The complexities of a piano are most appreciated by a technician once he or she dives deeper into its structure and mechanism. While rebuilding or restoring an instrument requires a variety of skills, those skills only come by doing. But the mere act of disassembling an instrument which harbors as much as 40,000 lbs of tension from its strings can be intimidating. The rewards of that effort, though, are many. Whether or not one gets into the business of full time rebuilding, the understanding that comes from the act of these major undertakings makes one better at every aspect of their work, even if a technician’s primary activity is tuning. Following are examples of projects that I have undertaken to repair major problems for customers or to simply bring the piano closer to its potential.
Steinway Model “A”, 6’ 1” grand, built 1920
Kawai Model “KG2D”, 5’ 10” grand, built 1987
