Carol did a fantastic job tuning our 115 year old Steinway piano. Her attention to detail is amazing. In addition to tuning she was able to help repair some keys that were not functioning properly and help us out with suggestions to maintain the piano. We would highly recommend Carol for anyone needing tuning or repair work on their piano. read more

This person is not a real piano technician. Look for someone with the RPT (Registered Piano Technician) certification by going to PTG.org, the Piano Technicians Guild official website. Ismail did not do what she said she took care of. This is after thorough back and forth communication. I had another expert double-check this vendor's work in my case. Looking at other reviews here, she may well have treated other customers well (I'm thinking perhaps her good reviews also include less-experienced pianists), but for what it's worth, in my case as a professional musician, I found her to thoroughly be a scam. This is a review for not only the quality of her work, but the lack of ethics for when faulty work -- and work that was outright not done but claimed to be done -- was pointed out sensitively initially, and then more explicitly when needed. There were no serious efforts at fixing problems created by her though she feigned care. I discovered that she lies, believably initially, but over time, it became clear that she's not sincere. In this process, I also discovered that Carol Ismail falsifies her credentials, listing UC Berkeley as where she earned a degree and even going so far as to say she taught at UC Berkeley; I found that both of these are false. Roll the dice with her or for about the same price, hire an actual RPT and perhaps someone who values honesty more? read more

Carol was great. She arrived before time and took her own time to clean the piano and then tuned each keys individually and explained about the whole process and some more things about piano health in general. read more

I'm finally getting around to leaving a review for Carol's tuning of my piano. We have a small upright Yamaha, and after Carol's work it is a complete joy to play. I love the sound, the fullness, everything about our modest piano was improved. I can unequivocally recommend Ismail in Tune for piano tuning and servicing. Thanks so much Carol! read more

Great service, prompt and very knowledgeable. During the repair, she helped assess the condition of the piano. Highly recommend her service! read more

I was told about Carol from a friend of mine who is a piano instructor. She's been Carol's customer for a long time. She was responsive both via email and phone, getting back to me quickly. She is very knowledgeable, honest and helpful to answer my questions. I had my piano tuned and chipped keys replaced by Carol. I am so satisfied and would highly recommend her. Thanks Carol! read more

Ismail in Tune - Piano - Piano Services Near Me

Carol responded quickly to my request for tuning services. She probably could have upsold me on retuning in a few months but did not - it is an older and infrequently used instrument, so I feel she kept my needs at the forefront. She was able to tell me a lot about my piano's condition and likely behavior post-tuning. The tuning went great with the piano sounding much, much better. Price was very reasonable. Also got a ton of interesting info about musical performances in the area. read more

Carol is incredibly knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. My daughters' piano teacher referred us to her while we were shopping for our first piano. As a parent who is not a musician, this was an intimidating process, and Carol's input was invaluable! Now we are happily relying on her tuning services to keep our piano playing beautifully. read more

Carol is flexible and great to work with. She explained a lot about piano tuning that I didn't know before and my piano sounds wonderful. But even more! She polished all the brass so it's wearing its shiny jewelry again. read more

Ismail in Tune - Piano Services Near Me

Carol has been our piano tuner since the day we bought the beloved 22-year "young" Steinway M. She has many years of tuning experiences and works very professionally. She knows Steinway inside-out, explained to my daughter how she should take care of it. My daughter also got to know quite some music events around the Bay Area from her. She charges a very reasonable price for the quality service. read more

Carol's knowledgeable expertise deftly tuned my 100 year old Baby Grand. Carol is delightful and a such a wonderfully sweet person as well. I hope to have Carol as my forever piano tuner! read more

Carol has been my piano tuner for a few years now. She is very reliable, professional, and skilled! She has kept my piano in great shape and improved the timbre, beyond just keeping it in tune! read more

Carol tuned my U3. She use a special type of liquid to make the bass sound the way I like. Very satisfied.

I have a Kawai U-1 upright piano and a GX-2 Grand Piano for tuning. This is my first time having the piano tuning service by Carol. Her tuning skills and service really impressed me. She was very responsive when scheduling the service and she was on time on the day for tuning. She was very polite and gave me a call before arriving. She was detailed and was willing to spend time on every single key to be tuned. She answered all my questions very patiently and shared several tips for taking care of the piano. She was also very generous to share several great local musicians who offer excellent performance online during the COVID and sometimes in house before COVID. Now, both my pianos sound great and with mellow sound which I enjoy very much !!! I really appreciate Carol's service and highly recommend her if anyone is looking for a good piano tuner. read more

Carol is the best tuner I have ever met. I met her when I encountered a crisis of having a few broken notes in my old Baldwin piano that could not be fixed. Carol was patient and honest about my situation: it was time to get a new piano. She was very knowledgeable and resourceful, guiding me through my search and negotiation process, and she did not benefit from any of this. I found a used Yamaha within my budget in 1 week. I could not have done it without her advice and encouragement. I am thankful for her selflessness, kindness, and integrity. read more

