Brower Piano News

1892 Whitney upright

2012-02-10T08:11:00.009-05:00

The turn of the century was the one of the best times in this country
for the piano industry.
We had a passion for music and a passion for building things
and the acoustic piano was one of them.
Without the invention of the home computer or even TV the piano
was THE main source of entertainment in the home!

Here is one of those instruments I have the priveledge to keep
playing for the next generation!

In this project I will be concerned with the pianos action.

The term used to describe the mechanism that plays the piano.

New hammers and dampers new key bushings and the ivory keyboard will be restored.

first some before pics of the keyboard and action.

The original ivories are in poor shape.

The keys will get new key bushings and some wood repairs.

After the wood is repaired the new key bushings go in.

The action will get new hammers and dampers.

Here we see the old and tear down process.

The New Hammers getting installed.

Check back soon as I finish up.

Ok so the Whitney project is complete.

Here are some final pics.

The new hammers came out great!

The dampers were a challenge to remove.

The old glue gave me some trouble.

I used some wallpaper remover to presoak the

felts then applied heat with an iron for the final removal.

Ivory repair was next

Final pics in the home!

Another happy 100 year old piano.

P.S The customer was happy too.

Next project is 1911 baby grand

from across the pond.

see you soon.

piano tuner

piano tuning

miami

boca

west palm beach

piano repair

piano service

piano restoration

refinishing

John Brower RPT

Registered Piano Technician

1940 Mason and Hamlin "B"

2012-01-14T22:49:00.038-05:00

After 35 years in the piano business Mason and Hamlin is still one of my favorite pianos.

This one is no exception!

This was a partial restoration of the belly area (strings soundboard & bridges) of the piano.

It was in sad shape left in a home with some serious mold issues. No AC in Florida

is trouble as you can see from the pictures all the strings were breaking and the piano

was unplayable when it arrived to my shop.

The following is the restoration process in picture form.

At the bottom are some before and after photos.

So this is what it looked like when it came in.

The first step was to measure and record the stringing scale plate heights and downbearing
and check to see if there were any major structural damage to the sounboard pinblock or bridges.
Thankfully no major damage was found.
Now we can safely disassemble the piano and remove all the strings plate and pinblock.

First the dampers

Then the strings

Tuning pins

and cast iron plate

Exposing the soundboard bridges and pinblock

A strange surprise was waiting when the dampers

were removed. I found a nest of eggs that appear to be

from a gekco/anole type lizard.

Cool!

Next I take a sharp chisel and remove the old finish from the bridges

and scrape and sand the soundboard and prep it for a new finish.

Next the finish is applied and rubbed to a satin sheen

The Cast iron plate gets a good cleaning

The plate gets a new finish as well.

Metallic gold and clear coat.

The Plate goes back in for stringing

The Stringing begins!

Bass Strings Installed

Stringing Complete !

The damper heads are cleaned and buffed

and new damper felts are installed

There is nothing like a newly strung piano!

With the dampers in and the action regulated to factory specs

another generation of piano lovers will enjoy some great music from

one of the worlds greatest pianos!

Here are the before and after photos I promised you:

More Pianos on the way!

piano tuner

piano tuning

miami

boca

west palm beach

piano repair

piano service

piano restoration

refinishing

John Brower RPT

Registered Piano Technician

Pianola Player Piano

2011-12-30T00:39:00.009-05:00

Pianola
The Pianola name was the brand name given to the Aeolian Corporation's highest grade of player pianos built during the first quarter of the 20th Century. The Aeolian Corporation was one of the largest and most successful piano companies in American History. Established in 1903, Aeolian originally built its empire on the new-found popularity of the player piano and Pianola. Aeolian went on to be a leading builder of all types of pianos and organs in America and Europe, and most of their pianos during this time were of excellent quality. Aeolian was in control of dozens of piano companies abroad, and in 1932 it merged with the American Piano Corporation to form the Aeolian-American Corporation. The Aeolian-American Corporation continued to build thousands of pianos under many different names for decades throughout the 20th Century. After the World War 2 era, Aeolian re-introduced a line of small modern upright player pianos under the "Pianola" brand name. These modern player pianos were popular for several decades, and many were sold through the 1950s-1980s era.

Another family heirloom in for repairs!

This one will serve the next generation of piano forte players,
and I am glad to be a part of it's new lease on life!

I have the piano action mechanism in the shop for some exstensive repairs.

A jig to hold the action and stickers and make it easy to access the flange screws.

