently purchased a 1982 Yamaha U3 piano for my 7 year old son from a private seller. The piano has a black gloss finish to it. Mechanically the piano is in pristine condition. It's an absolute gem. Cosmetically, to 99% of people the piano is prestine as well. When you look into the finish it's like looking into a mirror. However, I fall into that 1% that sees the microscopic swirl marks under the right lighting.

Has anyone here ever detailed a piano with a high gloss finish to remove the swirl marks? I am scared to try anything. Most info I find online like YouTube and google is basically people dusting them and using polish but based on the way I see them doing it I feel like they are only instilling more swirl marks. I haven' seen anyone try to remove swirl marks from a piano.

Anyway, If anyone has any advice I'd definitely appreciate it. Thanks in advance.


W
 
ntwillie1 said:
I know, I know, this is auto geek and people discuss detailing cars, boats, and the like. But, I figured I'd ask anyway in case anyone has ever come across my issue.

I recently purchased a 1982 Yamaha U3 piano for my 7 year old son from a private seller. The piano has a black gloss finish to it. Mechanically the piano is in pristine condition. It's an absolute gem. Cosmetically, to 99% of people the piano is prestine as well. When you look into the finish it's like looking into a mirror. However, I fall into that 1% that sees the microscopic swirl marks under the right lighting.

Has anyone here ever detailed a piano with a high gloss finish to remove the swirl marks? I am scared to try anything. Most info I find online like YouTube and google is basically people dusting them and using polish but based on the way I see them doing it I feel like they are only instilling more swirl marks. I haven' seen anyone try to remove swirl marks from a piano.

Anyway, If anyone has any advice I'd definitely appreciate it. Thanks in advance.


W
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i think miguiars has a section for wood polishing
 
I haven't ever polished a piano, & to be honest, I don't know a thing about how they are painted but I have seen many pianos that desperately needed polishing.

Here's my advice - instead of trying to remove the defects & putting the surface at risk, why not give CarPro Essence+ a shot. Essence+ is a non abrasive product but it has long term filling capabilitie. For a product that was intended as a polish for coated paint to repair minor swirls in the said coating & add a super hydrophobic layer, it is also a very handy one step product, even on paint thats boardering on ugly. It's great stuff, very safe (important in this instant) & worth a go, & hey - if it doesn't get the desired results, you'll have a great LSP for your car. :dblthumb2:

Aaryn NZ.
 
Since it is black in finish, then one can of course assume a paint, and not actually polishing-treating "wood". Doubtful Lacquer, but you never know, but more likely some type of acrylic finish.

I would guess a Glaze would work well, contain no abrasives, fill and hide minor swirling. Poor Boys World Black Hole Glaze would be one product I myself would probably look to. Or a good Hand Glaze from the likes of 3M Company.

Then perhaps using a simple guitar polish spray from the likes of Fender, Gibson, Martin would be fine. The finish is probably quite similar to that of an Electric Guitar.

I'd say probably yes too, to an all in one product like Carpro Essence, again works-acts like a glaze-cleaner that will fill minor swirling, but also leave behind a durable protective scratch-mar resistant coat.

Could a D/A be used? Possibly yes, with ultra soft finishing-waxing foam pads, low speeds, and again with such products like I mention above.

With any product, test in an inconspicuous place first.
 
The Yamaha drums I had were sprayed with a hard clear. I've had success with Meguiar's M09 in some cases. One guitar (Jackson USA custom) I did needed compound to remove the scratches.

I did my dw drums with Menzerna SF4000 (3500 today), a blue 4" buff and shine pad, and my pc.

The piano should be no different than that Yamaha drum set I had.

Start with your least aggressive in an inconspicuous area to start.
 
It is an acrylic finish... have a piano with a black finish. I've been wanting to clean it up myself. Up till now I've only used glass cleaner on it for dusting. If you do use Essence (or whatever), let me know how you make out. FYI- the fish is pretty hard nd durable, so don't think you will kill it right out of the gate.
 
I've used black hole & natty's blue.


Worked well.
 
