Eckwall Piano Tuners

Kurt Eckwall | Elmhurst, Illinois

630-258-5002

About Me

Hello, I am Kurt Eckwall. I am a professional piano tuner offering piano tuning and piano repair services in Elmhurst, Illinois, Wheaton, Naperville, Villa Park, Lombard, Carol Stream, Highland Park, DuPage and the greater Chicagoland area.

Tuning an acoustic piano is a very demanding and exacting science, and it requires an excellent hands-on instructor with high standards of perfection.

Our business was founded in 1947 when Kurt's father, Donald Eckwall, after returning from Word War II, attended Greer College in Chicago to receive a degree in piano technology. This school was well renowned to be one of the most comprehensive piano technical curriculums available. Donald worked in the Chicago area for over 40 years as a renowned master piano technician. In 1977, Kurt Eckwall began his career as a technician as well, learning the profession from his father. "Learning from someone of this caliber was very rewarding," says Kurt. "Tuning an acoustic piano is a very demanding and exacting science, and it requires an excellent hands-on instructor with high standards of perfection." Shortly after he began his piano tuning business, Kurt worked at various piano rebuilding shops in the Chicago area, gaining more knowledge and experience with piano action rebuilding, restringing, and other aspects of piano work. Working along with other technicians, he was able to hone his skills in the many facets of rebuilding a piano. Thirty four years and some 35,000 tunings later, Kurt's standards remain as high as his dad's were. He tunes only aurally (by ear), and prides himself on the finest tempered, most stable tunings found anywhere. His unique "impact style" of tuning assures his customers that their piano will hold a tune to the best of its ability, without tuning pins slipping out because of improper setting. Indeed, many customers are amazed at how long their pianos held a tune after one of Kurt's tunings. (Note: A piano's ability to hold a tune depends on many factors. Feel free to contact us if you need more information.) In 1995, Kurt became a QRS Pianomation installer and service technician. In 1999 he was PianoDisc certified. In installing these systems, Kurt maintains the same highest standards of quality found in his tunings, repairs and rebuilding. These two disc player systems can be retrofit into virtually any piano, grand or upright. After approximately 500 installations to this date, his player pianos are among the most reliable and trouble-free found anywhere.

Technical Skills

Piano Tuning

100%
Piano Repair & Restoration

100%
Player Systems

100%
Piano Playing

20%

Career Highlights

34 Years in business
Over 35,000 tunings
Pianodisc Certified
Pianomation Certified

Services (Scroll down to view all page content)

Piano Tuning

In 1977, Kurt Eckwall began his career as a technician, learning the profession from his father. "Learning from someone of this caliber was very rewarding" says Kurt. "Tuning an acoustic piano is a very demanding and exacting science, and it requires an excellent hands-on instructor with high standards of perfection." Shortly after he began his piano tuning business, Kurt worked at various piano rebuilding shops in the Chicago area, gaining more knowledge and experience with piano action rebuilding, restringing, and other aspects of piano work. Working along with other technicians, he was able to hone his skills in the many facets of rebuilding a piano.

Studied under Donald Eckwall
Tunes only aurally (by ear)
Impact tuning ensures longevity

Player System Installation

Kurt is a certified installer and service technician for PianoDisc and QRS PNOmation player systems. Since 1995, Kurt has installed over 500 of these player systems in both grand and vertical pianos.

Player systems have evolved over the past several years. If you currently own an older system, consider updating it to today's technology. Did you know you can now play your piano with your iPad, iPhone or iPod? And, do it completely wirelessly. Select a song, turn the volume up or down, anywhere in your home. Your piano plays that song at your command! These player systems can be retrofit in to ANY piano!

Call us today for more information on these exciting new player systems!

QRS Pianomation - Installer & Technician
PianoDisc certified
Well OVER 500 installations

Repair

Over time, the performance of a piano action tends to decline, due to the compression of felt, warping of wood, and other types of wear. A skilled technician can restore it to optimal precision, in a process called regulation, which involves adjustments ranging from turning a small screw to sanding down a wood surface. Many new pianos are not perfectly regulated when released from the factory, or quickly lose their regulation when moved to their new home, and benefit from regulation in the store or in the home. The goal of regulation is to make the piano's touch and sound consistent across all notes, allow it to comfortably achieve the widest possible range of dynamics, and make the keys responsive to even the most rapid or most subtle motions of the player.

Lifetime of experience in diagnosing and repairing piano problems
Always assesses the piano's condition before proceeding to perform any work
Gives customers options on repairs

Restoration

Pianos have a limited lifetime, usually measured in decades. However, different parts have different lifetimes: for example, on a heavily used but well-cared-for instrument (e.g. in a concert hall), the hammers might last less than ten years while the soundboard might last up to fifty years. Regular replacement of worn parts can therefore extend a piano's lifetime by decades... even indefinitely, provided that the piano's structural support (i.e. the frame) remains sound. In decrepit pianos, the frame and some parts of the action may remain in good condition, and piano rebuilders are able to restore or rebuild an instrument by replacing a large fraction of its parts. These include the strings, pinblock, bridges, soundboard and ribs, hammers, and many parts of the action. Colloquially, "restoration" implies more replacement work than mere "repair" or "maintenance," and "rebuilding" implies yet more intensive work than restoration. However, there is no precise definition of these terms. Restoration is labor-intensive, and therefore expensive; it is therefore generally done only if the original piano was of high quality, or the instrument has historical or sentimental value.