Pianotech

Hi,

I'd like to broach the topic of whether piano rebuilding can be done successfully. I would define success as the ability to both do it profitably and with true accuracy and precision; leading to the return of the piano to a condition of performance that could accurately be defined as high-quality.

Furthermore, I'd like to contend that piano rebuilding is often best done in close proximity to the owner of the piano, by someone that the owner has grown to trust, with good reason. In other words, I'd like to encourage those aspiring to a career in piano technology, whether younger or more seasoned, to consider the merits of undertaking to learn and perform skilled piano rebuilding. I have spent my life in a career in piano technology that includes in-depth rebuilding as well as work that does qualify as the work of the concert technician. I'm also a lifelong pianist and fine woodworker.

Over the course of 20 years I have carved out a livelihood while simultaneously becoming both an RPT and lifelong student of fine woodworking in particular. I did have some prior background and knowledge, both formally and more casually gained. But I really think that if you are interested in working on pianos, you should not be overly discouraged by experienced RPT's singing a refrain that it is impossible to make money rebuilding pianos. Here is why.

Successful piano rebuilders right here in the US are quietly serving their local, regional or country-wide clients, large and small. I am one of those. I operate on a very small scale with almost zero overheard, and I find piano rebuilding to be an incredible compliment to the work of being a regular piano technician serving DC and the greater region. Rebuilding and action work has saved me from having to tune and perform strenuous at-the-piano regulation alone every single day. My work is more varied and I don't have to drive every day. My gift and ability to tune with delight, happiness, sharp focus, precision and accuracy has been saved and preserved because I don't have to exhaust myself tuning multiple pianos every day of the week. My ears stay sharp. Over the course of 20 years working on pianos and over 30 years as a pianist, a factory MIG-welder and an avid woodworker, I've had the opportunity to constantly hone in on the areas that help piano work improve. Much of this in the rebuilding shop has been the realm of fine woodworking that consists of learning how to sharpen and employ traditional woodworking tools with artful, fluid movements and crisp, sharp and efficient precision. Taking these traditional cabinet-making skills and bringing them across to piano rebuilding proved key. I find that from year to year, as a lifelong woodworker, the sandpaper (and dust) has gradually reduced in its role as I've learned to sharpen the right tool, employ it deftly and quickly, and move on to the next delightful task. Learning to streamline processes for efficiency in the form of factory production, which I used to do, helps. Learning to design and make jigs and fixtures, also like a factory, helps. But all these pursuits and experiences are valuable in and of themselves, and all part of a wonderful journey. If you are a normal person with average natural abilities in areas such as coordination and abstract cognitive ability, you qualify for this journey, even if you simply learn more about yourself and ultimately revise your direction. We all need to do that anyways in some sense our entire lives. And if you have a low opinion of yourself, I would still encourage you to take heart and press forward towards good pursuits like piano rebuilding. It is your love and your intrinsic human-ness, however faint you may feel it at this moment, however clouded perhaps by pain or hardship, that has the potential to grow in to a passion that makes fields of pursuit successful and valuable to other people, not vice-versa. In other words, we get it wrong when we say, "the World is changing and rebuilding pianos is a dying career." The opposite is true; the World desperately needs people who value things like piano rebuilding - who have the courage to contribute to a better reality - and who actively forge a new reality. A cultural revival of beauty and music coming forth from beautifully-restored pianos. If you want to contribute to a world, or the existence of people who have the opportunity rise above the mundane to behold and consider higher things that carry them - draw them upwards, then choose to do things that promote that goal. You cannot go wrong and your efforts won't be in vain.