Carol tuned my Kawai K500 Aures 2 (hybrid) with great care and did a wonderful job. She went above and beyond a regular tuning job and came back a second time to do voicing work as well. She's very experienced, has great aural ability and technical and mechanical abilities. All very important skills as a piano technician. I'm very happy with how my piano sounds now. read more

I recently moved from San Jose to Aptos, and so I needed my Kawaii baby grand piano tuned. I called upon Ismail in Tune and liked what I read, so I gave them a call. Carol came out to work on my piano. She was incredibly informative and knowledgeable. It's so nice to work with someone who loves and cares for pianos as she does. I've owned my piano for 38 years, and Carol had it sounding brand-new like the first day I bought it! I am so grateful to Carol for her outstanding work, and I'm looking forward to using her for my next tune-up! I highly recommend her. read more

A couple of things about Carol. First, she is very professional. It is refreshing to work with a professional who is as responsive and knowledgeable as Carol was in our piano search process. If I had a question, she responded promptly and in full. Second, she has a laser focus when it comes to tuning pianos. The piano sounds beautiful now. Lastly, in addition to her position as a piano tuner, Carol likes to help potential clients with piano searches. We would have been lost without her. She helped us narrow our parameters for the piano search and then directed us to useful online and in-person resources that made the piano search process easy and comfortable. She had suggested early on a specific piano brand for my son, which he resisted at first, but later found to be the perfect instrument for what he was looking for. My son treasures his piano. He plays it every day, multiple times per day, and as a parent, it is a joy to listen to him play and to watch him develop his passion. read more

I will be using Ismail in Tune for all my piano tuning and cleaning needs. Professional, perfection, fun, and instructive are words to describe this service. After years of non- use and years in pandemic lockdown, my Baldwin grand piano needed a thorough cleaning and tuning and boy did Ismail in Tune come through. I highly recommend this service. read more

I had the luck and the honor to meet Carol Ismail. She revived my Steinway Model B circa 1884 from the ashes. As a professional pianist who often works with pro tuners, I have never met more competent expert in the United States. The result of the work she has done to resuscitate this instrument shows that she knows not only the art of instrument tuning and its latest developments, but much more: she also knows the art of giving back its soul to an instrument. read more

Ismail in Tune - Carol Ismail working on the Steinway B c. 1884 - Piano Services Near Me

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Today Carol did tuning for my piano. She did very good job and very nice to explain many things about piano. He told us many things to do clean and maintaince. Highly recommend! read more

Carol helped me a lot with pre-purchase piano consulting this week. It is hard for piano players to find a good condition & fair pricing pre-owned piano on Internet . Carol, as a professional piano technician, helped us checked piano condition thoroughly and explained all problems in details. She also provided some reasonable price suggestion for our piano offer. read more

I found Carol on Yelp when I was looking to buy a piano for my daughter. Carol was SO incredibly helpful! Not knowing very much about pianos, she taught me all about what to look for in a piano. She even called a few piano stores for me and ultimately helped me find an amazing piano at a very reasonable price. We are super happy with our piano! After the piano was delivered, we called Carol to do the first tuning. She was so detailed and she educated me on caring for the piano. She was very willing to share information and answer my many questions. Carol went above and beyond! She took the piano completely apart to check and tune it. She didn't rush through any work, and she even found a minor issue helping me take care of it on the spot. You can tell that she has great respect and knowledge of pianos! We would not hesitate in recommending Ismail In Tune to anyone! read more

I have a piano from the late 1800's that had not been tuned in about 30 years. I recently began playing again, and wanted to have the piano tuned. Carol took care to explain how pianos work and their life span. She was honest about her ability to tune the piano because of its age, but still was able to greatly improve the sound. I have a much better understanding of how the piano works and am able to continue playing! I'd recommend her service to anyone :). read more

I am really glad to have met Carol! I recently purchased the Kawai upright piano at DC Piano Company and they introduced Carol to me. I am very grateful they did! She is incredibly honest and knowledgeable about the instrument. Not only did she tune the piano, she also shared information on how to choose the model, and how to maintain and clean the piano. I appreciate her time to share her knowledge of keeping my piano nice and pleasant. I totally recommend her!! Thank you very much Carol!! read more

I am so glad to have found Carol. A little over a week ago I put out a strange request: I needed to have tuned and prepared a grand piano that had been sitting for a long time, essentially a piece of furniture, for a concert later in the week by a performer coming from out of town. This was not my piano and not my house, so I was handling it remotely, and it had to be done immediately, on a Sunday. Not only was Carol informative and honest about the potential work that needed to be done, she willingly agreed to work on our schedule, coming out on a Sunday afternoon. She would explain everything while working to my friend, who does not play the piano, and then she would call me and relay everything to me. I could tell she valued her craft because she sounded so disappointed that there wasn't enough time and she felt that more work needed to be done. I was given a very reasonable price. Well, the concert happened this past Friday and I am pleased to report that our performer and audience LOVED the feel and sounds coming out of that piano. It was absolutely wonderful and it blows my mind that with some more time and care it could have been even better. We will surely be working with Carol again and I look forward to experiencing this instrument at its full potential. Perhaps we'll even order one of Carol's custom wool piano string covers - wow! THANK YOU, CAROL! read more

