The predelivery process
Most piano dealers simply tick the “pre-delivery setup” box — but in reality, what gets done is often just tuning.
That’s it. No deep regulation, no touch alignment, no voicing. For uprights this already limits the instrument. For grand pianos, skipping setup can hide half of the piano’s potential.
What proper pre-delivery setup actually includes
- Action regulation (key height, dip, let-off, drop, backcheck distance, repetition speed)
- Keyboard levelling and key weighting
- Hammer travel and string mating (hammer–string contact)
- Voicing (needle work, shaping, hardening/softening as needed)
- Pedal regulation (lift, timing, half-pedal range)
- Final concert-level tuning (after regulation/voicing settles)
When this is done, the instrument wakes up — it feels like the strings are growing beneath your fingertips.
Touch vocabulary — how your piano should respond
A properly set up piano transforms tiny gestures into distinct colours. Try to:
- Brush (掠过)
- Skim / glide (擦过)
- Feather / caress (轻轻抚摸)
- Tap, drop, land, place, press, lean, breathe on the key
- Strike, bite, dig, release, float, linger
Each touch should produce a different response — clarity, warmth, bite, bloom, or shimmer — instead of a single flat tone. Most brand-new pianos can’t do this not because they’re bad, but because they were never truly set up.
A sad pattern I see (20 years later…)
Many owners only find me 20 years later, when the piano changes hands. After a full setup they say, “I’ve never felt it alive like this.”
For the first owner, that discovery comes too late — they never experienced the piano’s real voice when it was new.
Why my maintenance often beats “brand new”
When I perform a proper setup and maintenance on a new or near-new piano, it often outplays a showroom-fresh instrument.
I’m not fighting age — I’m unlocking what should have been there from day one.
Quick checklist before you buy
Ask the dealer:
- Have you done full action regulation (not just tuning)?
- Who performed voicing, and what felt/needling was done?
- What are the measured key dip, let-off, drop, backcheck, and repetition specs?
- Can I see a pre-delivery setup report with before/after values?
- Will you do a post-delivery visit after the piano settles?
If they can’t answer clearly (or only talk about tuning), you’re not getting a real pre-delivery setup.
What I deliver
- Documented before/after measurements
- Touch-matched regulation + voicing to your playing style
- A piano that speaks back when you brush, glide, caress, tap, drop, strike, or linger
Your piano shouldn’t just last. It should live.
Ready to feel the difference?
Book a maintenance for pre-delivery setup and hear what your instrument has been hiding.