Today, after an entire career that I could readily close out today, I would encourage anyone interested in piano rebuilding to count the cost honestly, and pursue it. Especially if you find yourself naturally drawn to similar activities anyways. That has been the way things have gone for me. But I will add that in some cases, we feel low, we don't have interest, we can feel lost. If that is the case, take heart. Certain trades, certain work can grow on you, and you grow to love it, even be passionate about it. When I first started taking piano lessons around age 11, I remember myself literally in tears thinking it was too hard at some point. Only a few years later, I loved piano so much that I was happy to spend many hours alone as a teen practicing a lengthy Bach 4-part Fugue until I could play it from memory with my eyes closed. The same thing happened to me when I graduated from college and returned home, really lost and without purpose. My grandfather visited from across the country and got me pointed in the direction of a basic piano shop job as an apprentice, with a very low hourly rate. But several years later, I was passionate and highly useful to my employer. I ate and slept piano technology 24/7 and I worked hard to become an RPT. Today, I'm still pressing forward and learning all kinds of new things. Learning is life.

So I don't care what age you are. If you feel listless, lifeless, but you crave doing some real, with your hands, that brings joy to others - pianos are a good place. Many things are a good thing to work at. You may not feel the passion initially. But dress yourself for action mentally and physically, and pursue something of real value. If your emotions don't feel good, try action in a positive direction. It could prove to be a healing tonic to some extent. This concept did not originate with me. The act of doing so will lift you up and give you purpose. If you find later that what you were doing was not the perfect fit, your time will not have been wasted. You did something that was part of a wonderful, valuable journey on the way to becoming the person you are meant to be. Be encouraged that you have every reason, whoever you are, to pursue some tangible work, and find out for yourself what it means. Don't listen overly much to the ones who say things are not possible. The entire PTG community loves to say over and over again that you cannot make a living as a piano rebuilder. That is an untruth replete with irony - coming as it does from the PTG! There are hundreds if not thousands of wonderful people doing in-depth work on pianos, whether as a sole proprietor like me, or as a CAUT or as they work for a piano shop. And while not all that work may meet a perfect standard, this is all the more reason to encourage YOU to pursue this work, and a high standard in it. So that good quality work can be found in your area, done by you - a person known, loved and trusted by their local community. So you can contribute to an onward, upward movement for people, one at a time. Music stops people in their tracks; it makes them pause. They remember that that they are more than flesh and bones trapped in a "Groundhog Day" loop. They hear a reminder that there is more to their existence than grinding toil and repetition. And in all things good and delightful, we should recognize the reminder and the sign of this. Just yesterday, I had to tune a piano at the back of high school stage while a photography company had dozens of seniors coming in to get their senior portraits taken. It wasn't really ideal and I felt bad that the photographers in particular had to listen to me hammer away at a tuning while they did their work right beside the piano. But when I finished and suddenly played real music softly and grandly, the photographer literally stopped in his tracks and his demeanor changed. The music flowed into his ears and he was delighted. His morning had been perhaps mundane, especially listening to a piano tuning happen, until he heard what he heard. I forget this all the time because I have to tune pianos and that is not exactly music. But the music that can come afterwards means more than I often fully realize. We can become calloused to the beauty of that which we work on every day. Yet our service done well is part of what supports and upholds people and drives them toward good and being more human in a good sense. In other words, it suggests the truth about what humans really are and what they can and should become.

We live in a time where Artificial Intelligence is being offered in many avenues as competition with real humans, with their livelihoods. That will all play itself out. Humans will find out how much they truly value each other - and the things that are genuinely human, like music. Music isn't meant to be a product of computers. Music is meant to be a product of the soul. Or shall is say, I define music as something sourced from the human soul and really beyond the human soul. There are other things that sound like music but their source is farther removed from humanity. As such, and being a "souled" being myself, I have less interest in AI music. All this to say, consider me as one more vote for working and engaging in things that are good, human and good for humans. For the sake of humans. And yes, I cannot deny - because of Adonai. Not AI, but - Adonai.