As you can see from the following photos it has some serious hammer problems.

The hammer felt is seperating from the wood molding. These hammers are glued on in a press under a great amount of pressure and tension to produce a warm rich sound when striking the pianos strings.

I will remove the end of each section and send them to my hammer maker.

They will make a custom set of hammers from the original samples.

Prep work is the key to good piano work. I have removed all of the hammers from the hammer shanks and left a few guide hammers for proper alignment with the new set.

More fun soon check back in a little bit for

the new hammer installation!

John Brower RPT
561-654-5787
browerpiano.com

Lester Done And Delivered!

2011-11-20T22:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some final shots of the Lester in the customers home.

Another family treasure restored for the next generation!

piano tuner

piano tuning

miami

boca

west palm beach

piano repair

piano service

piano restoration

refinishing

John Brower RPT

Registered Piano Technician

Lester Continued

2011-11-19T20:18:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! Here are some more pics of the Lester Spinet

I have the old finish off and most of the veneer glued back.

It is so great to have a matching bench with this project!

As you can see it is a nice mahogany and a light shade.

I had a few set backs with some plastic flanges!

I ended up replacing ALL of the plastic wippen flanges

I will be staining it deep red color as per the customers request.

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami

www.browerpiano.com

_______________________

Lester Spinet

2011-11-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the next family heirloom to enter the piano shop!
Welcome the Lester Spinet from Philadelphia.PA

Lester piano co started in the late1880's and made it through the great depression.
One of the reasons was this model right here. The "Betsy Ross Spinet"
Which was Billy Joel's first piano.
I look forward to restoring this treasure for the next Billy Joel!

It has a lot of cabinet damage and will be refinished in a deep rich mahagony similar to
the Hamilton I just finished.

Here are some starting photos from the clients before we begin with the shop pics
which will be coming soon.

Back with more soon!

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami

www.browerpiano.com

__________________________

On The Rhodes Again!

2011-11-13T23:44:00.000-05:00

Hey Everybody,
Remember the Fender Rhodes?

Very popular in the 60's and 70's. Used in pop rock and jazz music.

Think Marvin Gaye Earth Wind and Fire, the Eagles and Steely Dan.
Also Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and Bill Evans.
To name but a few of the many artists that played the Rhodes.

I have the opportunity to repair them from time to time and
always look forward to working on them!

This one needed a good cleaning.

It also had some moisture damage to some of the key bushings.

I steamed out the old bushings and glued in some new ones.

Also it needed a new set of legs and new sustain pedal.

Some tuning and voicing and this piano will be On The Rhodes Again!

John Brower RPT
Piano Tuning
Piano Repair
Piano Service
Piano Rebuilding
Piano Refinishing
Boca/Miami /Ft Lauderdale
West Palm Beach

Happy Client List

2011-09-07T12:16:00.003-04:00

I will add to this as often as I can.
I am told it is good for business to have happy customers
and people to refer you.

Here are some e-mails :

This is from Dr. Adam Alexander miami piano studios teacher and concert artist.

Hi John,

Great tuning of the Yamaha - thank you!

I appreciate the offer - I will need a tuning for the Young Chang soon and if you don't mind, that will be great.

I really appreciate it.

Adam

Hi John,

Just wanted to let you know that my students are very also pleased with your tuning - I sent an email recommending you so you should be getting many calls soon.

Adam

Dear Dr. Adam:

We had our piano tuned by Mr. John Brower last night. He is really good. Thank you for your recommendation.

Best Regards,

Sihui Yu

Happy Client List

2011-06-05T19:38:00.000-04:00

I plan on having an area to post clients comments about some of the work I have
completed.

So here is a start to that section of the blog site.

This piano was a Sohmer grand that had a very heavy action and was very difficult
to play softly on. I made the suggestion to lighten the touch weight and to perform an
anti friction treatment. And then to regulate the action to factory specs.

The e-mail was her comments after the work was completed:

John,

the first impression I had when trying out my "new and improved" piano was a sense of unfamiliarity and I was shocked by that. It seemed like this was not

my piano at all, and I did not touch it for a couple of days.

When I did start playing again, it was with the expectation of having to re-acquaint myself with my instrument, and that made a difference. I definitely like the

ease with which I now can play, how more expressive the phrasing has become.

Thanks for suggesting the work and for truly improving my piano, I am very happy with the result!

