[CAUT] Tuning Pin Questions - About me... Since you asked...

[Kendall Ross Bean]

Chris~
 
Thanks for the compliment. Did you mean smart guy or wise guy?!! I guess I
put up a good front! Here's a little of the truth about me:
 
Long story about PTG membership, but the gist of it is I joined back around
1986 and passed the tests, and became a Registered Craftsman member or RPT
or RTT, (whatever they were calling it back then.) 
 
I was a member for several years (Golden Gate California Chapter -Sid Stone)
but somehow at some point the paying of the dues got delegated to the
bookkeeper for our PianoFinders business, and unfortunately she didn't
understand the importance of paying the membership dues by the deadline. As
a result, my membership got dropped. We appealed, but at the time they
didn't accept our excuse. I just never got around to retaking the tests, or
rejoining, (and I was a bit peeved at their lack of sympathy for the
situation, I admit. I'm not going to mention any names...)
 
Currently Karen (my wife and partner in the business) has the membership
(she's an associate member) so that's how we are still associated with PTG
and how I still receive the PTJ. I really do enjoy reading the articles in
the Journal. I also especially enjoy reading the posts on the CAUT and
pianotech listserves, and how others solve the problems they encounter with
pianos and customers. Recently I felt a bit guilty about receiving all this
wonderful advice and knowledge and not giving anything back, so I decided to
start posting and at least pool my ignorance with the wisdom of others. ;-)

 
Our business, PianoFinders, we started in 1982, when we returned here to
California from school at UT Austin in Texas (I was a piano performance
major there working on my Masters and Doctoral degrees. I knew Charles Ball
there, he was one of the folks who inspired me to get started in piano
technology...)  ...By 1989 or 1990 we had a fairly large rebuilding shop,
several employees, a piano showroom, concert hall, advice hotline, and
learning center in Concord, California. (Mostly learning center - We were
the ones doing most of the learning!) (By the way, I also happen to be a
concert pianist, on the side...)
 
Around 1996 we closed the huge facility in order to have a life and spend
more time with our kids, who were in their teens and needed us more. We
decided to go virtual and network and now we have a web presence at
<http://www.pianofinders.com> www.pianofinders.com . I still have a fair
sized rebuilding shop (attached to our home), with lots of nice power toys
-oops, I mean power tools, to play with, and we network with a number of
different rebuilding shops and technicians throughout the country. We have
gotten pianos in from, and shipped them out to, places all over the U.S.
(and sometimes various places in the world.) 
 
I enjoy working on Steinways, Baldwins, Mason & Hamlins, Chickerings,
Yamahas, and Kawais, but also on Lesters, Conovers, Steinerts, Wurlitzers,
A.B.Chases, and (Chicago) Kimballs. (-mostly grands, with a smattering of
uprights.) I think they are all interesting, in one way or another. I think
a lot of the joy I find in my work is seeing how all the different pianos
were built, and trying to restore them to the way they were originally (a
challenge, when often they have been substantially modified or altered by
various people over time.) Every piano is like an archeological dig for me -
many layers. (I'm into history!) One of the major aspects of our business is
appraising pianos. We have evolved an appraisal process over the 25 or so
years we have been in business that we are quite pleased with, or, at least,
we think it is something to write home about! I enjoy going out to people's
homes and talking to them about their pianos, and telling them about their
pianos, (and often playing their pianos after I appraise, tune, or service
them.) I've seen just about everything (or so I think, until the next
appraisal or tuning.)
 
Well, there it is in a nutshell. By the way, I'm still not that old either
(54 this year.) I don't really know about smart --  I just know enough to be
dangerous! 
 
Thanks for asking,  (I realize this is probably a lot more than you asked
for... ...sorry...)
 
~Kendall Ross Bean
 
PianoFinders
www.pianofinders.com <http://www.pianofinders.com/> 
e-mail: kenbean at pianofinders.com
 
Connecting Pianos and People

  _____  

From: Chris Solliday [mailto:csolliday at rcn.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 5:42 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Tuning Pin Questions - The truth about reverse
thread;and Steinway parts that "glow in the dark."


Hi Kendall,
You seem like a smart guy, are you a PTG member yet?
Chris Solliday RPT



 

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