Dallas Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild Homepage
Welcome to the Dallas Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild Homepage, dedicated to providing information to our members and the community we serve.
What is the Dallas Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild?
The Dallas Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild is the local chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild for the Dallas area. The membership is primarily comprised of piano technicians - those wonderful people who tune, repair, regulate, restore, and rebuild pianos - but also includes people from other piano-related fields such as piano dealers.
Many of our members are Registered Piano Technicians of the PTG - they have
passed a very rigorous test to earn the honor of bearing this title. Most of the rest
are associate members who are working towards becoming RPT's. The Chapter meetings
provide a great learning opportunity for everyone.
Information on how to join our Chapter is here.
Testing information is located here.
LOOKING FOR A PIANO TECHNICIAN IN THE DALLAS AREA?
To help you in locating a piano technician near you, the directory of Dallas chapter members is sorted various ways.
We will make every effort to keep this list as up-to-date as possible.
Humor
Take a look at the Piano Technicians Top Ten for a list of some funny things often asked of/said to piano technicians.
Portable devices add much capability to our tool pack, but at what price?
Good Tuning Advice from 125 years ago!
A piano technician posted a notice on the door of a classroom where he was tuning in an effort to keep curious students from peaking in and disrupting his concentration. It read, “A piano tuner should be heard, but not seen.”
Current Officers of the Dallas Chapter:
President - Fred Yonley, RPT
Vice-president -Mike Tocquigny, RPT
Secretary - John Gould, Associate
Treasurer - Doug Knabe, Associate
Program Chairman - Doug Knabe, RPT
Membership Coordinator -
Fred Yonley, RPT
Dallas Chapter PTG
Next Meeting on April 8th
Our next gathering will again be at DFW Piano Gallery; they have requested an RSVP. ( "Répondez s'il vous plaît"). We have a special treat in store (pardon the pun) as they will providing the food and drink. We will also have a special technical guest. Rick Baldassin will be presenting the Pramburger piano and telling us all that we need to know to service them. (Perhaps we'll have some prime burger to go with it). Sorry if this in poor taste. Rick has a long list of achievements including technical editor of the Journal, a special affiliation with Renner and now with Pramburger Pianos. He has given many technical classes at Conventions throughout the years. Here is a link that will give more bio info. http://www.baldassinpianos.com/about-rick-baldassin.asp. The technical is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. There is no definite business meeting planned at this time unless some important items come to the fore. If there is a meeting, it will be very abbreviated.
Previous Meetings
Our March 11th meeting was at the DFW Piano Gallery. They provided the drinks and Brenda Seals brought sandwich makings. Michael Tocquiny gave an informative talk on basic key weighting and then got into the Stanwood method on the same subject.
Doug Knabe was our host for the Feb. 12th meeting at his home in Dallas.
We elected Leon Speir as our Delegate to the National Convention this summer in Anaheim , Ca. Jack Wyat is the first alternate and Michael Tocquiny is second alternate. It takes a special dedication to attend the Council Session which starts 2 days before regular Convention.
Thanks to Pat Knabe for providing the lasagna, salad, etc which was very good. Thanks to the others who brought the drinks and helped with the serving.
Doug a gave a very interesting talk entitled "Temperamental Temperament".
The trip to Baldwin didn't work out for various reasons. The weather was really weird on the day we were to travel by car. We are still invited to come in May or later according to Thomas Malone, their factory technician. Glen Greer mentioned that there are some very economical flights available to Little Rock, Ark. at times. We could rent a car in Little Rock and save a lot of driving time. We are open to other ideas for excursions.
On Jan. 8th we were privileged to be at Dallas Piano Whse. 9292 LBJ Freeway. It is located just East of Greenville on the south access rd. of LBJ. 972-231-4607. www.dallaspiano.com/. Thanks to Walt Burchfield for his great hospitality.
Fred gave a technical on voicing the tenor section. We were working with a Kimball Console Piano. With the help of various people we filed all the hammers. We did most of the needling in the tenor section. There were 2 unisons of 2 strings per note with plain wire just above the break. Some of their models have 2 unisons of wrapped strings above the break. The plain wire seems to be more difficult to make sound good. Fred also removed lost motion from the keys with a special ratcheting let-off tool.
We had good attendance at our Christmas Party despite the not so good weather. Jack Wyatt provided some melt in your mouth type brisket as well as sauguage. His wife cooked up some really good beans. Paula and Norbert made it with the drinks despite an extended time traffic jam on the way from Plano. Bob Burgess brought a brain teaser Christmas type game which I am sorry to say was won by a Ft. Worth Chapter member; what was that guy's name?