Regards,

Irene Stoehrfeldt

John Brower RPT
Brower Piano Service
www.browerpiano.com
piano tuner boca
piano tuner miami
piano tuner west palm beach

Stuart News Article 1997

2011-06-03T17:54:00.001-04:00

Hi All,

Here is the article in the Stuart News and Jupiter Courier they ran about
me and family back in 1997.

Don't pay any attention to the prices or numbers they don't make any sense
in todays market.

It was from my first tour of Florida when we lived on the treasure coast.

Stuart News article

“All In The Family” Stuart News article Sunday Dec. 7, 1997 by Shelley Canupp

“Love of Music Bonds Three Generations Of Piano Tuners”

[Note: prices quoted in the article do not reflect current market value]

Some peoples’ eyes bug out when John Brower tells them how much it will cost to restore their grandmother’s old piano. They don’t realize what’s involved.

The average piano has 8,000 parts, some have 11,000. They usually are built from expensive woods. You don’t take one apart or even reglue a bit of loose veneer on one, unless you know what you’re doing.

Brower, 37, knows what he’s doing. He does this for a living. After a brief fling with sales, piano repair and restoration became the love of his life. And it’s a love that spans at least three generations of this Port St. Lucie family.

Pianos were the first thing John Brower ever turned his hand to.

He grew up in New Jersey with his Dad Adolph, a professional piano player and music teacher, mom and siblings.

Adolph Brower’s father was a piano tuner who worked in New York. As a boy Adolph, and his father rode the New York City subways to the homes of piano owners. “I have what they call a natural ear,” Adolph said. At the time, he said, a subway ride cost 5 cents and Morris Brower charged $6 to tune a piano.

“My whole family is musical,” said Adolph, who is 65 and retired, but still playing a little jazz on the ivories. “My mother (Rae) and my brother were both concert pianist.”

By the time they were teenagers, Adolph’s sons John and Frank, were working alongside their father. John played drums in high school, but he eventually turned to the piano. Both boys studies at Tusting Piano Co. in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Although he’s retired, Adolph regularly plays the piano at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort in Wabaso and at Helga’s Café in Stuart.

His sons runs their own branches of the family business - Frank in New Jersey and John on the Treasure Coast.

John rents warehouse space in Vero Beach to store his work and he’s working out of the family garage in Port St Lucie.

“It keeps the family involved,” John said. His clients range from West Palm Beach to Sebastian. Whatever has to be done to a piano, he does. Stripping and refinishing, restringing instruments, replacing hammers, dampers and pegs, repairing soundboards - you name it.

“Almost any piano can be restored if the owner is willing to pay the price,” he said.

Such famous folk as Peter Nero and the Count Basie Orchestra have paid Brower for his expertise.

He charges $65.00 to tune a piano. The price tag to restore one is much higher: $7,500 to $11,000 to restore a large upright player piano. The same job on a baby grand runs from *$4,000 to $8,000. [All prices quoted are not current market prices.]

Some people hear these prices and say “Gee, I could buy a new piano for that!”

Sometimes they could, other times they couldn’t. New pianos are big-ticket items, as anyone who has recently priced one knows. A new Yamaha or Kawai grand may cost from $8,000 to $9,000. Small uprights cost about $4,500 and even “beginner” pianos go for about $2,500.

It’s not surprising then, that there is a market for reconditioned pianos. In fact, they outsell new ones buy a ratio of 8 to 1, according to “Music Trade” magazine.

Children are notorious for losing interest in music lessons. So, if you have a budding pianist at home but wonder whether he’ll stick with it beyond a year, you’re smart to buy an older, reconditioned instrument rather than an expensive new one that may sit in your house unplayed.

If mother’s old spinet has been gathering dust in a corner, you might want to hire a piano technician to rehabilitate it.

A good piano will last 200 years, if cared for and restored every so often. The Browers have worked on a slew of oldies, including a 1918 Behr Brothers and Co. player piano. They’ve refinished historic pianos such as a 1907 Steinway, as well as Nickelodeons.

Such jobs aren’t necessarily more difficult than reconditioning a standard modern piano. It all depends on the quality of the instrument and the care it received.

Piano re-builders will tell you that newer American instruments are rarely as well-made as those built 50 to 100 years ago.

“Prize pianos are pre-1940’s”, John Brower said. “They sound better as they get older.”

Some new pianos from Asia are of low quality, though they cost $5,000 or $6,000 each, he said. They contain inferior wood, instead of the natural hardwoods of the American-made pianos.

