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Hi Everyone :-). In 3-4 years we should have our house paid off and limited bills. I'm hoping to jump from a relatively stressful corporate engineering job to owning my own business of some type and I'm exploring my options. Owning my own engineering company sounds lucrative but still stressful :-).

We have a large lot with a lot of potential workspace. If I spent the next few years learning about the intricacies of piano restoration and repair, could one make a modest living ($30k-$60k/year) off restoring pianos by themselves in their own home (given the right tools and skills), or is it a bigger undertaking than that? Do you usually "flip" pianos or restore for clients? (both?)

We have enough cushion and savings that a slow start (two years to get up and running fully) would be fine. I'm planning that for any business I start :-).

Is it as non-stressful as it sounds? I think I've found links to courses, books, conferences, and other such resources to explore, but any tough-love advice would be appreciated.

Join the piano technicians guild
Locate a chapter in your area
Get to know the techs and the rebuilders
Let them know your intimations
Consider learning and developing skills to the point you can pass the RPT exam
Apprentice with some rebuilders
Learn about exactly what you have in mind for rebuilding-complete restorations or simple refurbish.
I would not quit your day job and jump into this
Much to learn about pianos
Much to learn about setting up shop
Much to learn about tools, parts and suppliers
Many fine rebuilders in the guild that are always willing to help
Guild conventions for education

You should start by looking up what you paid for a tuning the last time, and dividing that into the income you want to see how much work you would have to do to meet your expectations.

It is harder to do this work now than it was in the past. More people are buying digital keyboards instead of acoustic pianos at the low end, and the demand for pianos and work on them is down. The influx of decent, inexpensive Asian pianos has reduced the demand for and economic viability of rebuilding pianos. You could probably get some idea of your market if you went to some local Piano Technicians Guild meetings in your area and talked to local people.

My course of training was much more rigorous and demanding than I expected. I suggest that you ask your new acquaintances in the local PTG chapter where they got their training and how long it took them to become proficient. Their answers may surprise you.

Thanks! I'm hoping that being in a music city (Austin, TX) with a few large universities around might help with both the amount of available work and the amount of resources in the area. Still more research to do.

I wouldn't quit my day job until I had more firm ground to work from, and even then it's several years away before we'd be where we want to be financially. There are a lot of free, old pianos I could get off craigslist and tinker/learn with in the meantime (plus my main piano, but I don't want to mess that one up!) while I study and learn from guild meetings, etc.

But to do any sort of apprenticeship would require quitting my day job due to long, inflexible hours. At that point is where I'd have to make the final decision to jump.

I would first mention to you that piano work is in
general, a more physical job than engineering. It's
not like working at a computer in a cubicle!

Flipping pianos is not very lucrative, not only because of the digital pianos and cheap Asian pianos, but because the piano is not as popular an instrument as it once was.

Agreed you should get mentoring from local techs and piano showrooms in your area, but if you cannot land an apprenticeship, then I would suggest learning to tune pianos with a computer program like Tunelab or CyberTuner. Don't skimp on a tuning lever: Get a good one or you'll be sorry.
You will at least learn how to set the pins, and you'll know what an in-tune piano sounds like.

Above all, I would only recommend getting into the piano tech world if you really love playing pianos and piano music.

If I were you, I would get some free or cheap pianos off of Craigslist, and tune them up and fix them. Buy a good tuning kit, and a good piano regulation tool set. Get a book by Arthur Reblitz, which is still considered the Bible of piano technician work.

Good Luck, and have fun!

That's one of the benefits for me! Sitting at a desk all day is taking its toll on my body. That plus an inflexible schedule really starts to get the "quality of life" questions going.

And a love for piano is the main reason I'm looking into this. It combines my love of building things, refinishing wood (I've refinished just about every table and cabinet in my house), music (playing, listening, theory, history...), science, problem solving, and tinkering.

Opening a cafe & book store is another idea, with my love for coffee & books, but I think you have to like lots of people around more than I do for that one to fly :-).

I often think of doing just restoration work alone, but it never seems it would be enough for a living. Not only is regular tuning the bread and butter of my work but it also creates the contacts, network, experience and reputation required to obtain leads for restoration work.

Hi Tracy!
Congratulations on nearly paying your house off. It sounds like you've got a handle on things. I am a newbie as well. I recently just got an apprenticeship with a local RPT, and I have been attending the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology. I-like you- started out with a passion for music, pianos, and refinishing. I started out tinkering around with an antique piano and it was really rewarding bringing some life back into it. My own path is different in that I am starting out with no savings, no money, no spouse, and a minimum wage job. I am nearly thirty living with my parents and I did the college thing for a couple years, but it just wasn't what I thought it would be. So obviously a very slow start and lots of risks ahead. Lots of failure ahead but i trudge onward... I would recommend that you buy the Arthur Reblitz book and read it a few times, tinker, buy a tuning hammer with felt strips and mutes, tinker around, and then contact your Local PTG President and see if he/she can point you in the right direction with finding mentors or help.

Best Wishes,
Jonathan

It won't hurt you to have a look at Randy Potter's online course, www.pianotuning.com , to get a sense of the skills required. I was at the national PTG convention this past week and met several people who had begun their training with Randy's course and were happy that they had done that.

Also, I want to add that tuninglab android app, although sometimes considered a crutch, has gotten me to tuning and tinkering a lot faster than it would normally take. I am taking aural lessons with a mentor now though he wants me to tune a D-D temperment to hear beats easier.. However, my studies deal with F-F , F-A4 temperments

I started my own business as an encore career about a year and a half ago, after retiring from an IT job. I had some piano tech experience back in the last century - the late 1970s. I've done everything I can to get educated and trained - Randy Potter School, joined the PTG, attended the convention, taken RPT tests. My goal is to supplement my retirement income. I'm being careful not to spend more on training and tools and dues and tests and parts than I am making!

