Ed The Tuner

08/31/2024

Well, September is upon us. School starts soon, as do the lessons. It's time to start thinking about tuning that piano and maybe a quick dusting. Lessons learned will last longer when the piano is in tune!

06/11/2024

Go, have fun!

06/11/2024

06/06/2024

Every spring we start the clean up of the back yard such as it is. W**ding, raking and so on. John and I get out the cheap plastic lawn chairs and make lists of what to do next.
This spring has been lovely. We've spent many an hour in the last few weeks working our tiny piece of the world. Thanks to Trish Hollis, a wonderful customer of mine, we added a trunk load of new flowers.
We also found some birdseed from last year and because we have no bird feeder, we just tossed it on our driveway. Soon the birds were just eating it up so to speak. They love our bird bath as well, which I have to clean and add water multiple times a day!
Today was special. It was 88 this morning and the air was thick with humidity, but by 4:00 or so the humidity left us and a warm summer's evening dropped by. As we sat in our chairs we watched dozens of birds all gathered together on the driveway, clearing it of seed. It's been fun watching the baby birds learn to fly, then land with their mamas and learn to feed themselves. Tonight we had all the birds, then the baby woodchuck out solo eating our Bishops W**d, then three baby squirrels came down to pick at the seed. All together without fuss filling their bellies and not bothered by us at all.
The big finish was the young stag with tiny antlers, which are hard to see in a previous picture, came back and almost joined the rest of us. In the end, our presence was too much and he left again. All the others know us and the tiny junko's are the least fearful of us among our little backyard family.
It's our little urban, backyard paradise. We love it! I'll post more pictures and stories as time goes by.

03/13/2024

Free Free Free Free

Here is a 1950 Mason and Hamlin console piano that is available for the taking to a home where music is taken seriously. The owners want it to be played a ND loved.
I inspected it and it's very solid where it counts. It needs some action work to play well. It needs a thorough cleaning inside, but any investment in the mechanics and finish will be rewarded with a high quality piano.
The case just needs cleaned and polished. Take note of the lovely marquetry work on the music desk. For a 70+ year old piano, it's surprisingly mostly free of scratches and dents. Not perfect, but very nice.
If you want a piano that you're willing to keep for the long haul for your serious student, contact me.

02/02/2024

Here it is, my first Ed The Tuner restoration video. I'm going to share the already begun, play by play restoration of this exciting Baby Grand as I return it to its former glory!

01/05/2024

We all have regrets we must live with. One of mine was selling my 1899 Steinway "B" grand piano. I have played less than a handful of pianos that had the richness of sound that old piano produced. It was the old Victorian style with, "flower pot" or "ice cream cone" legs. That was almost 20 years ago.
Today, delivered to my home, this 1900 Steinway "B" grand. Not as fancy and not as rich, but I've only just begun my journey with this one. Can I match the concert sound of the "lost" one? We shall see.
For those who don't know, the Steinway "B" is a
6'10 3/4" piano. Almost 7"! This will be fun!

11/22/2023

Hey all, I'm at it again! Come see my show! Not only am I in it, but I also wrote it! I'm not in every show, but I am at;

The Spaghetti Warehouse; Dec. 7, 28, and 31st
Beardslee Castle; Dec 2 and 29th
Colgate Inn; Dec.6th
Burrstone Inn; Dec. 9th

Come one come all!

10/15/2023

Hello fans of Ed the tuner. Coming up soon, a chance to experience the best actors of Syracuse and me, in Covey Theater's Co-op(erative). It's a great show and a rare chance to see me without a piano in front of me. Covey productions always sell out, so order your tickets soon! You'll be glad you did!

10/09/2023

Hello friends of Ed the tuner. When I'm not arm wrestling pianos, I do a little acting. Come see Co-op(operative), it's a funny show.

04/10/2023

I am proud and honored to be a sponsor and official piano technician at WCNY. Listen for my ad on WCNY FM!

03/28/2023

Happy spring my friends. The scourge years of COVID are over and the weather is getting warmer. The crocuses are blooming. However, the piano rests there, trying it's best to give you music, but alas, it's ready for an overdue tuning.
You will be surprised how well you play on a freshly tuned piano. Give your piano some love and it will reward you with music.
Give me a call and lets get you and your piano on the schedule!

Call Ed The Tuner today!

315-422-1291

08/20/2022

I had a look at this 1941 Steinway console today with a beautiful mahogany case. The good news is pinblock, soundboard and bridges are in very good condition. It needs a good cleaning in and out, and some hammer work as well as a few cat scratches touched up. Of course a tuning as well.
This a great little piano with potential. A nice small piano with a big name.
Customer is asking $1,000. or best offer. I wouldn't advertise it if it wasn't a good piano.
Call; 315-706-5298 and tell her your calling about the piano. Tell Ed the tuner sent you.
You may also contact me here.

05/22/2022

Fun day ahead, I'll be at The Center for the Arts of Homer, tuning for The Wallflowers this afternoon on their piano. Did George Winston's tuning a few weeks ago. Check out the Center's web site for a list of who's coming in the future!

04/15/2022

Just tuned this mostly original 1908 Steinway. 114 years and still doing what's meant to do!

04/11/2022

I'll be there, tuning hammer in hand! Don't miss this if you can!

George Winston is undeniably a household name.

04/08/2022

After a tuning, I love to play, especially on a high quality grand piano. This is a Boston grand in mint condition. Forgive my playing and the slapping sound the action makes inside.