In the practical, real world of 2005 to 2025, I've enjoyed success working as a piano technician highly involved in piano rebuilding. There are more details I could outline, and I am considering whether it would be fitting to tell all on YouTube. I am beginning to think that I should since the PTG does a good job of attracting people only to tell them that being a piano rebuilder is a losing proposition for losers. How wrong, negative and untrue. Those precious individuals who choose to do quality things as a priority even over money, are invaluable to humanity and will always be so. Also, there is a promise that skilled people will stand before greatness. I believe it. And if you are one who is jaded and negative, stop and think. Don't speak out of ignorance. Yours has not been the only experience. Much of the time, successful people are working hard and not on the PTG forum decrying the trade like you may be doing, to the great detriment to the newcomers arriving here for training, guidance and most importantly, inspiration. And if you are new to piano technology, let me encourage you that there is much work to be done, and it is good, worthy work and gives great satisfaction both intrinsically and because it serves other people, albeit often from a distance. And I happen to like that. You will too. Yes, we all have to be realistic. But realistic doesn't necessarily mean we have to be negative. I feel very positive about the future of music. Music runs right into eternity. Piano plays a part. You and I play a part. Play that part well with all your heart, soul, strength and mind! No regrets.

------------------------------
Tom Wright, RPT
------------------------------

Thomas,

Over 50 years ago I apprenticed with a rebuilding shop in Dallas Texas and learned how to string and regulate.  I then followed my grandfather and dad into regular piano work.  I have since "rebuilt" only  a handful of pianos, the vast majority of my work has been piano servicing.

Personally, I thrive on structure.  Service work, including regulation and maintenance like shaping hammers and cleaning offers me the structure in my schedule that I prefer.  Rebuilding tends to be open-ended and nebulous and the work gets procrastinated and difficult to complete. Store work is an exception as I can schedule a store restringing, show up, do the work on my store days and finish.  Rebuilding isn't where I tend to fit in.

Another issue I have with rebuilding is economic.  Rebuilding a piano involves several steps: evaluating and assaying the instrument, disassembly  with careful measurements and selection of replacement parts (essentially re-engineering the instrument), the actual refinishing, stringing and assembly, final regulation and voicing.  All of this must be done, or at least supervised by a highly qualified and experienced technician.

Making a new piano only involves one or two of these steps, the engineering has already been done, a factory has been assembled with appropriate jigs and the workers only need to know one or a few technical steps.  It has been said that making one computer chip costs $1 million dollars, making the second costs a few cents.  Similarly making one piano can cost millions, making another only a few thousand.

Rebuilding a piano is making that first piano over and over.  If you only rebuild one make and model you might accumulate some efficiency, but trying to rebuild  a variety of different instruments looses any possibly efficiency and you are competing with new instruments.  Plus, one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it  might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts.

When I "recondition" a piano I know how it will turn out: better. I know that reshaped hammers will sound much closer to the original sound of the piano.  Regulating will give consistency to the touch and better performance, cleaning will make the instrument look dramatically better, but it is still the old instrument after my reconditioning as before.

I sincerely admire and appreciate the work of some of our excellent rebuilders.  If their customers appreciate and pay for the work I am happy to refer my own  customers to them.  I try not to work against them or to steer work away inappropriately, its a small pond, but I do give my own opinion when asked.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

I've seen some rebuilders make a good living doing high quality rebuilds, and I've seen some who, as one tech put it, "tune pianos to support my rebuilding hobby." 

Personally, I prefer to subcontract out any full rebuilding jobs I get. I'm wired to enjoy field work immensely and get bored being in the shop for weeks on end. I'm most certainly not against rebuilding though, and there are excellent rebuilders who do amazing work. 

Based on my observations, rebuilding is only profitable when it's run as an entirely separate business from field work. Totally separate estimating, job costing, hourly rates, timetable, and overhead. The reason is when it's done like this, it forces one to treat it like a business. So many times a very good tech will run a piano tuning business and a rebuilding hobby, and it doesn't work out in the long run. 

I think we need more excellent rebuilders, and I also think they need to set it up so that they're able to do it over the course of their career and not burn out early. 

On a side note, I quite like doing action rebuilding and redesign. It doesn't take long and can be quite the improvement, not to mention the overhead is fairly minimal because the client covers the cost of the parts up front. 

------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
www.FromZeroToSixFiguresBook.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 02:57
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

Thomas,

Over 50 years ago I apprenticed with a rebuilding shop in Dallas Texas and learned how to string and regulate.  I then followed my grandfather and dad into regular piano work.  I have since "rebuilt" only  a handful of pianos, the vast majority of my work has been piano servicing.

