What is a birdcage piano?
A birdcage piano is one in which the wires for the dampers are in front of the action, instead of behind it as one would find in a traditional action. What makes these pianos difficult to tune, is that the wires make it difficult to place mutes for tuning, and the damper felts are mounted above the hammers, leaving little room for proper mute placement in the treble section of the piano. The wires in front give the appearance that the action is behind or in a “birdcage”, hence the name. This is also a poor choice for an instrument because many of these pianos were built in England and do not handle the extremes in humidity found in Southern Ontario, and as such, often do not hold a tuning very well. Many of these pianos have beautiful cabinetry, and so it is easy to be fooled into buying this type of piano.
