A
Q & A Roundtable
Compiled by John Granholm, RPT, Journal Associate Editor
Suppliers to the Trade
Piano technicians and rebuilders have seen several important
technological developments in recent years. Computer programs that
aid scale redesign, a wide array of available replacement hammers,
and action parts that replace traditional wood and felt with spaceage materials have created new opportunities for piano designers and
rebuilders.
To assess the state of these innovations from an outside point of
view, I contacted several individuals who provide products and services
to piano technicians and rebuilders.
Rob Johnson began his career at Schaff Piano Supply Company in
high school by helping his uncle and father with various warehouse
operations, which gave him a keen sense of the piano parts distribution
business. After graduating from the University of Arizona with a
Bachelor of Science degree, Rob was employed by Ernst & Young’s
Real Estate Advisory Services group. He was hired back full-time
at Schaff in 2002. He was responsible for relocating Schaff’s new
acquisition, American Piano Supply Company, back to Schaff’s
headquarters in Lake Zurich, Illinois. In 2003, after the death of
his uncle, Dave Johnson, Rob was promoted to operations manager,
in charge of Schaff’s daily operations as well as product development
and marketing. In 2006 he completed the combined catalogs of Schaff
and American Piano Supply, and he introduced many new products
and innovations. In 2007 Rob was named the company’s president,
thus becoming the sixth generation of the Johnson family to operate
Schaff Piano Supply Company. In 2009 Rob released Schaff’s new
Web site and Web store, which enabled customers to check stock and
prices, and to place orders directly via the Internet.
customer service and technical support. Melanie took on the role
of general manager in 2002, and in 2009 she purchased Brooks
LTD, carrying its successful philosophies into a second generation
from Wally and Vivian Brooks. Raised in a rebuilding shop, she is
a third-generation PTG member, actively participating since 1996.
Brooks LTD is committed to collaborating with technicians and
rebuilders to service and restore instruments with innovative and
specialized products.
Robert Marinelli is president and part owner of Pianotek Supply
Company along with his partners and co-owners Jane Aisenbrey
and Mark Bisso.
You all provide piano parts and services to technicians
and rebuilders in both private and institutional settings.
What’s the state of the trade? Have you experienced
increased demand from rebuilders in recent years?
Rob Johnson: It is evident that the trade lost some volume
with the recession in 2007, but it has been slowly growing
back.
The upright rebuilding business was hit the hardest.With
inexpensive Chinese imports widely available, the demand to
rebuild historic uprights is becoming less and less.The family
heirloom uprights will always be rebuilt and should sustain
through time.
Lloyd Meyer: The private and institutional settings are
quite different and influenced by different variables. Piano
departments within music schools and universities are not
really operated as businesses, so different criteria apply. The
same can be said for many independent piano technicians who
build their trade or businesses around their own strengths and
personal goals and desires. In general, the piano rebuilding
trade is increasing versus sales of new pianos in both settings
partly due to the economy and other factors. We have seen
a consistent increase in the rebuilding business over the past
20 years; however, it is very much like the 80-20 rule, where
most of the business is done by a small percentage of those in
the business. Many factors are involved, which include one’s
Melanie Brooks is the owner of Brooks LTD Piano Products, rebuilding philosophy, personal skills and experience, and
a family-owned business providing quality hammer, action and general business acumen. If I were to generalize, I would say
rebuilding supplies and services.After obtaining a degree in economics those doing well are in the quality end of the business, and
and business, she rejoined Brooks LTD in 1995, specializing in they understand how to do it profitably.
Lloyd Meyer has enjoyed a long career in virtually all segments of
the musical instrument industry, including the management of some
of the world’s most successful companies. He was the first president
of Steinway, after Henry Steinway, to have responsibility for both the
NewYork and Hamburg factories and Concert & Artist and rebuilding
operations in London and Berlin.That experience provided a unique
insight into opportunities for the restoration of vintage pianos and
led him to purchase a major rebuilding business in New York City.
He then created the Renner USA Company to build a U.S.-based
facility for the research and development of special piano action parts
and tools specifically designed for vintage American pianos.
10 Piano Technicians Journal / April 2013
As our clients have become more educated and
experienced, the quality of action rebuilding has improved
considerably.The main concentration has been on geometry
and weight control. At Brooks LTD we consult with each
technician on every project to custom-select replacement
parts to meet these requirements. Increased education has also
inspired technicians to redesign actions for better playability.