Personally, I thrive on structure.  Service work, including regulation and maintenance like shaping hammers and cleaning offers me the structure in my schedule that I prefer.  Rebuilding tends to be open-ended and nebulous and the work gets procrastinated and difficult to complete. Store work is an exception as I can schedule a store restringing, show up, do the work on my store days and finish.  Rebuilding isn't where I tend to fit in.

Another issue I have with rebuilding is economic.  Rebuilding a piano involves several steps: evaluating and assaying the instrument, disassembly  with careful measurements and selection of replacement parts (essentially re-engineering the instrument), the actual refinishing, stringing and assembly, final regulation and voicing.  All of this must be done, or at least supervised by a highly qualified and experienced technician.

Making a new piano only involves one or two of these steps, the engineering has already been done, a factory has been assembled with appropriate jigs and the workers only need to know one or a few technical steps.  It has been said that making one computer chip costs $1 million dollars, making the second costs a few cents.  Similarly making one piano can cost millions, making another only a few thousand.

Rebuilding a piano is making that first piano over and over.  If you only rebuild one make and model you might accumulate some efficiency, but trying to rebuild  a variety of different instruments looses any possibly efficiency and you are competing with new instruments.  Plus, one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it  might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts.

When I "recondition" a piano I know how it will turn out: better. I know that reshaped hammers will sound much closer to the original sound of the piano.  Regulating will give consistency to the touch and better performance, cleaning will make the instrument look dramatically better.

I sincerely admire and appreciate the work of some of our excellent rebuilders.  If their customers appreciate and pay for the work I am happy to refer my own  customers to them.  I try not to work against them or to steer work away inappropriately, its a small pond, but I do give my own opinion when asked.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Blaine, I relate to your views on piano servicing versus rebuilding.

I admire those who can address all the complexities of a rebuild, such as with the recent thread here on bellyman work (see "Downbearing Bridge Cap Thickness Tool"). In this one aspect of a rebuilding job, the bridges, striving to get near to a fairly uniform 4 pounds of bridge downbearing (with proper front and rear deflection angles) per string after restringing, across all piano brands and models, is quite a skill.

You comment that "one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts", which from my observations I agree with. Do our colleagues adjust their price for the job that turns out to be a "dog" as you put it? Regards, Norman.

------------------------------
Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 12:01
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

I've seen some rebuilders make a good living doing high quality rebuilds, and I've seen some who, as one tech put it, "tune pianos to support my rebuilding hobby." 

Personally, I prefer to subcontract out any full rebuilding jobs I get. I'm wired to enjoy field work immensely and get bored being in the shop for weeks on end. I'm most certainly not against rebuilding though, and there are excellent rebuilders who do amazing work. 

Based on my observations, rebuilding is only profitable when it's run as an entirely separate business from field work. Totally separate estimating, job costing, hourly rates, timetable, and overhead. The reason is when it's done like this, it forces one to treat it like a business. So many times a very good tech will run a piano tuning business and a rebuilding hobby, and it doesn't work out in the long run. 

I think we need more excellent rebuilders, and I also think they need to set it up so that they're able to do it over the course of their career and not burn out early. 

On a side note, I quite like doing action rebuilding and redesign. It doesn't take long and can be quite the improvement, not to mention the overhead is fairly minimal because the client covers the cost of the parts up front. 

------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
www.FromZeroToSixFiguresBook.com
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 02:57
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

Thomas,

Over 50 years ago I apprenticed with a rebuilding shop in Dallas Texas and learned how to string and regulate.  I then followed my grandfather and dad into regular piano work.  I have since "rebuilt" only  a handful of pianos, the vast majority of my work has been piano servicing.

Personally, I thrive on structure.  Service work, including regulation and maintenance like shaping hammers and cleaning offers me the structure in my schedule that I prefer.  Rebuilding tends to be open-ended and nebulous and the work gets procrastinated and difficult to complete. Store work is an exception as I can schedule a store restringing, show up, do the work on my store days and finish.  Rebuilding isn't where I tend to fit in.

