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Joined: Feb 2009
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OP
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Hello,
I am considering having someone completely rebuild a Steinway L for me in Denver CO. I am speaking with a gentleman named Michael Jackson (not 'Thriller' Michael Jackson:)) who really impressed me of his knowledge and comes with some good recommendations. I figured I'd ask on the forum to see if anyone else had worked with him or was familiar with his work. This is a huge purchase and so I want to make sure I am making the right decision.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you have!
Best,
JPE
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Yes, I know him. When I spoke with him he told me to "Beat It", because "Billie Jean was not his lover" and he needed to go speak with the "Man in the Mirror" about what a "Thriller" it would be to rebuild your piano. Then he moonwalked off whispering something about it being "Human Nature" to want the best work for the least money possible. 
Last edited by CC2 and Chopin lover; 10/12/12 03:26 PM.
Piano Technician/Tuner
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Not that your answer is 'Bad', but I'm guessing you are not familiar with the tech but instead you are familiar with the pop star. For this thread however, 'I Wanna Be Starting Something' that discusses the tech:)
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I tried googling his name and location and came up with nothing.
Maybe try the local PTG chapter?
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'Don't know him, but I think he left a white glove here last time. 
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I think he's on the moon......................... walking...................
Jerry Groot RPT Piano Technicians Guild Grand Rapids, Michigan www.grootpiano.comWe love to play BF2.
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He tuned Neil Armstrongs' piano and had to endure a dozen or so really bad moonwalking jokes....each time when nobody laughed, Neil would look down and say.."...well, I guess you had to have been there".
If you can't find the tech on the internet, that says a little something right off the bat.
Piano Technician
George Brown College /85
Niagara Region
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Yeah, you could say that is a "strike" against him. 
Jerry Groot RPT Piano Technicians Guild Grand Rapids, Michigan www.grootpiano.comWe love to play BF2.
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C'mon, this isn't too hard. Google gave a few hits, including this one, where he's mentioned as having been someone's mentor: http://cucamongamusic.com/about.htmlLots of people don't have websites and have a low internet profile, especially piano technicians. It's not a bad thing, just chalk it up to that old-world craft mentality.
Zeno Wood, Piano Technician
Brooklyn College
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Well then, now you're getting us all "keyed up."
Jerry Groot RPT Piano Technicians Guild Grand Rapids, Michigan www.grootpiano.comWe love to play BF2.
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Heyyyy...there is more than one search engine out there.....;) I tried that one named after a cherry....came up with this: http://www.manta.com/c/mm78g7m/jackson-piano-service
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There was an excellent technician called Michael Jackson worked for a major US dealership some 15 years ago.
Yes, he did endure all the corny remarks, especially when he was paged in the store.
It is not an uncommon name and I have lost touch with him now but it is conceivable he moved to Colorado.
There are still very many fine technicians, some of the best, who choose to have no web presence whatsoever. They are usually very well established independents with more work than they need or else they work for a company or school and find no use for it as an individual.
Amanda Reckonwith
Concert & Recording tuner-tech, London, England.
"in theory, practice and theory are the same thing. In practice, they're not." - Lawrence P. 'Yogi' Berra.
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Thanks everyone for your feed back--both comical and helpful. I had already found the details from Google pasted above but was just asking here if anyone had any personal experience with him.
I have since received several great recommendations for him so I feel I've done the all the homework I can and think he is going to be a great re-builder to work with. If that is not the case I will let you know but thanks again for listening...
Best,
JPE
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I'm sure you'll enjoy the rebuild. Keep an eye out for a missing glove.
"Imagine it in all its primatic colorings, its counterpart in our souls - our souls that are great pianos whose strings, of honey and of steel, the divisions of the rainbow set twanging, loosing on the air great novels of adventure!" - William Carlos Williams
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There was an excellent technician called Michael Jackson worked for a major US dealership some 15 years ago.
Yes, he did endure all the corny remarks, especially when he was paged in the store.
It is not an uncommon name and I have lost touch with him now but it is conceivable he moved to Colorado.
There are still very many fine technicians, some of the best, who choose to have no web presence whatsoever. They are usually very well established independents with more work than they need or else they work for a company or school and find no use for it as an individual. Presuming you mean who I think, he was a Steinway tech here in SoCal a few years back but I too am unsure of his current whereabouts.
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That's probably him--he is from LA area
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I've heard of the guy and know at least two piano teachers who used to hire him.
Private Piano Teacher and MTAC Member
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Thank you AZNpiano, good to know people are using him!
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The Michael I knew was head tech at the Steinway dealership on Pico in LA around the turn of the century and previous to that with Sherman Clay on Wiltshire.
He is, among other things a phenomenal voicer and a helluva character. You're in safe hands with him.
If, indeed, he is one and the same, let me know. I'd like to establish contact again.
Amanda Reckonwith
Concert & Recording tuner-tech, London, England.
"in theory, practice and theory are the same thing. In practice, they're not." - Lawrence P. 'Yogi' Berra.
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