This has increased demand for design changes—knuckle
placements, heel placements, moving capstans, etc. The new
Wessel, Nickel & Gross product line that we carry shows the
most innovation in product materials and design, addressing
the needs of these clients.
Certainly there have been product developments and
“tweaks” over the past decade. The newer product lines like
the Encore action parts by Abel pay close attention to design
and quality materials. There have been added products both
specific and universal to meet the designs of different pianos.
Bob Marinelli: If we choose an arbitrary date to track from, Tokiwa has developed a back action for replacement in most
let’s say 2008, when the economy was at its worst, the demand actions. We also see adjustable wippens and a change from a
for supplies from our long standing rebuilding customers slotted heel to one with a biscuit that can be placed anywhere
has remained mostly steady for Pianotek. A few rebuilders along the bottom of the wippen. Hammer shanks and flanges
have scaled back somewhat but most have maintained their are now available with a variety of knuckle placement
equilibrium. At present, very few people are entering the locations and unbored flanges for custom duplication.
rebuilding trade and those who do (as featured in a past
Journal article) are being groomed to take over the family Marinelli: One action part that comes quickly to mind is
rebuilding business which continues to provide a demand, our “Miracle Wip.” This is a Steinway grand wippen that
but does not increase it. It seems that there is no decrease in I developed with help from Tokiwa that features a spring
the demand for “high end” rebuilds such as Steinway, Mason loaded adjustable flange to improve touch weight.The quality
& Hamlin, and some others, but the demand for “X-brand” of action parts has certainly evolved. Until our partnership
grand rebuilding (with sentimental exceptions) and especially with Kluge in Germany, keytop products like Ivoplast and the
upright rebuilding, is certainly slowing down. One area of mineral based Tharan, for example, were not available in the
rebuilding that is increasing for Pianotek is the demand for U.S. Tokiwa and Abel action parts are today machined with
our in-house services for new keyboards, high-end action such precision and accuracy as to shame the old Pratt-Win
restorations, and back action restorations. These services parts of 20 years ago!
are gaining momentum in both private and institutional
rebuilding facilities.
Johnson: The action parts available today are superior. Many
problems of the past, uneven bushing friction, for example,
occur much less frequently. Most action manufacturers are
What innovations in materials or designs of action parts
now using Ecsaine® synthetic buckskin, which is a great
have occurred over, say, the last ten to 20 years? What’s
replacement.
available now that wasn’t available a decade or two ago?
Has overall quality increased?
Meyer: There have been a number of improvements in the
Brooks: Most of the products on the aftermarket have been availability and quality of action parts over the past couple
designed to duplicate the older (pre-1980) pianos being decades. The availability of originally dimensioned action
restored, so we have seen few design changes in the past ten parts, for example, has facilitated the restoration of vintage
years. However, now we are beginning to rebuild actions for American pianos, particularly Steinways. For instruments
more and more post-1980 pianos. There was quite a bit of where original dimensioned parts are not available, Renner
design innovation in the ‘80s, and I believe the aftermarket has developed special shanks and flanges, wippens, and
will need to address these new parts soon. Due to design complete back action systems that can be custom fitted to
innovations in the ‘80s, I believe the aftermarket will need to virtually any piano, and this has greatly increased the number
address new parts soon.
of pianos that can be correctly restored. Quality continues
Melanie Brooks: We have found the rebuilding and action
replacement side of our business to be a very resilient
side of the piano industry. Although not growing by leaps
and bounds, it has held fast through the tough economic
downturn. Interestingly, a lot can be attributed to the state
of the economy simply by observing the types of pianos our
clients are rebuilding and by the amount of services requested.
There has been a change in what people are willing to invest
their money in. End users are more apt to put money into
an existing instrument than a new piano (indicated by the
downturn in new piano sales). We are seeing a wider variety
of pianos being rebuilt and an increase in the upright action
replacement market, especially for full-size Steinways. As
market demand increases, more and more technicians are
adding on the lucrative business of action rebuilding to their
list of services, or they are finding places to outsource the work.
April 2013 / Piano Technicians Journal 11
to be a priority at Renner. The kind of tooling and specially
designed manufacturing equipment available today is far
superior, which makes quality control easier. We are able
now to take numerous quality control measurements during
production in a way that was simply not possible 20 years
ago, which has resulted in continued quality improvement.
years ago, the factory discovered a further refinement in the
felt process, making it even closer to the original felt and
requiring less voicing time. That felt is now available on the
Renner Blue Point hammers and also on Ronsen hammers.
