Hats off to Mr. Sambell,

I came across this story a few months back, put it in my files, and forgot about posting it here. My mistake,could be old news now……..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Canadian inducted into the PTG Hall of Fame

A grand piano contains a bewildering array of about 12,000 parts, including weird and wonderful things called drop screws, hammer stems, capstans and whippens. But it's not all that complicated to Ted Sambell. "It becomes relatively simple if you break it down," says the London, Ontario man. "It's simple, but it's so subtle. ... It's a very elegant mechanism." The 84-year-old Sambell recently became the first Canadian to be inducted into the Piano Technicians Guild Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo. at the 50th anniversary convention.

"He's quite a treasure," says Dale Probst, the Texas-based president of the Piano Technicians Guild. "I believe he worked for your late, lamented pianist Glenn Gould. And Gould was highly demanding. "So if Ted could make him happy, that's proof positive he's quite the fellow."

According to Shawn Bruce, the guild's marketing manager, the announcement of Sambell's induction was greeted by a standing ovation from about 500 piano technicians -- even though Sambell wasn't present. "I would put him in the top realm of technicians around the world," Probst says.

It all started in London, England when, at age 14, Sambell received a scholarship to a local polytechnical school because he had poor eyesight. After the Second World War, Sambell and his family made their way to London, Ont., where he quickly found work as a technician with the Heintzman Piano store. Sambell figures he's worked on about 40,000 pianos during his career; he wistfully remembers when a piano was the focus of a household. "It was the most high-tech thing people had in their home," he says. He notes, with some irony, there are about the same number of pianos in London now as there was when he first arrived some 60 years ago -- even though the city's population has grown by leaps and bounds.

London Free Press

Congradulations to Ted Sambell! Nice article.

Teds a great guy.
I was there 3 years ago when he got the award. I was quite happy for him.

Met him at a conference our chapter sponsored and took several of his classes.
He is one of the best.

Ted is one of my favorite people to set and chat with. Full of knowledge, a true sense of quality towards piano work, kind and soft spoken, with a sharp mind and good sense of humor. It would be hard to find another technician who would be a better example to follow.