Sykes & Sons is a specialist piano workshop in Stockport, devoted to the selection, preparation and restoration of acoustic pianos.

Whether you're considering a piano from our collection or entrusting one to us for restoration, you benefit from our deep understanding of how pianos are built, how they age, and how we can preserve or renew their musical and mechanical qualities. That understanding informs every decision we make.

This considered approach has earned Sykes & Sons the trust of private owners, professional musicians, teachers, institutions, and even other piano firms, all of whom rely on our knowledge and experience of the instrument.

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Piano Restoration

Another lifetime begins here.

The finest pianos were made to endure. Time inevitably leaves its mark, but age need not diminish the qualities that made an instrument exceptional in the first place.

At Sykes & Sons, restoration is an exacting discipline: one that calls for experience, judgement and restraint in equal measure. Our purpose is not to make an old piano new, but to preserve its identity while renewing the musical, mechanical and aesthetic qualities upon which its future depends.

For instruments of personal, musical, or historic significance, we undertake a limited number of complete restoration commissions each year.

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Piano Sales

Selected with judgement. Prepared without compromise.

A piano is defined by far more than the name on its fallboard. Its design, materials, condition, and history all shape the instrument it is today, while the quality of its preparation determines much of what the pianist ultimately experiences at the keyboard.

For that reason, every piano offered by Sykes & Sons is selected individually and prepared in our climate-controlled workshop. Each instrument is assessed as a whole, with its structure, keyboard, action, regulation, tone, and cabinet considered together rather than in isolation. Where work is required, it is carried out according to the needs of the individual piano, not a predetermined level of preparation.

The result is an instrument prepared not simply to present well, but to play properly: responsive and controlled beneath the fingers, musically coherent across the compass, dependable in service, and ready to be enjoyed for years to come.

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Piano Hire

Pianos worthy of the occasion.

From private homes and intimate recitals to recording sessions, weddings, and larger concerts, our hire collection brings together grand and upright pianos chosen for occasions where the instrument itself matters.

Each piano is maintained and prepared in our Stockport workshop, with its touch, tone, and mechanical condition carefully assessed before every engagement.

At the heart of the collection are our Yamaha C5 and C7 grand pianos, instruments of proven versatility and consistency, equally at home in professional performance, recording, and the most memorable private occasions.

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Danemann had the wonderfully practical habit of repurposing old employee time and wage cards as keyboard shims. We find them in many of their pianos, cut into strips and tucked under the keyframe.

This particular collection includes the card of Craven, employee No. 25, recording the week ending 11 March 1965. There are clocking times, hours worked and fragments of the calculations that once determined somebody’s weekly pay.

There is something rather lovely about finding these. Behind the Danemann name were real people who arrived for work in the morning, clocked in and earned their wages. Somebody filled these cards out. Somebody cut them up. Somebody else slipped them beneath a keyboard, probably without imagining that anyone would give them another thought.

Quite what the modern Data Protection Officer would make of finding the payroll records under the keyboard, we’re not entirely sure. 🤣
#piano #pianoworkshop #history

Part VI of the Danemann 118 🎹

With the action temporarily back in, there was a dimensional inconsistency in the original keyboard geometry which needed addressing.

In its original configuration, the keyboard wanted to place the sharps 14mm above the naturals at rest. This isn’t new to us. Years of working with Danemann 118s have established 12mm as the point at which the rest of the geometry reconciles properly.

Two millimetres sounds trivial. In an action, it isn’t.

Key height, depth of touch, aftertouch, set-off and escapement all have to work together. Over decades, compromises can accumulate until one adjustment compensates for another. The result can be bobbling notes, an inconsistent touch and reduced control.

This isn’t all to satisfy our slightly obsessive relationship with regulation numbers, I promise. Get these relationships right and the pianist feels it, particularly when asking the action to do something quietly. That’s what matters.

Simply dropping the sharps by 2mm isn’t the answer. We’d lose roughly the same amount of downward travel and useful adjustment at the balance rail, fixing one problem by creating another.

When the keyframe came apart earlier in the project, the original shimming was discarded. The front-touch rail was depinned and went to the table saw, where we removed 3mm beneath the sharp front-touch pins.

That gives us the clearance without sacrificing travel, while retaining sensible punchings for future adjustment. A future technician shouldn’t need to know what we did. It should simply service conventionally.

Back at the piano, we start with a handful of reference notes. With the action seated and blow distance established, these let us bring key height and depth close to position and check set-off, escapement and aftertouch. Only when those notes show the geometry works as a whole does the rest of the keyboard go back in.

None of this is fine regulation. The hammers still need their final reface, travelling and mating before that begins.
But the keyboard is now where it needs to be.

The fine regulation can follow. #pianoworkshop #piano #workshop

With the keybed repaired, the keyboard rebushed, and the keyframe fitted with new felts and washers, we can begin setting it up properly. This is where a set of keys becomes a keyboard.

We’re now establishing the keyboard geometry from first principles. Rather than simply reproducing the measurements we found, we’re treating the geometry as a complete system and carrying out the adjustments necessary to get the most out of this piano. What we do here, in these first stages of the keyboard setup, will influence everything that follows: the regulation of the action, how the finished instrument feels beneath the hands, and how responsive it will be to the player.

This is one of our favourite stages of a preparation. The changes are subtle, but this is where all that careful bench work begins to translate into the touch and response of the finished instrument. #piano #pianoworkshop #keyboard

Part V of the Danemann 118 🎹

We’re keeping the original keyboard, so first the old bushing cloth needs to come out. Rather than using steam, we introduce a small amount of solvent directly into the bond line and leave it to saturate the felt. After around 30 minutes, the adhesive yields and the old cloth can be lifted away before the timber has had chance to respond.