Brooks: Yes, the quality of the felt manufactured specifically
for piano hammers has improved greatly, with a wider variety
available than before and many variations of moldings, felt
Speaking of innovations, if you have a favorite new content, sizes and weights. Piano technicians drive our market,
tool design, what is it?
and as they become more educated and increase their skills
in action replacement, they are demanding higher and higher
Marinelli: Hands down, that would be the Levitan Classic
quality and specifications of the replacement products. Brooks
and Professional Tuning Levers. As a piano tool manufacturer,
LTD’s close collaboration with the Abel Hammer Company
Pianotek can be attractive to technicians who may have a good
has allowed us to develop hammers that closely align with our
idea or prototype but don’t have the means to see it through
clients’ preferences and project needs.We have a wide variety
to production. This is exactly what happened with Dan
of hammers, and that allows us to address tonal qualities and
Levitan’s two unique tuning hammers that are fast becoming
weight measurements.
industry standards.
Meyer: This is a very interesting part of the trade, I think,
as many exceptional new tools have been designed, mostly
by technicians.We have a myriad of new custom-made tools
that have a direct impact on quality and efficiency. Not being
a technician, I don’t have a personal favorite, except for our
hammer boring jig, which was actually designed several years
ago at MIT as a class project. The reason I like it is that it
makes it possible for techs to do some of their own boring,
which relieves some of the pressure on our technical shop.
Johnson: I don’t think the basic designs of hammers have
changed, but some of the top hammer felt construction has
undergone some style changes lately.The hammer companies
are working with felt manufacturers to design felting processes
similar to what was available in the early 1900s.We are testing
some new styles of top felt, but unfortunately do not have
enough feedback to enable us to report results at this time.
Marinelli: Yes. In response to our customers we carry
hammers from Helmut Abel GmbH in Germany, Ronsen
Piano Hammer Co., Inc. from NewYork, and Imadegawa Ltd.
Johnson: We have worked closely with Mayer Gluzman,
from Japan.This sort of specialization was just not around 30
RPT, on developing and marketing a carbon fiber tuning
years ago. For example, our best selling Abel Special Pressing
lever that will fit the standard style heads and tips.Technicians
hammer is designed to harken back to the classic Steinway
have given rave reviews of their light weight and rigidity, and
“sound” of the 1920s and 30s. Our Abel “Light” hammer is
most importantly that they are compatible with their existing
ideal for that 5’ X-brand grand where touchweight is an issue.
heads and tips. Last quarter we also debuted our new-style
Ronsen hammers are available in either VFG felt, Bacon felt,
tool case, designed by Bruce Genck, RPT, with great success.
Wurzen felt, or Weickert felt.
Brooks: The Bolduc Touchweight Scale allows for quick
and consistent downweight measurement. We do not sell
tools here, but love the compound hammer extractor sold
by Piano Forte Supply.
Specific to hammers, do you see a wider variety of
designs and materials available to technicians now
than in the past?
Meyer: Definitely. The most significant development in
recent years is the availability of felt from the original Weickert
felt factory in the former East Germany, which supplied
Steinway and other fine pianos up until the end of World War
II, when the factory was taken over by the Soviets and the felt
was no longer available. When the Berlin wall came down,
those companies went back to private ownership and that
great felt became available again about 20 years ago, when we
first introduced it into the Premium Blue hammer. A couple
12 Piano Technicians Journal / April 2013
What percentage of hammer sets you provide do
you pre-bore? I’m trying to get a feel for how many
technicians do their own boring.
Johnson: We bore about 90 percent of the hammers that
we sell.
Brooks: We bore, taper and tail approximately 90 percent of
all the hammer sets we sell.All of our hammers are pre-sanded
at the factory and pre-voicing is not required. We sell shanks
and flanges with 65-70 percent of all hammer orders. We
pre-hang approximately 50 percent of all hammer sets we sell.
I would think that this could vary widely depending
on the supplier. Brooks LTD focuses on collaboration with
technician to provide quality services and products.
Meyer: We bore approximately 75 percent of the hammer
sets we sell. We also do pre-voicing and pre-filing on an
increasing basis. We are experiencing an increasing demand
for our hammer hanging services.
Marinelli: All of our hammers are custom bored in house
to the individual specifications or samples we receive. I can’t
give you a number on this because we do not separate bored
and unbored hammers in our accounting formats. I can,
however, estimate that the majority of hammers Pianotek
sells are bored with most custom services added.