So far, things are working out OK. I do from 1-4 tunings a week, which is what other techs do in a day. I've passed the written, technical, and most of the tuning exams. I still need to pass part one of the tuning exam, since I failed it the first time - bummer. One challenge is running my own business - never done that before. I wish the number of tunings were more consistent week to week, but hopefully that will improve. I can't see myself doing more than that a week - I'm supposed to be retired...

I rebuilt an upright, which was a mistake - there are a hundred old uprights on the market every week here. But it was fun and prepared me well to take the PTG technical tests. Thinking about donating it somewhere now. Rebuilding a grand to sell is a really competitive market - there are so many good rebuilders around me that do everything better than I can hope to learn at my age. I rebuilt my personal piano, including a new soundboard, pinblock, strings, etc., and every time go to another class I see something that I could do better now. But I lucked into a double manual harpsichord for a low price, and since I have had some harpsichord experience, and know where to get help, I am rebuilding it to sell - and keeping my fingers crossed. It's definitely a niche market and may take a long time to sell.

It's been fun, but it's also supplemental income. I would be really stressed out if it was my only source of income.

If I were a young man starting out, I would seriously look at the North Bennet Street School and try to raise the money to go there - excellent program. Next choice would be the Randy Potter course and his intermediate seminars, paired with someone local to help you - but don't expect to get help for free. Definitely join the PTG - hopefully there is an active chapter near you. Many of the techs I have talked to in the PTG just love their careers - but I have meet others that are barely making it and are struggling.

Send me a message if you want to talk...

Sam

Sam, where do you live might I ask? Are there alot of Techs in your area? YOu have all the education and you learned to tune. Do you advertise? What do you think you could do better to get more work?

I live in the Austin area also. You might talk to my friend and an excellent piano tech, Nathan Cook of Cook's Piano Service. He has been very helpful to me as a DIYer. You might also talk to Bernard Mollerg of Mollberg Piano Restoration in Blanco. He has taught more than a few piano tech/tuners in this area.

Good luck!

Don in Austin

About an hour outside of Atlanta. A zillion Techs on the north side of the city, not so many on the SW side where I am.

It's not that I want more work as much as it is that I wish it was more consistent from one week to the next.

One problem is that I have to be the receptionist, scheduler, salesman, bookkeeper, tax preparer, webmaster, marketing expert, driver, piano mover, refinisher, and so forth (what did I leave out?) as well as the tuner and technician. I think I am a very good tuner and tech, but the other jobs take time, a totally different skill set, and are not much fun!

Sam

I'd also suggest getting yourself a copy of "Pianos Inside Out" by Mario Igrec. Well worth the price.

Sam, if it is a reliable performance quality 2 manual harpsichord, there is also a niche market in specialist harpsichord performance rental. A Musical city like Atlanta should support at least one.

Austin is a city blessed with a good number of very fine piano technicians. If you had the opportunity to apprentice with one, I feel you'd learn things far faster and better than you ever could from a book or correspondence course alone.

Because there are good techs and rebuilders nearby, you'll need to develop your skills to a high standard in order to be successful doing business in the area.

So sounds like, if I did this cautiously and patiently (and in a way that wouldn't freak out my husband or be rash), the process for me might be:

1) Pick up the Arthur Reblitz book and Mario Igrec book
2) Get to know my piano inside and out
3) Start making contact with local technicians (I agree, Austin has fantastically skilled people around)
4) Get a set of tools for tuning, then some for regulation & basic repairs
5) Find a craigslist piano (cheap upright, but not too old and not a spinet) to start practicing tuning and basic repairs in a temp workshop at home (don't want to mess up my playing piano!)
6) Join PTG and start attending meetings/events
7) Offer free tuning and repair to friends and family's pianos
8) Begin the Randy Potter course (step 8 because it's expensive; possibly unecessary) and start attending conferences/seminars
9) Pass as many exams as possible to become certified.
10) Perhaps start tuning pianos on weekends/after work to gain contacts and practice.

Then if I decide this is it, this is what I want to do for a living:

11) Once I'm ready to jump, reach out to see if anyone in the area would be open to an apprentice
12) Tune pianos while I continue to improve my repairing/rebuilding/refinishing skills and figure out the logistics of a main workshop (at home, or rent somewhere)
13) Eventually try to make my main business whatever aspect I find most appealing of piano technician work
14) Continue learning & growing business

If nothing else, steps one through nine would make for a fun/useful hobby to go along side my piano playing hobby and set me up for the possibility of some backup income if I ever get laid off before I plan to jump on my own. Best case scenario is my husband's income would be enough to live on without using savings and anything I made would be supplemental. This would be a big change since I'm currently the "breadwinner."

If I'm particularly good with economics, process improvement, and programming, is there any niche aspect of piano work I might want to explore as well? Appraisals? Digital integration for non-digital pianos? Room acoustics? Just thinking out loud now.

Boy, I would be really careful when considering a move to step 7; don't do it unless/until you are prepared to replace broken strings or know how (when appropriate) to tie a string knot.

Repair of broken strings requires 1) knowledge and tools to measure the diameter of the string needing replacement, 2) either lots of wire stock or the knowledge/ability to order appropriate string replacements, 3) the knowledge/ability to replace the broken string with the correct length and to pull it up to pitch, and 4) the calmness and savoir-faire to be sure that the customer doesn't panic.

Lots to learn, but you will feel so good after you have mastered these skills!