Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum It pays to use a qualified professional.

If anyone talks to me about getting a CL piano, I explain to them that whatever they get will almost certainly need work, and I try to give them a reasonable expectation of what it will cost them. I ain't cheap, either...

I recently took this advice. However my tech (who has tuned & maintained my vertical for several years) is ... well, he has rather 'special' taste. And there were things he'd have missed, had I failed to ask specific questions -- like, 'how's the pinblock?' Plus: because my tech wasn't using a printed checklist, the seller was getting -- for free -- *most* of the information I was paying for. So the seller could have told me to take a hike, and added the good news parts of the info to his story for the next interested party.

I did buy the instrument and am happy I did, but my tech did not help my negotiating position very much, so I was essentially on my own.

I'm not bitter. And to cut my tech a little slack -- I don't think he gets called go do evals all that often, plus he may have been caught off-guard by how very present the seller was. I liked the sellers, think they were honest, and believe that the asking price was in the ballpark for what they knew when they priced the instrument. But if I ever have to do this again (I so hope my tech didn't miss anything major -- I do like this piano.), I will hand the next tech a checklist, and ask for checkmarks, notes -- and silence.

And yes, as much as I like my former tech personally, I learned some things about his approach that have led me to decide he will no longer be my tech.

Addendum: This was a CL piano. I had told my tech and four dealers -- two in other states -- that I was looking for a solid pre-owned instrument. Result? Crickets. Nothing.

Finding a good used piano may be easier said than done.

Thanks, Thorn. Good points. The overriding question is really how to find a qualified piano technician. This too is easier said than done. Often, we suggest that one call the local PTG chapter and get a recommendation there. Though the risk of receiving bad work or ill advice is exceedingly minimized by so doing, such of itself is not a 100% guarantee. It's an imperfect world. We all make mistakes. There are many good techs in the MPTA too. Bunches of good techs belong to neither organization. Another good place to get a recommendation - though not necessarily 100% either - is the local Symphony or the music (piano) department of a University. Also, the better techs tend to be "full time" and booked a few months out.

This is interesting. For myself, I feel that being able to comprehensively assess a piano is almost as important as being able to tune the darned thing.

My tech is a competent person. As I said, I had used him for awhile. I think part of what was going on, is that he knew I was enthusiastic about the instrument. In fact, he was less critical of it than I was, when what I needed was more the opposite.

I am reasonably certain that my purchase is not a boondoggle, so things so far have turned out ok. I can't have the instrument tuned for another couple of weeks, but it's playable enough that I've been practicing on it. It was just weird to have to prompt the guy. Could be he's very easily distracted or something. I'm just telling the tale to get out there that the evaluation -- even if undertaken by a qualified pro -- can be a little more complicated, and maybe less technical, than one might hope. And seriously. Checklist. Like for a home inspection, just shorter.

I'm working on scheduling my second opinion/first tune. I'll report back on what the next tech says in a couple of weeks. The situation should be far more 'normal', because I now own the instrument. Maybe I'm completely out of whack. If I am, I'll be quick to admit it. I don't know anywhere close to everything.

Whats funny is all these professional techs explaining what one should and shouldn't do before they buy a piano. Advice like, "just get a good one". As a total noobie, how does one find a good one? How does one identify a "good" technician vs a "bad" one? Isn't the point of someone calling BECAUSE they don't know what they are doing?

sometime I help to have a better price because some work will be necessary, sometime (rare)the instrument have been so nicely maintened I consider the price asked fair.

The tech is not paid to lower the value of the piano, but to assess its condition and to put a number in front of the job necessary to put it at the same level it would be in a decent (honest) professional place... (on that last I tend to say that chances are that the piano will be better prepped with a direct deal with a technician, but I tend to badmouth about "second hand specialized shops", with some reasons ...)

the tech is supposed to know the market value, but this really is worth for recent instruments , less than 30 years old for instance.

by exchanging, now most experienced techs have no much time to help someone top find a piano, but you do not need the absolute best one in town, all depend what instrument you are looking for.

WIth some experience a tech can instruct you minimally about pianos, and how to chase for them, so you avoid the gross mistakes, then, there is documentation and forums.

You need to have plenty of time in front of you, and the budget at hand.

After +- 6 months , generally the opportunity appears (sometime less, sometime more)

"My tech is a competent person."

Thorn,

He may very well be a competent person, but with everything you have mentioned, he doesn't seem to be a competent piano technician.

Give my best to his wife and family.

What I think I actually learned about the guy in question, is that he may be the piano tech equivalent of the general dentist. Except that the general dentist would be expected to refer the patient to an endodontist for a root canal rather than undertaking to perform the procedure (and the billing) him- or herself.

PS. I do not intend to hijack this thread, which was plenty interesting before I got here. Carry on...

Thanks, thorn. You raise a valid point. Piano techs do specialize. Some tune only (in which case they are not really techs). Others rebuild only. Some do everything. Some do everything, but not evaluations or appraisals. All the more reason to ask the tech about his/her services before we secure them.

Thanks Gary: I like your slogan, "Making the world a better sounding place, one piano at a time..."
There's no better place to start than CL pianos.
Those pianos need .

Mr. Fowler,

Please identify yourself as professional which is required when using Piano World.

True. I also believe that a prospective buyer tends to get a more realistic monetary appraisal from a good piano tech: what the piano is really worth considering above all, it's condition. Never, "what the market will bear" condition notwithstanding.

Yes, that, plus being able to understand the expectations, customers are sometimes very precise explaining what they wish.

But those are the ones that contact piano technicians, they have yet done some homework, sometime surprisingly in deep.

Now a tech cannot propose a large choice, as it happen in shops, it is more like hunting on CL, so the choices have to be done intelligently.

As there are not so much good opportunities, it is sort of limited.

Also, for the best brands, the dealers also want to buy, sometime at a higher price as they can sell better in the shop, generally with less work done.

(generally)

So one need to be fast to decide when the good candidate is there.

Detecting the counterfeits (1)

A pianist upgraded to an old "Baldwin M" and paid a local company a large sum to refinish it.

Then she called the tech who, after arriving, made the following observations:

1. Baldwin fallboard decal to match period present? Yes.
2. Baldwin medallion present and re-tacked to it's proper place? Yes.
3. Baldwin "look," ferrule legs, et al.? Yes and no.
4. Size okay? No. Too short for an M.
5. Baldwin indicated in raised letters on the harp? Nothing present at all.
6. Harp match any known Baldwin product? No.


What is it? A counterfeit via a Baldwin decal placed on a refinished, cheap ca.1930s knock-off.


*Clearly, the client came out on the losing end of the deal. This might have been avoided by calling on a professional piano tech to evaluate the instrument prior to purchase.

Yes probably, but it relate strangely with the thread, as those may be "professional" job.

A similar thing happen when a brand piano is rebuild with a new soundboard made in a different wood, and with different methods than the original.

Thanks, Isaac. Good point. I've added a sentence or two for clarity.