You get a call from a piano technician who is installing
a new set of hammers on, say, a Steinway A. The tech
asks for your recommendation as to hammer brand
and voicing technique after installation. What would
you recommend for this piano?
Brooks: All of the hammers that we sell are made by the Abel
Hammer Company. However, one should know that all Abel
hammers are not the same. Different suppliers carry their own
lines, made to their own specifications. Things to consider
when selecting hammers are the piano and its placement,
the piano player, the customer’s tonal preference (bright or
mellow), and the technician’s voicing requirements. (Do you
prefer to lacquer up or needle down?)
We would recommend the Encore Natural Felt meeting
the original specs and weight requirements, as well as the tonal
qualities sought after on a Steinway A.
Johnson: We sell both Abel and Imadegawa hammers
and leave the decision to the customer. Abel hammers are
traditionally softer than Imadegawa, but many rebuilders insist
on their consistent quality and ease of voicing.
Meyer: We would recommend the Renner Premium Blue or
Blue Point hammers, because they were designed to replicate
the original Steinway hammers found on vintage Steinways
and use felt from the same factory that originally supplied
Steinway.They are voiced using traditional voicing techniques,
as explained in our “Voicing the Renner Hammer” manual
which can be downloaded from our Web site.
Marinelli: Before recommending a specific type of hammer
we need to qualify the situation. What environment is the
piano in? Who will be playing the instrument and at what skill
level? How much hammer installation and voicing experience
do you have? What is the condition of the instrument? Will
you be replacing other action parts such as shanks or wippens?
Has your client expressed any thoughts about what kind
of sound they want? We can then determine, for just one
example, the hammers we would recommend.
Assume we define rebuilding as piano work that
encompasses pinblock and soundboard replacement,
rescaling and/or redesign. What technicians do this
level of work? How many are out there as your
customers? My sense is that this is a small group of
people, but I am only familiar with rebuilders at this
level who are PTG members.
Meyer: I believe it is a very small number within PTG that
do complete piano rebuilding, which I would define as also
including action replacement and case refinishing. There are
a larger number of techs within PTG that are able to do
action and hammer replacement, and that number is slowly
increasing as a result of the excellent technical seminars being
produced at the PTG conventions and regional seminars,
where we sponsor a number of classes. Given the overall state
of the piano industry in the U.S., I think action replacement
represents a great opportunity for techs in the PTG to
expand their businesses in a rewarding and profitable way.
Marinelli: Since Pianotek distributes soundboard blanks and
pre-crowned soundboards to the trade we can at least track
some of the activity in this area. I think it may be safe to say
that while we do have high-end rebuilding customers who are
PTG members, we probably have an equal or greater number
who are not affiliated with PTG.These include independent
businesses, institutions, and dealerships that still maintain inhouse rebuilding facilities.
Johnson: I would estimate that there are 50 rebuilders in the
country that are capable of all aspects of rebuilding.There are
many rebuilders who can do most of the work except for
soundboards and bridges.
Brooks: Our customers doing rebuilding as you define it
seems to be broken down into three groups, based on our
purchasers of Bolduc Wood Products:
1. Large belly shops doing soundboard and pinblock work
and restringing for the trade, or facilities with departments
producing a significant number of rebuilds, 25 or more
per year. These businesses constitute only seven percent
of our rebuilding customer base, but they produce 55
percent of our rebuilding product sales.
2. High-end individual technicians doing complete topto-bottom rebuilds on a small number of pianos a year,
fewer than ten. An even smaller group is rescaling and
redesigning. These techs compose five percent of our
customer rebuilding base and 20 percent of our rebuilding
product sales.
3. Technicians that do an occasional rebuild, one or two a
year, and may use a pre-crowned soundboard or have a
belly shop do their case rebuilding. Or, they may just be
doing pinblock replacements and shimming the board.
This is 88 percent of our rebuilding customer base,
producing 25 percent of our rebuilding product sales.
I believe that there are many rebuilders who do not
April 2013 / Piano Technicians Journal 13
belong to the Guild because there is no
place for them. They are only allowed
to be Associates and will never tune or
“service” a piano. Truly, they are allied
tradesmen and are a most important part
of our industry. We should be working
to collaborate closely with these fine
technicians.
Q&A Roundtable discussions are edited for
length and clarity..
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