Our November 13th Meeting was held at Grand Staff Piano Center, the local Yamaha Dealer. Dan Reed gave the technical on "Exploring Aftertouch" and will showed various aftertouch errors via his action models. Paula Lesjak provided the refreshments which were awesome.
The September Meeting was at The Family Music Center (Worldwide Piano.Com) at 1310 N. Industrial http://worldwidepiano.com/store_locator.php. The business meeting began somewhat late while Fred tried to get his video equipment ready for the technical. Donald Farrar gave an interesting presentation using his video slides of a Mathushek Spinet Grand. This piano is not related to the Mathushek of a century ago. It is a modern day piano made in 1937 that looks like a square cabinet when closed up and has an angled keyboard.
The August Meeting was held on Aug. 14th at DFW Piano Gallery. Bob Rosenthal, owner and Jim Hamblen were great hosts for this meeting. They had set up a cross-sectional grand piano right in front of our seating which was quite interesting.
Bob Burgess gave a good technical class on Business Practices and we had a lively discussion.
Notes from the National Convention
Dale Probst was elected as President of PTG.
Jack Wyatt was re-elected to another 2 year term as President of the PTG Foundation and received the Golden Hammer Award.
Leon Speir was re-elected to another 2 year term as Vice President of the PTG Foundation. He also received the Hall of Fame Award last year.
Congratulations to these special members of our Chapter!
Marta Paz Eiroa passed all the required exams to become an RPT. She came all the way from Spain to take the exams and to attend the National Convention in Kansas City.
The June Meeting was at Cousins Piano
Doug Knabe gave the technical which was entitled WWW and the Piano Tech
The class provided an overview of the technical aspects of the world wide web.
Topics include:What is a URL? What is obtaining a Domain Name?How is a web site created? What does a web site cost?Where is a web site stored and how is it changed?What can be put on a web site? What are search engines?Should I build my own web site or hire it done?
What is the value of a web site to my business?
Our May Meeting was at Steinway Hall in Plano
Michael Tocquiny and Leon Speir gave the technical on hammer hanging.
New Officers were elected.
April Meeting was at Mr. E's Music Store, Bedford location
Agenda:
P.A.C.E. 6pm, Doug Plummer
Business Meeting: 7pm
Our technical for this joint meeting between Dallas and Ft. Worth had to be rescheduled.
There was some bad weather that kept most of the Dallas Chapter from trecking to Bedford.
Fred Yonley showed some of his more unusual tools and that sufficed for an impromptu technical.
Thanks to the Ft. Worth Chapter for their hospitality
The March Meeting was a dandy with Dave Featherstone demonstrating the installation of a set of damper underlevers.
The Class was at Famiily Music Center on Industrial Blvd.
The February Meeting was as follows:
Where: Cousins Piano Co: 1801 Stratford Garland, TX 75041 (972) 926-1920
When: Tuesday Feb 13, 2006 - 7:00 PM
Refreshments will be served after a short business meeting
Program: Virtual Factory Tour
After more than a year of discussing how to take a factory tour, we have brought the factory tour to the Dallas Chapter Meeting via DVD. We'll explore the process of building a piano from start to finish at Steinway as well as at Mason and Hamlin. Please join us for a virtual tour and discussion on the different ways of creating this fine instrument we call a piano.
Doug Knabe
Jan. 9th Our first meeting of the year was at Dallas Piano Whse. Doug Knabe gave an interesting class on the basic concepts of vibrating strings and how they behave when struck by a hammer. Reminder: Our P.A.C.E. material will be incorporated into our technicals at times.
LATEST ACTIVITIES Dec. 19th We had a very good turn out for our Christmas Party. There was some humor as some of us talked about a humorous event from the past. Paula Lesjak suggested the topic. We had some impromptu piano music thanks to Darren who brought a piano and Leon Ziligson and Norbert Lesjak who tickled the ivories. John Gould did a great job on the trumpet as well.
Nov. 14th's meeting at Cousin's Piano provided a show and tell from those present. There were refreshments after a short business meeting. Thanks Darren for once again letting us use your facility and utilities.
In October many of us attended the TSA Convention in Richardson, Tx.
The Sept. 12, 2006 Chapter Meeting was held at Peter Collora Pianos in Denton
Program: Epoxy Repair of Sounding Board and Bridge
Joe Tom McDonald and Darren Speir brought a Vose & Sons Grand to work on. Refreshments were served courtesy of Peter Collora Pianos.
The July 2006 Meeting was held the at Owen Art Center room 2040 at SMU. Dave Porritt presented a redesigned Steinway model D Grand by Ron Nossman. He reported that it has been very favorably received by the faculty. Right next to it was a traditional model D although it had not been reconditioned.