01/08/2022

A recent volunteer assistant...

11/29/2021

SUN KILLS PIANOS!!!

I shall be brief and blunt! Direct sunlight will destroy your piano and it won't hold a tune for more than a few minutes after the sunlight hits it. Yes they look nice in the window, but without some sort of shades or curtains, kiss it goodbye.
All three grand pianos below just went out of tune. They go out of tune faster than a tuner can tune them. Yes, that fast. Take a look at any piece of wood furniture you have by a window. Note how it is darker away from the sun. The sun is bleaching the wood. Even if you have it refinished, the two sides will never quite match because the wood is now two different colors. Sun kills pianos.

11/25/2021

Happy Thanksgiving!

10/25/2021

Regarding my new toy, I want to sing the praises of CB Trucking. Tim Blumer, who is the second generation in the Blumer klan to be moving pianos, knows his trade.
This piano came up a flight of stairs from a basement then up the stairs to my house. These guys are amazing. I probably move a couple of pianos a year in and out of my home. I would never allow anyone else to touch them.
Fully insured, fast and professional, give them call to move your piano. You will find they are less expensive than the rest and have a stable crew. It's not someone new every few months.
You will find them at;

315-472-6927

Tell them, Ed the tuner sent you.

10/25/2021

So my friends, here is my latest project and the most ambitious I've had of my own. It's a 1915 Ellington Grand. Ellington was a brief upscale offshoot of the Baldwin Company.
If you look at the interior pics, you will see real gold leaf work along with a lot of scrollwork. The veneers on the outside appear to be Mahogany and are quite unusual.
Condition wise, it's a wreck. It's not needing totally rebuilt however. I will keep you all informed as we go! I might even do a YouTube series!

08/11/2021

Soooooo.... How long has it really been since you tuned your piano? A year? 2 years? You'll would be surprised how many say 2-3 years ago and it's been 5 or more.
With the ever changing, crazy weather patterns we're having, it's harder to keep pianos is as good a tune. The more time that passes after a year, the more difficult it is to produce a good stable tuning.
Do yourself, your kids, whoever plays the piano in your home a favor. Tune that piano today! You won't regret it.

07/17/2021

Ah! 52 seconds of the piano tuner's lament. Even on the lowliest of pianos, I strive to not let this happen!

he looks so genuinely troubled when he says its not in tune at allhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuViyG19S7U

05/30/2021

My partner caught me on video relaxing at the end of a hard week of tunings...

Leo Bassi "Piano Juggler" on The Ed Sullivan Show, June 7, 1964. Subscribe now to never miss an update: https://ume.lnk.to/EdSullivanSubscribe Watch Motown p...

05/22/2021

Here is a project I've been working on. This 1901 Keller Brothers upright piano was purchased around a year ago. The case is obviously gorgeous and is all original.
Unfortunately, the action inside is all original and remarkably brittle. I've spent several months trying to make this big beautiful piano play as well as it looks, but I'm struggling.
Last year a few donors gave me money to help anyone suddenly unemployed to get a free tuning. I've applied all of that here and I'm still working. While this piano doesn't have the sentimental history of the piano in the last post, it's still a special piano because of that case. I hope to keep going till I can get it back to playable. The customer is of very limited means, so I work on it between jobs.
If she had me go look at the piano first, I might have recommended not to purchase it. But now, it must be saved. Wish me luck!

05/11/2021

My avocational career is many things, but not routine. I received a call to tune a piano that came to the customer through the family. When I examined the instrument, which hadn't been tuned in many, many years, I made another discovery. The support beams in the back were warping and pulling away from the back of the piano. I broke the sad news.
I explained it was, in it's day, a marginal piano at best and now it needed an expensive repair, that if it was successful and that was not a given, the cost would exceed the value of the piano when fixed. I suggested it be let go in favor of a better instrument.
She then explained it was bought new, (1955) by her grandmother. Her mother and Aunts, Uncle's and cousins all played the piano. It had been the center of one family's life for 65 years. There above the piano was a collage frame of 9 photos going back to 1955. Each photo had relatives, some gone now, gather at or near the piano. I didn't want to say no, but I asked for a day or two to ponder the potentially useless job on a bad piano.

The pictures haunted me. I agreed to the challenge, with zero promises of success.

In the other pictures, you can see the gaps left by the warping. I glued, clamped and ran lag screws into the piano and it worked! I tuned it three times to get it up to pitch and today over an hour chasing down rattles to remove.
In the end, it sounds great. Time will tell how it will last from here, but the fourth generation of a family is learning to play on grandma's spinet. That's a job worth doing.

Post-posting....

I want to thank the family members who commented below for the many kind words and their shared memories. I've been moved to tears. I will be even more conscious in the future about the importance of the "family" piano in future engagements. Thank you all!

04/23/2021

A fun documentary about moving a grand piano down and up four stories in 1966. I recognized the music desk on her old piano, but couldn't place the manufacturer. The new piano was definitely a new Steinway Modal "B". 6' 10 1/2" long. A very nice upgrade! Enjoy

If you need a piano moved, there is no better than CB Trucking. The best in the business. Give them a call; 315-218-6065 and tell them Ed the tuner sent you.

I made this film back in the late 60s when it was so much fun to shoot short documentaries in 16mm. A two man crew, camera and sound. Just about any subject ...