All piano restoration requires four things: technical knowledge, skill, attention to detail and tremendous patience.

Consider Baby Grands. These are grand pianos that measure less than 5 feet 5 inches from back to front. They’ve become popular in recent years. Even people who can’t play buy them to dress up a formal living room.

It takes John Brower six to eight weeks to refinsh a baby grand. If he has to work on its innards as well, it may take longer. He has to know different woods, mahogany, walnut, cherry, oak and birch - how they take finishes. He has to know how to tear down a piano, remove the strings and pins, lift out the 200 pound cast-iron plate to which the strings are attached and repair cracked soundboards.

He must know about grain fillers, sealers, stripping agents, glues and sanding techniques, and he has to breathe all the fumes and sawdust that are generated on every job.

“It’s not clean work,” said John’s wife, Cher. “But, sometimes, it’s like a treasure hunt.”

Cher Brower said the family has found many surprises in pianos. These treasure hunts include coins, stamps, and negatives of old, old photographs.

“And sometimes the wood is a surprise. People paint pianos all sorts of colors, often covering beautiful mahogany or oak wood.”

John Brower said that he had other career options, but he wanted to restore and tune pianos. His 10-year-old son, Jordan, plans to follow in his family’s footsteps. He’s already polishing brass hinges on piano lids and sanding wood components. He eventually will learn everything about refinishing and restoring a piano by working alongside his father.

“It’s in the blood.” John said. “Pianos are our life.”

Three generations -- Adolph, John and Jordan – agree that their love of wood and woodworking, and of things mechanical, keeps them going.

John Brower’s daughters, Karissa, 13 and Triana, 7, also get in on the act. They sometimes help sand nicks and scratches on piano lids and legs. All the Brower children play the piano, taking lessons from their grandfather.

Part of John Brower’s pay is the pleasure and gratitude of piano owners when they see a family heirloom restored for the first time or when they sit and play a beloved instrument newly rebuilt.

At first, they just smile and they sit down and play, he said. Then they say, “It’s just like I remember it from Grandma’s house.”

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami

www.browerpiano.com

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1911 Hamilton Upright Completed!

2011-05-28T20:58:00.000-04:00

So the finishing touches are done on this 1911 Family Heirloom upright.

It looks great and should be a great show piece for years to come!

I have some before and after shots for everyone to enjoy.

Here is some before and after of the sanding and staining process.

And polishing the hardware.

The Hamilton is done and the New Fallboard Decal
really make s the project complete!

Here are a few more photos!

ANOTHER FAMILY HEIRLOOM IS ON IT'S WAY AS WE SPEAK!

CHECK BACK SOON FOR MORE BROWER PIANO NEWS!

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)

Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami

www.browerpiano.com

_________

1911 Hamilton upright....Continued

2011-05-27T13:11:00.001-04:00

www.browerpiano.com
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Brower/100000999817562

So I ran into a structural repair while disassembling the back
portion of the piano lid. This part was glued on over the pinblock
so when I removed it you could see the seperation of the beams.

Without doing this repair the piano will not stay in tune very long!

The repair for this involves Lowering the tension on all

the strings so I don't crack the cast iron plate.

Drilling through the plate and installing

steel bolts that go all the way through the plate pinblock and out the back

of the piano.

Gluing the wood clamping and bolting the whole upper

portion of the piano back together. I use the polyurethane glue (Gorilla)

because it is very strong and has great gap filling properties.

As you can see from the pictures it foams up and out of the gaps.

Notice the Steel bolts as well.

Next step will be to re tune the piano back up to pitch and add all that

tension back onto the structure of the piano.

FYI:

There is an average of 16 tons of tension on a pianos plate.

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami

www.browerpiano.com

1911 Hamiton Upright .......continued

2011-05-27T09:14:00.001-04:00

www.browerpiano.com

http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Brower/100000999817562

This next set of pics is all about the new key tops.
First take a look at the old key board as it arrived in my shop.

Removal of the old key tops and gluing on the new

Routing and trimming the oversized key tops.

And the most difficult part hand fitting/filing each key.

If you take your time it's possible to get a great factory looking key.

The piano action hammers felts and fine regulation will be the next installment
check back when you can!!!!!!