Another issue I have with rebuilding is economic.  Rebuilding a piano involves several steps: evaluating and assaying the instrument, disassembly  with careful measurements and selection of replacement parts (essentially re-engineering the instrument), the actual refinishing, stringing and assembly, final regulation and voicing.  All of this must be done, or at least supervised by a highly qualified and experienced technician.

Making a new piano only involves one or two of these steps, the engineering has already been done, a factory has been assembled with appropriate jigs and the workers only need to know one or a few technical steps.  It has been said that making one computer chip costs $1 million dollars, making the second costs a few cents.  Similarly making one piano can cost millions, making another only a few thousand.

Rebuilding a piano is making that first piano over and over.  If you only rebuild one make and model you might accumulate some efficiency, but trying to rebuild  a variety of different instruments looses any possibly efficiency and you are competing with new instruments.  Plus, one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it  might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts.

When I "recondition" a piano I know how it will turn out: better. I know that reshaped hammers will sound much closer to the original sound of the piano.  Regulating will give consistency to the touch and better performance, cleaning will make the instrument look dramatically better.

I sincerely admire and appreciate the work of some of our excellent rebuilders.  If their customers appreciate and pay for the work I am happy to refer my own  customers to them.  I try not to work against them or to steer work away inappropriately, its a small pond, but I do give my own opinion when asked.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512

I don't agree with the statement, "one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts" 

Part of the skill of rebuilding is an ability to  assess the potential of the instrument.  There are objective  methods and done with care the outcome is very predictable.  I do agree that if you are wishing and hoping for an outcome rather than assessing the potential, you might not quite know enough and may end up with some less than ideal results. But that's not inherent in the process. 

I have spent several decades doing both servicing and rebuilding (though I contract out refinishing). I don't take every project because some of them will not yield good results owing to the nature of the instrument,  I have frequently talked people out of rebuilding their piano because the cost can't be justified by the resulting value  Family heirlooms are different.  The monetary value is less important in those cases  

Rebuilding is expensive.  But the cost of materials and labor is the same whether you end up with a $60,000 Steinway or a $5000 Chickering quarter grand. That has to be a consideration and I level with potential customers about whether I think this is a worthwhile project.  Sometimes it just isn't.  I don't take on work if I can't stand by the outcome. 

But rebuilding always adds to your working vocabulary and skill set.   With rebuilding you can do customer work or you can do spec work.  When starting out, I would focus on spec work.  If you screw it up, it's your instrument, not someone else's.  In the beginning you will make mistakes, everyone does. The important thing is never send something out that is less than you would be happy with, even if you have to do something over.  Your ability to generate new work will be tied to the quality of what you've done in the past,  Make each job count no matter the time involved.  You'll be better, and faster, at the next one.  Be sure you don't put out something that gets in the way of the "next one". 

You'll need some things and experience to make this work, however.  That includes space and that's not always cheap.  My workspace is part of my house and only about 750 sq ft  But that's enough for me to handle two projects at a time if needed.  Space is very expensive in San Francisco.  In other parts of the country not so much.  You might be able to afford a devoted space without it being burdensome.  

You also need clientele or a demographic that can afford such projects.  It you work in a rural area where a large project is $1000 you won't be doing as much rebuilding. Structure your business accordingly.  Maybe it doesn't work that well where you are.  You have to assess your area but I still think rebuilding skills are important.  Certainly, I would encourage everyone to learn action rebuilding and everything that goes with it.  It presents many more opportunities than belly work.  Before and after benefits are obvious.  It requires less space and equipment, and is a good way to supplement income from in the field servicing.  

  

------------------------------
David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-05-2025 08:43
From: Norman Brickman
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

Blaine, I relate to your views on piano servicing versus rebuilding.

I admire those who can address all the complexities of a rebuild, such as with the recent thread here on bellyman work (see "Downbearing Bridge Cap Thickness Tool"). In this one aspect of a rebuilding job, the bridges, striving to get near to a fairly uniform 4 pounds of bridge downbearing (with proper front and rear deflection angles) per string after restringing, across all piano brands and models, is quite a skill.

