Player Pianos

[Hechler Family]

Richard,

I would say it depends on your locale. I knew of a player piano 
rebuilder some 30 years ago, who was always booked for rebuilds. He 
usually had a two year backlog. He had a local store and stocked rolls, 
of which I bought many from him. About two years he passed away. After I 
started in the piano business, plus my love for player pianos, have had 
one since about 10 years old with a collection of about 800 rolls, I 
decided to take on that part of the business. Once my advertising kicked 
in, I have about 13 player customers, subcontracted twice with local 
piano stores for repairs and player checkups before they sell them and 4 
rebuilds scheduled for this year. Ebay seems to be a good gauge for the 
market - even though that is from the selling aspect - however, that 
means there must be a concentration in those areas. Now if those people 
are selling just to be selling or selling because there are not enough 
rebuilders around - that is a good question. The player lover in me says 
go for it - you can always turn the business away. A full shop would be 
nice, right now I'm working out of my basement - pulling out the player 
parts and leaving the shell at the customers.

Duaine

P.S. Player piano almost never get tuned regularly, a lot of tuners 
refuse to tune players for what ever reason. Thats another way to get 
the word out - let your other local tuners that you will tune players.

Richard Gullion wrote:

> Hi List....
> Just wondering if anyone still does player piano 
> work..repairs...rebuilds. Is there a market for these skills. Ball 
> park figures on various aspects of rebuilding. Any thoughts and 
> suggestions. I am intrigued, have small experiance with them. But am 
> thinking about going further
>
>
> Richard
> the "Piano Guy" 


-- 
Duaine Hechler
Piano, Player Piano, Pump Organ
Tuning, Servicing & Rebuilding
Associate Member of the Piano Technicians Guild
Reed Organ Society Member
St. Louis, MO 63034
(314) 838-5587
dahechler@charter.net
www.hechlerpianoandorgan.com