The August PACE Class was presented by Michael Toquiny dealing with setting a good temperament.
Click on the links to see details of the program and pictures.
2004 Meetings
The January Chapter meeting was held at Steinway Hall in Dallas on January 8th. The topic of the evening was tuning hammers.
The February technical was presented by Thom Tomko on aural tuning.
Our March technical was presented by David Brown
of the Austin Chapter on Integrating Aural and Electronic Tuning Techniques.
The April technical was presented by Jim McGehee of Little Rock, AR. on the preparation of fine grands, particularly Steinway.
The May technical was presented by Kelly Anderson of North Richland Hills on jacking the action for a better regulation and he also answered questions on rebuilding.
The June technical was presented by Jack Wyatt on upright regulation.
The July technical was the Chapter's 5th Annual Stump the Chumps Challenge.
The August technical presentation was "Removing The Drop Action and Other Practical In-Home Procedures", by Michael Tocquigny, Dan Reed, and Fred Yonley.
The September Technical presentation was Revitalizing the Vertical by Leon Speir.
The October Technical presentation was Triage Grand Action Reconditioning and Regulation. There was also a demonstration of steam voicing hammers. Technicals by Walter Connell. Pictures soon.
Young Chang National Service Manager, Phil Glenn at Dallas Piano Warehouse.
The November Technical covered two subjects. Don Farrar of the Fort Worth Chapter made a presentation on string covers. Mike Tocquigny presented techniques on servicing Steinway pedals.
2005 Meetings
The January Technical presentation was "Stabilizing the Patient" by Fred Yonley. Pictures soon.
The February technical program was a review of the video tape, Yamaha Grand Action Regulation in 37 Steps tape by LaRoy Edwards.
The March Technical presentation was a Pitch Raise Clinic hosted by Mike Tocquigny.
The May technical presentation was the popular Tools, Tips, & Techniques.
The June Program is a presentation on bridge repair/rebuilding. Alan Goehrig will recap a bass bridge.
The September technical presentation was All About Ivory by Merle Sanford.
The October Technical presentation was All About Hammers by Bernard Mollberg.
The November Technical presentation was Things that go bump in the night by Doug Parsons.
Newsletters
February, 2002 Tuning During The Dry Months
- March, 2002 The Tuner's Temperament
- April, 2002 The Aural Temperament, Improving Accuracy and Speed.
- May, 2002 Tuning the Steinway Vertical
- June, 2002 Grand Piano Action Improvement
- July, 2002 Gluing up a Back...Notes and Lessons
- August, 2002 Spacing Grand Hammers
- September, 2002 New Ivory Keytops
- October, 2002 Jaws
- July, 2003 Integrated Aural and Electronic Tuning
Some Useful Links
Piano Technicians Guild and Chapters
The Piano Page - Piano Technicians Guild homepage
Sacramento Chapter
UK Piano Page (not affiliated with the PTG)
Local PTG Member Web Sites
Dale Probst and Elizabeth Ward, RPTs
Darren Speir, RPT
Leon Speir, RPT
Jack Wyatt, RPT
Fred Yonley, RPT
All Web Sites are listed in the classification roster
Piano Manufacturers
Baldwin Piano Company
C. Bechstein Pianoforte Fabrik GmbH
Blüthner
Bösendorfer
Feurich
Grotrian
Ibach
Kawai America
Mason & Hamlin
Samick
Sauter
Schimmel
Schulze Pollmann
Seiler
Steingraeber & Söhne
Steinway & Sons
Walter Piano Company
Yamaha Corp.
Young Chang America
Other piano related pages
Dampp-Chaser Electronics - Piano Life Saver
Homepage
Search Engines
Yahoo - search engine
WebCrawler - search engine
Lycos - search engine
MetaCrawler Searching
Cyber 411 - Fifteen Search Engines, One Query
"Just how in the heck do you learn how to be a piano technician?" you may ask.
About half of all piano technicians learn through home-study courses, like
The Randy Potter School of Piano Technology. Please visit Randy's homepage if you want to find out more information.
This page is updated frequently. Please check back for new additions.
If you are in the DFW metroplex and have a homepage relevant to the piano industry (technician, teacher, dealer, etc.), please contact Doug Knabe at the e-mail address posted below regarding putting a link on our page to your page.
This page has been visited times.
Please e-mail any questions or comments to: dknabe@airmail.net
Last updated April 1, 2008
Please sign the guestbook:
Sign My Guestbook
©2004,2005,2006 Dallas Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild. All rights reserved.