Then it’s out with the Verniers to take measurements. 📏
The mortices and pins are measured before we select the correct thickness of high-quality, triple-layer European bushing felt. It’s then cut into uniform strips by hand and all 88 keys are individually rebushed.

There’s plenty more to do while everything is apart. The old balance and front-rail felts are replaced, the keytops are cleaned and polished, and the keyframe is prepared ready to receive its keyboard again.

Then we get to one of our favourite parts of piano preparation. 😊

Before we dismantled the Danemann, we assessed its touch and recorded the original dimensions. Now, with the keyboard prepared and ready to go back in, we can start putting those measurements to work.

The last few seconds of this video show the very beginning of that process: setting the keyboard geometry. #pianoworkshop #piano #pianorepair #danemannpiano #pianorepair

Part IV of the Danemann 118 🔧🎹

Time to sort out the pedals!

You might remember from Part I that this Danemann had a rather persistent squeak. Once we dismantled the trapwork, we found evidence of several previous attempts to cure it: extra felt, oil, and a pile of Teflon powder.

To ensure a silent operation for many years ahead, we’ve rebuilt the mechanism properly and eliminated the cause of the fault altogether. New felts throughout, with everything else reconditioned as required.

One of the original brass-capped steel pedals had also worn right through, so we’ve replaced the pair with solid brass pedals salvaged from another British piano of the same period, then polished them back to their former glory. ✨

And because this is an Assembly Hall Series piano, we’ve added one of our favourite little modifications…

Mouse-proof pedal brackets! 🐭

The pedal openings are a favourite entrance for mice, particularly in pianos living in churches, schools, and halls. So we make new close-fitting brackets from solid oak which completely close off the gaps around the pedals so mice can’t get through.

No more squeak. No more makeshift repairs. And no mice sneaking in through the pedals. 😂

Keyboard and action next 🙏 #pianoworkshop #pianorepair #piano #oak #danemannpiano

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From the Sykes & Sons Archive

Ivory Piano Keys and The Law

For owners, these keys can raise a complicated mix of feelings: respect for the instrument’s history, discomfort about its origins, and uncertainty about what’s legally allowed when it comes to repairs, restorations, or selling. Public attitudes and laws have evolved significantly over the last few decades.

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Variations of the Knight K10

Reconditioned Knight K10 pianos remain to be one of our most popular models and demand for them has only continued to increase.

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Study Your Art and Practise It with an Earnest Purpose

Some thoughts settle quietly somewhere in the background of our minds, only to return many years later with an altogether different meaning. The words themselves haven't changed, but we have, and so we hear them differently. For me, one such thought has followed me since the earliest days of my apprenticeship: “Study your art and practise it with an earnest purpose.” An elder technician offered it as advice to a young apprentice, and for years I wrote those words on the first

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Harris Tweed® Piano Bench Upholstery

A piano rarely exists in isolation within the home. Whether positioned in a formal drawing room, a quiet reading corner, a country sitting room, or a contemporary living space, it naturally becomes part of the atmosphere and character of the interior around it. The materials and finishes that accompany the instrument, therefore, play an important role in how comfortably it belongs within the room. Every piano from Sykes & Sons is supplied with a complimentary brand-new adjust

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Why We Only Sell Pianos We Would Happily Sell Again

At Sykes & Sons, we work to a very simple principle. If we sell a piano today, we must be confident that we would still be happy to sell that same piano again twenty years from now. That belief quietly guides almost every decision we make in the workshop. It shapes the instruments we select, the work we carry out while they are here, and the advice we give to customers when they are selecting a piano. It is also the reason we are comfortable offering what we call our “buy-bac

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The Reconditioning of a Little Chappell

This Chappell Model B came to me from a family that had owned it since the 1960s. When they first contacted me, their request was simple. They wanted the piano to have the best possible chance of a long future. They understood that the instrument would need careful work, and they knew that at Sykes & Sons, we are prepared to go to considerable lengths when preparing these well-built British pianos for their next chapter. After arranging a visit to see the instrument in person

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The History of Welmar Pianos

The Welmar name first appeared in 1919, marking the beginning of a legacy that would grow to become one of Britain's most famous and highly respected piano brands.

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The Different Models of Knight Pianos: A Complete Guide

The Knight K range represents one of the finest chapters in British upright design. From the foundational K6 to the flagship K10 and the ambitious K15, these pianos combine structural ingenuity with enduring musical depth. This guide explores the models that defined the Knight legacy and explains why they remain so highly regarded today.

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2 3 4

Our articles explore piano makers, instruments, history, and craft, drawing upon generations of knowledge and experience at the bench.

Written to inform, they offer a closer look at the instrument, the industry that shaped it, and the principles that continue to guide our work today.

In Their Own Words

A selection of experiences shared by the musicians, families, teachers, institutions, and fellow professionals who have entrusted their pianos to Sykes & Sons.

Pat

From start to finish, I received a first class service from Sykes & Sons Pianos. This heavenly company quite clearly intend on offering an entirely different approach to piano retail.

Browse More Reviews

Piano Restoration

Another lifetime begins here.

Piano Sales

Selected with judgement. Prepared without compromise.

Piano Hire

Pianos worthy of the occasion.

​

From the Sykes & Sons Archive

Ivory Piano Keys and The Law

Variations of the Knight K10

Study Your Art and Practise It with an Earnest Purpose

Harris Tweed® Piano Bench Upholstery

Why We Only Sell Pianos We Would Happily Sell Again

The Reconditioning of a Little Chappell

The History of Welmar Pianos

The Different Models of Knight Pianos: A Complete Guide