I did a quick search, and this Piano is said to have a polished Polyester finish.

Surely not an inexpensive piano I see, with an MSRP of over $14,000.

Rule of thumb, use the least aggressive methods and products first. And see where that gets you
 
parshooter, I actually googled that, lol.

everyone else, thank you. I appreciate the suggestions. I'm having second thoughts about applying automobile products on the piano. I did order a piano specific polish called cory care along with a product they call key-brite. It arrived in the mail today. I will use it but I don't just want to shine it up, I want to remove the swirls. Being that i'm too scared to try that, maybe I will use a filler like product as some have suggested. Gotta think about this one a bit.

As a side note, I also ordered something called "the miracle cloth". People on the piano boards recommended it for polishing the brass pieces like the inset lettering and the pedals. I will report back and let you guys know if it really does work. The funny thing about the miracle cloth is that on the website they said you can use it to polish your car, bumpers, rims, etc.... I won't be trying that, but I thought it was funny.
 
ntwillie1 said:
As a side note, I also ordered something called "the miracle cloth". People on the piano boards recommended it for polishing the brass pieces like the inset lettering and the pedals. I will report back and let you guys know if it really does work. The funny thing about the miracle cloth is that on the website they said you can use it to polish your car, bumpers, rims, etc.... I won't be trying that, but I thought it was funny.
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I have a friend that ordered one of these from AG: Conserve water, and materials use KozaK DryWash Cloths between wet washing’ to keep your car looking newly detailed every day!

I'm sure they work, but my brain throws every alarm bell just thinking about dragging a cloth against my car's paint without any other treatment.
 
Keep in mind that certain products will perhaps not be needed to be used on the entire Piano.

That a simple spray detailer from here, or as I said earlier, a simple spray and wipe Guitar Polish might suffice to clean, remove dust, fingerprints, enhance gloss.

As for wipe downs with cloths, I'd say buy and use the softest microfiber towels money can buy. Such examples would be the Carpro Boa, the Gold Plush Towels, and other great towels sold here.

That there may only need to be a need to resort to a Glaze, or a ultra fine polish in areas where fingers, and fingernails have made fine scratches, or from moving.
 
MarkD51 said:
I did a quick search, and this Piano is said to have a polished Polyester finish.

Surely not an inexpensive piano I see, with an MSRP of over $14,000.

Rule of thumb, use the least aggressive methods and products first. And see where that gets you
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wow that sounds absolutely nothing like polishing a painted car to be honest...
 
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fightnews said:
wow that sounds absolutely nothing like polishing a painted car to be honest...
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I would say this Piano is more akin to be like cleaning, polishing and maintaining a finish on a fine electric guitar like a Les Paul, Stratocaster, Telecaster, Paul Reed Smith, Rickenbacker, etc etc.

And I've used automotive type polishes glazes and sealants on such in the past to flawless superb effect.

I have some good experience with such, and that the products I mention beforehand would work fine, very little to no risk of damage if used by hand.
 
MarkD51 said:
View attachment 55081View attachment 55082

I would say this Piano is more akin to be like cleaning, polishing and maintaining a finish on a fine electric guitar like a Les Paul, Stratocaster, Telecaster, Paul Reed Smith, Rickenbacker, etc etc.

And I've used automotive type polishes glazes and sealants on such in the past to flawless superb effect.

I have some good experience with such, and that the products I mention beforehand would work fine, very little to no risk of damage if used by hand.
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ok yeah i dont know anything about pianos i was just thinking it might be more like finished wood
 
well, i wanted to report back that I used the miracle cloth with great success on all my brass pieces. The pedals and hinges came out super shiny. I will post pictures later on. The Piano wood itself I used the Piano polish on. It did make it extremely shiny, which it really already was (more of a removing finger prints and smudges product), but it didn't remove any scratches. So for the moment, still living w those. Thanks everyone.
 
Not sure about piano, but i have used a LC black pad with Essence on a clear coated wood table and it worked wonders. I even did 6 section passes on my Rupes 2, speed 3.5.
 
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