You comment that "one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts", which from my observations I agree with. Do our colleagues adjust their price for the job that turns out to be a "dog" as you put it? Regards, Norman.

------------------------------
Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 12:01
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

I've seen some rebuilders make a good living doing high quality rebuilds, and I've seen some who, as one tech put it, "tune pianos to support my rebuilding hobby." 

Personally, I prefer to subcontract out any full rebuilding jobs I get. I'm wired to enjoy field work immensely and get bored being in the shop for weeks on end. I'm most certainly not against rebuilding though, and there are excellent rebuilders who do amazing work. 

Based on my observations, rebuilding is only profitable when it's run as an entirely separate business from field work. Totally separate estimating, job costing, hourly rates, timetable, and overhead. The reason is when it's done like this, it forces one to treat it like a business. So many times a very good tech will run a piano tuning business and a rebuilding hobby, and it doesn't work out in the long run. 

I think we need more excellent rebuilders, and I also think they need to set it up so that they're able to do it over the course of their career and not burn out early. 

On a side note, I quite like doing action rebuilding and redesign. It doesn't take long and can be quite the improvement, not to mention the overhead is fairly minimal because the client covers the cost of the parts up front. 

------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
www.FromZeroToSixFiguresBook.com


Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 02:57
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

Thomas,

Over 50 years ago I apprenticed with a rebuilding shop in Dallas Texas and learned how to string and regulate.  I then followed my grandfather and dad into regular piano work.  I have since "rebuilt" only  a handful of pianos, the vast majority of my work has been piano servicing.

Personally, I thrive on structure.  Service work, including regulation and maintenance like shaping hammers and cleaning offers me the structure in my schedule that I prefer.  Rebuilding tends to be open-ended and nebulous and the work gets procrastinated and difficult to complete. Store work is an exception as I can schedule a store restringing, show up, do the work on my store days and finish.  Rebuilding isn't where I tend to fit in.

Another issue I have with rebuilding is economic.  Rebuilding a piano involves several steps: evaluating and assaying the instrument, disassembly  with careful measurements and selection of replacement parts (essentially re-engineering the instrument), the actual refinishing, stringing and assembly, final regulation and voicing.  All of this must be done, or at least supervised by a highly qualified and experienced technician.

Making a new piano only involves one or two of these steps, the engineering has already been done, a factory has been assembled with appropriate jigs and the workers only need to know one or a few technical steps.  It has been said that making one computer chip costs $1 million dollars, making the second costs a few cents.  Similarly making one piano can cost millions, making another only a few thousand.

Rebuilding a piano is making that first piano over and over.  If you only rebuild one make and model you might accumulate some efficiency, but trying to rebuild  a variety of different instruments looses any possibly efficiency and you are competing with new instruments.  Plus, one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it  might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts.

When I "recondition" a piano I know how it will turn out: better. I know that reshaped hammers will sound much closer to the original sound of the piano.  Regulating will give consistency to the touch and better performance, cleaning will make the instrument look dramatically better.

I sincerely admire and appreciate the work of some of our excellent rebuilders.  If their customers appreciate and pay for the work I am happy to refer my own  customers to them.  I try not to work against them or to steer work away inappropriately, its a small pond, but I do give my own opinion when asked.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512

I don't disagree with anything that has been said here. We all need to find our niches and there is something to be  said about perfecting our craft with the raw materials of some of our fine older instruments.

I shed tears at the sight of some of the beautiful, well designed older instruments being dragged off to the dump, uprights included, but economics are economics.

On the other hand, I  have a customer with great grandma's Steinway upright that was sent back to Steinway and was beautifully restored (even  though an ex-player), though no one in the family plays piano.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-05-2025 20:43
From: David Love
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

I don't agree with the statement, "one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts" 

Part of the skill of rebuilding is an ability to  assess the potential of the instrument.  There are objective  methods and done with care the outcome is very predictable.  I do agree that if you are wishing and hoping for an outcome rather than assessing the potential, you might not quite know enough and may end up with some less than ideal results. But that's not inherent in the process. 