John Brower RPT
Brower Piano Service
www.browerpiano.com
piano tuner boca
piano tuner miami
piano tuner west palm beach

John's Lastest Project- CIRCA 1911 HAMILTON UPRIGHT

2011-05-26T21:07:00.000-04:00

www.browerpiano.com
http://www.facebook.com/home.php

So currently working on a Family Heirloom- Its a 1911 Hamilton Upright Piano- It's so cool to be part of Restoring some family history with this beautiful piano. Nice carved legs and claw feet. Beautiful mahogany! ( see pics below)

  A previous client from New Jersey whose daughter now resides in Miami, contacted me for the repair work to be done and then delivered to her daughter upon completion.

   Since I am the Piano Tuner Miami guy and the Piano Repair Miami guy I agreed!

I am exceited to see yet another generation of budding pianists get to use this fine old instrument.

  Its great to be a part of preserving history!

  I will post pictures as the project progresses so check back from time to time.

These are pics from the disassembly process. Replacing and re-gluing veneer and before and after new keytops. The Old pedals will be replace with a new set which you see in the latest pics.
More pics coming soon.

Here are some more pictures as of 6/14/11

The stain and 1st coat have been applied and

CHECK OUT THOSE PEDALS!

John Brower RPT
Brower Piano Service
www.browerpiano.com
piano tuner boca
piano tuner miami
piano tuner west palm beach

Mason and Hamlin Factory Tour

2011-05-25T22:51:00.000-04:00

www.browerpiano.com
www.google.com

Even though it rained last week the Mason and Hamlin trip was awesome!
I toured the factory met some very smart people and learned a lot about how this
amazing instrument is made from start to finish.

The owners of Mason and Hamlin are, in my opinion, doing all the right things.
The goal to produce a world class instrument with the latest innovative designs,
such as full composite action parts and not cut corners on quality along the way is very impressive.

I got to feel touch and play some great pianos.

Boston was nice but I was glad to come back to south florida sunshine.

Here are some pics of the factory.

John Brower RPT
brower piano service
www.browerpiano.com
piano tuner boca
piano tuner miami
piano tuner west palm beach

The Grotrian Steinweg Grand

2011-05-14T16:44:00.001-04:00

www.browerpiano.com

It's ALWAYS cool RESTORING a piece of history and THIS PIANO was NO ACCEPTION!!!

What AMAZING GERMAN craftmanship went into creating this instrument OVER 100 YEARS AGO!

A great project from start to finish!!

EVERYONE was very happy with the finished instrument.

Glad to be able to be part of The GROTRIAN STEINWEG"S History.

Looking forward to servicing and tuning this Miami Piano Treasure!

Here are some pics of the rebuilding process:

This is the way it looked before the work began

The next are action shots of work in progress

The most unusual damper blocks I have ever seen!

They have a cloth bushing inside.

This made the job quite a bit more challenging.

No suitable parts available so I had to rebuild the originals!

I had to drill out each damper block and lace a new cloth bushing.

Glue in place trim and ream to fit the damper wires.

Then repin the block back to the underlever.

Tedious!

Before and after new backchecks installed.

Next is the newly Restrung piano!

Installing new damper felts

Installing new action parts.

I also replaced all the flange screws!

All the new action parts

Installed!

Feel free to e-mail comments and questions are welcome!

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)

Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami
www.browerpiano.com

New Grotrian/Steinweg Pics

2011-05-14T11:38:00.000-04:00

I finally put up some more of the Grotrian rebuild pics.

The most challenging damper system with no suitable replacement parts.

The damper blocks had bushing felt in them. I never saw a piano like this before
and I have been doing this work for over 34 years.
Any body else see this on any other brand piano?

Came out great in the end just a whole lot more work!

Thanks in advance for your comments.
-John

SCROLL DOWN TO THE GROTRIAN BLOG TO SEE NEW PICS!

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)

Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami

www.browerpiano.com

The "D" has arrived

2010-01-24T23:12:00.000-05:00

www.browerpiano.com
www.google.com

The rebuilt Steinway "D" has arrived safe and sound at San Pablo.
I look forward to preparing the piano for this years concert series.

The damper action and back action needed a lot of attention.
as well as string level and seating and of course multiple tunings due
to the new strings.

After much tuning regulating and overall concert prep this piano sings!
The "D" has a powerful clear voice. It will fill the San Pablo with
beautiful music for many years to come.

All who attended the debut concert were amazed!

Check out this short sample rehearsal video.

Also when visiting the Florida Keys
check out the San Pablo in Marathon Key
for concerts from Jan to March each year.

John Brower RPT (registered piano technician)

Piano Tuner Boca

Piano Tuner West Palm Beach

Piano Tuner Miami