I'm very happy with Carol's piano tuning service, she is very responsive and honest in pricing. I was able to set up an appointment within the week, she showed up on time, did a great job and explained well along the way - everything went smoothly, no surprise/extra charges. She also shared knowledge on how to maintain the piano and some family friendly piano events. I highly recommend her, thank you Carol! read more

Carole did a great job on my kawai 300. The technician prior to her said there were just too many keys with sticky motions for him to repair that may cost thousands of dollars. Then Kawai sent Carol who took care of it in a few hours W likely a small fraction of the previous price. She is very experienced, knowledgable, and trustworthy. read more

Carol is great. She is knowledgeable and nice. She did a wonderful job with our piano. She fixed the sticky keys, tune and adjust the voicing. She also shared with us her knowledge about piano and music. She gave us tips on how to take care of the piano. A few days later we have a small problem with the piano, she came back the next day to fix it. Highly recommend her for servicing and tuning pianos. read more

We had not tuned the piano for a while due to the pandemic and recently got Carol Ismail to tune our piano. She did an amazing job - very knowledgeable, thorough, perfect turning job as well as cleaned the piano. She came by for a checkup after 5 months for a mini tuneup but she found it still in good tune so moved the appointment out a year. She also contacted Yamaha for ordering a broken hinge part of the bench. I can tell that she is dedicated to her profession and does her work with passion. Highly recommend her for servicing and tuning of pianos. read more

Carol is joy to have in your home. Her knowledge and willingness to share it so appreciated as we are novices in the piano ownership field. She is very communicative from the first conversation to set up the appointment to have our new to us (60 year old piano) tuned. It had not been well taken care of in the past - Carol dove right in and tuned it and made it sound beautiful. I would absolutely recommend her piano tuning services! We live in Monterey and she had no issue coming down to the peninsula and would welcome more business in the area. read more

I'm not a big, leave a review person, but Carolyn was exception. Communicated real-time, educated us, followed through, honest an her appraisal and fair in how she priced her service. She treated our Steinway as if it was her own. She also brought in experts to fix a problem on the upper keys that Steinway couldn't fix. It's 19 years old but sounds better now than we when we got it. read more

Carol is so nice! She is professional and knows so much about the piano. She is a great teacher and introduces me to the music world in the bay area. Nice to meet you. read more

Carol just tuned my piano this morning. It had been at least a decade since the last tuning and I was worried.... She was AMAZING! She clearly explained her process, along with the specific, individual state of this particular (100+ year old) piano - I am far more informed today, even though I've had this piano for over 25 years. And it sounds great! I am going to enjoy playing daily now. Carol was promptly responsive to my first inquiry about setting a tuning date, and she inquired at the time about the piano's age. This was a bit of a mystery, and I could only supply her with minimal signage info inside. When she arrived today, she had tried to research a bit on my behalf, totally above and beyond my expectations. I recommend Carol to anyone out there looking to find a new and improved piano tuner and piano tuning experience! read more

I'm very happy with my experience hiring Carol to tune my piano. She did a great job and it sounds so much better now! I also enjoyed the brief education she gave me about how pianos work and how to keep them in good condition. She's very knowledgeable and professional. She also had lots of good tips about the music scene in Santa Cruz, which I was excited about, since I'm new to the area. read more

Carol did a great job of tuning my piano and explaining what she had done. She also discussed with me a problem that I had not noticed and left it up to me to decide whether I wanted to fix it or not. It was nice to have that option. Thank you. read more

Carol did a great job tuning our upright Wurlitzer piano. It had been many years since it was tuned last, but she not only got it in tune, she also was able to soften the felt pads so the piano doesn't have a harsh sound anymore. She also took the time to answer my questions about how to care for the piano (and as a bonus, she had some good suggestions about various musical groups in the area, if I want to start playing my flute with a group again). Highly recommended! read more

I don't normally make the time to yelp, but when I do, I wholeheartedly mean what I write. When I needed to tune my piano for a home concert I was going to have in a few weeks time I was recommended Carol Ismail by an acquaintance of mine. Carol is on point and absolutely a pleasure to work with. She's honest and tells you exactly what needs to be done and talks to you before about additional recommendations when she comes across a problem. She was quick, efficient, and came over to my house without any problems. I will most definitely be using her again in the future. She's absolutely wonderful! read more

I had the pleasure of hiring Carol to tune my piano about a month ago. She did a great job! She loves to teach her clients about their instruments. She even helped me find a newer nicer piano which I am so happy with! I would highly recommend her to help with tuning and any other piano issues. read more

Carol has worked on my two very neglected grand pianos. She understands the instruments and takes great care to help them, make them "right". (One of my two is fairly compromised.) I appreciate greatly how she doesn't watch the clock, but spends time really trying to help them [and me]. Great improvement in both! I highly recommend Carol. read more