I have spent several decades doing both servicing and rebuilding (though I contract out refinishing). I don't take every project because some of them will not yield good results owing to the nature of the instrument,  I have frequently talked people out of rebuilding their piano because the cost can't be justified by the resulting value  Family heirlooms are different.  The monetary value is less important in those cases  

Rebuilding is expensive.  But the cost of materials and labor is the same whether you end up with a $60,000 Steinway or a $5000 Chickering quarter grand. That has to be a consideration and I level with potential customers about whether I think this is a worthwhile project.  Sometimes it just isn't.  I don't take on work if I can't stand by the outcome. 

But rebuilding always adds to your working vocabulary and skill set.   With rebuilding you can do customer work or you can do spec work.  When starting out, I would focus on spec work.  If you screw it up, it's your instrument, not someone else's.  In the beginning you will make mistakes, everyone does. The important thing is never send something out that is less than you would be happy with, even if you have to do something over.  Your ability to generate new work will be tied to the quality of what you've done in the past,  Make each job count no matter the time involved.  You'll be better, and faster, at the next one.  Be sure you don't put out something that gets in the way of the "next one". 

You'll need some things and experience to make this work, however.  That includes space and that's not always cheap.  My workspace is part of my house and only about 750 sq ft  But that's enough for me to handle two projects at a time if needed.  Space is very expensive in San Francisco.  In other parts of the country not so much.  You might be able to afford a devoted space without it being burdensome.  

You also need clientele or a demographic that can afford such projects.  It you work in a rural area where a large project is $1000 you won't be doing as much rebuilding. Structure your business accordingly.  Maybe it doesn't work that well where you are.  You have to assess your area but I still think rebuilding skills are important.  Certainly, I would encourage everyone to learn action rebuilding and everything that goes with it.  It presents many more opportunities than belly work.  Before and after benefits are obvious.  It requires less space and equipment, and is a good way to supplement income from in the field servicing.  

  

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David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-05-2025 08:43
From: Norman Brickman
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

Blaine, I relate to your views on piano servicing versus rebuilding.

I admire those who can address all the complexities of a rebuild, such as with the recent thread here on bellyman work (see "Downbearing Bridge Cap Thickness Tool"). In this one aspect of a rebuilding job, the bridges, striving to get near to a fairly uniform 4 pounds of bridge downbearing (with proper front and rear deflection angles) per string after restringing, across all piano brands and models, is quite a skill.

You comment that "one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts", which from my observations I agree with. Do our colleagues adjust their price for the job that turns out to be a "dog" as you put it? Regards, Norman.

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Norman Brickman
Potomac Piano Service
Potomac, Maryland
potomacpiano@verizon.net
https://potomacpiano.com
(301) 983.9321


Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 12:01
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

I've seen some rebuilders make a good living doing high quality rebuilds, and I've seen some who, as one tech put it, "tune pianos to support my rebuilding hobby." 

Personally, I prefer to subcontract out any full rebuilding jobs I get. I'm wired to enjoy field work immensely and get bored being in the shop for weeks on end. I'm most certainly not against rebuilding though, and there are excellent rebuilders who do amazing work. 

Based on my observations, rebuilding is only profitable when it's run as an entirely separate business from field work. Totally separate estimating, job costing, hourly rates, timetable, and overhead. The reason is when it's done like this, it forces one to treat it like a business. So many times a very good tech will run a piano tuning business and a rebuilding hobby, and it doesn't work out in the long run. 

I think we need more excellent rebuilders, and I also think they need to set it up so that they're able to do it over the course of their career and not burn out early. 

On a side note, I quite like doing action rebuilding and redesign. It doesn't take long and can be quite the improvement, not to mention the overhead is fairly minimal because the client covers the cost of the parts up front. 

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Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
www.FromZeroToSixFiguresBook.com


Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2025 02:57
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: How Piano Rebuilding can be successful; and whether YOU should go for it (Yes)!

Thomas,

Over 50 years ago I apprenticed with a rebuilding shop in Dallas Texas and learned how to string and regulate.  I then followed my grandfather and dad into regular piano work.  I have since "rebuilt" only  a handful of pianos, the vast majority of my work has been piano servicing.

Personally, I thrive on structure.  Service work, including regulation and maintenance like shaping hammers and cleaning offers me the structure in my schedule that I prefer.  Rebuilding tends to be open-ended and nebulous and the work gets procrastinated and difficult to complete. Store work is an exception as I can schedule a store restringing, show up, do the work on my store days and finish.  Rebuilding isn't where I tend to fit in.

Another issue I have with rebuilding is economic.  Rebuilding a piano involves several steps: evaluating and assaying the instrument, disassembly  with careful measurements and selection of replacement parts (essentially re-engineering the instrument), the actual refinishing, stringing and assembly, final regulation and voicing.  All of this must be done, or at least supervised by a highly qualified and experienced technician.

Making a new piano only involves one or two of these steps, the engineering has already been done, a factory has been assembled with appropriate jigs and the workers only need to know one or a few technical steps.  It has been said that making one computer chip costs $1 million dollars, making the second costs a few cents.  Similarly making one piano can cost millions, making another only a few thousand.

Rebuilding a piano is making that first piano over and over.  If you only rebuild one make and model you might accumulate some efficiency, but trying to rebuild  a variety of different instruments looses any possibly efficiency and you are competing with new instruments.  Plus, one never really knows how a rebuilt instrument will turn out, it  might be a gem or a dog after all of your efforts.

When I "recondition" a piano I know how it will turn out: better. I know that reshaped hammers will sound much closer to the original sound of the piano.  Regulating will give consistency to the touch and better performance, cleaning will make the instrument look dramatically better.

I sincerely admire and appreciate the work of some of our excellent rebuilders.  If their customers appreciate and pay for the work I am happy to refer my own  customers to them.  I try not to work against them or to steer work away inappropriately, its a small pond, but I do give my own opinion when asked.

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Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512

This might be a Insurrection Act because i may be the exception to the rule. I moved from Seattle to Tennessee 15 years ago, which was basically starting over. I no longer do any in-home service at all, and only rebuilding. How i was able to pull that off was by developing long lasting relationships, and through those relationships all my work comes in by referrals. I now have 15 year long relationships in 7 states. I stay in contact with all of my clients/techs, and they stay in contact with me. I often show them my appreciation by giving them unexpected gifts. Recently a local tech / friend of mine, for some reason, had some voicing work done by another tech. He called me and said he gives up on his Steinway Concert rental dreams. This was a shame because i put a new board in it, and he had a new action put in it, and a ton of money only to give up because of poor voicing?!. So he was very glad that i offered to come fix it. After i was done he again fell in love with the Steinway. Then he asked me about the bill, I said "free of charge". He couldn't believe it. But i figured, He sends me so much work, its the least i could do. 

Its one thing to say you want to be in the piano business, but another to be a rebuilder (or any specialist) because it depends on the relationships you make. If the only work around here was refinishing, then i'd be a refinisher. But you do have to also have the skill and do great work. When you become the go to guy because they know you do the job the right way, then it means more referrals.

There's always 5 pianos in my shop at any time being worked on. I do the soundboards, pinblocks, and the action work. When i get overwhelmed, i have trained part-time people to help with stringing and actions. I sub out the refinishing. There's a lot of people who like part-time extra work btw. Like seniors, moms, especially if they're musically inclined. Pianos fascinate people. In the works is making my shop larger and adding a showroom next year. There's still lots of work out there when your established and have tons of contacts. It's just difficult in the beginning, you have to be able to adapt and plan.

-chris

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On the page, it looked....nothing.
The beginning, simple, almost comic.
Just a pulse - bassoons, basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox. And then suddenly, high above it..an oboe, hanging there unwavering, until a clarinet sweetened it into a phrase of such delight.
This was no composition by a performing monkey!!

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