WELCOME
I hope over the following pages you will get a full insight into the services I can offer.
I am an independent Steinway & Sons trained Piano Tuner/Technician specialising in the servicing, rebuilding, tuning and toning of fine German grand pianos, and with 40years experience you can be assured of the highest levels of craftsmanship. Based in south London I am available for work throughout the UK and internationally. Please contact me if you have a Steinway grand piano for sale, I always have customers who want good Steinway pianos.
My work as Piano Technician
My work as a piano technician includes all aspects of piano servicing, from tuning and check-over, to servicing on site, which can be between one and five days, and full grand piano restoration at the workshop, which is around four to six weeks work. Re-polishing can also be arranged.
I am resident technician at London’s Henry Wood Hall where I look after the Steinway concert grands which are used by visiting artists and all the major orchestras on a daily basis for recordings and rehearsals. The newest Steinway D here No 501630 from 1986 has been used on many recordings for EMI, Sony, Hyperion, Deutsche Grammophon and others. We also have the use of a 1935 Steinway D restored by me which is something a little different from a new piano, a different vintage. I’m also service contract holder at Trinity Laban conservatoire and also worked for twelve years at London’s Southbank Centre backing up and standing in for the contract holder in the preparation of their fleet of Steinway Ds. Concert and recording work consists largely of fine tuning and voicing checks and occasional adjustments to refine regulation. It’s all about keeping the pianos working at their optimum.
I try to keep a small stock of very carefully selected Steinway grand pianos for sale. Please see the Steinway Piano Sales page.
Some of the venues I have worked
- Henry Wood Hall, London
- South Bank Centre, London
- Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club
- Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Blackheath Concert Halls
- Royal Northern College of Music
- Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Steinway Piano Sales
Piano Restoration / Servicing
Piano Tuning Toning / Voicing
BLOG
Perfecting Piano Actions for Steinway Concert Quality
Steinway’s at Henry Wood Hall
Restoration of a Steinway B
Rebuilt Steinway B For Sale
Testimonials
Thanks, Iain, for helping me make my first record first class.
Henry Wood Hall piano was beautiful throughout.
I’m delighted.
See you soon,
Alan
Alan Parmenter
“Dear Iain
I believe I have now ascended to what I can only be described as the ‘Bush Plain’. This is a high, fuelled by a potent mixture of wonder, excitement and utter disbelief. I had always imagined Steinways were owned by people with mansions, models and multiple cars of exotic pedigree. Never by ordinary people like myself.
Every so often, I find myself peeking into the dining room just to check that the Steinway is really there. When I sit down to play, I feel like pinching myself. The bass almost growls in the arresting manner of a sports car engine. The richly textured and unique Steinway tone envelopes one in a sound system to end all sound systems. Even scales and arpeggios sound wonderful on this instrument. I have become a child again, once more bewitched and bedazzled by the real and fantasy worlds which combine in a most treasured toy.
My particular Steinway journey began, as you know, in a troubled way. At the Steinway showroom, I fell in love with the model B and yet a new B was financially out of reach. Luckily, I found myself talking to you and you persuaded me to bid for a B at the next auction. As you also know, I was pretty unhappy with the chosen instrument. The action was inconsistent and unreliable, the middle range tone was largely absent and I was loathe to bid for such an expensive item purely on the basis of a telephone relationship. Clive’s words of reassurance were crucial. It was still a shock though, when the hammer fell and the deed was done. I was convinced for many weeks afterwards, that I had made the wrong move. It was extremely helpful to meet you at the next auction and at the Steinway showroom where you were able to explain to me why my piano was ailing and how simple (relatively speaking) it would be to put things right. I am so glad that I kept faith.
Understanding how pivotal the top action and a new set of hammers were to the problems the piano was having meant that the dark tunnel now had some light at the end of it. When you installed the new action last week I knew we were out of the tunnel, even though you had yet to complete the voicing. I now have an instrument that responds accurately and faithfully to my input and in which I now have utter confidence. Any aberrations are now mine and mine alone. It is as good as new. My years in the piano wilderness are over.
So, Iain, your role in this has not really been that of piano technician, though skilled and true has been your craftsmanship. Your role has been to make a dream come true. A dream so large and improbable and so deeply buried that I was unaware that it even existed. I am really fortunate to have met you and I will always remember the impact your efforts have had on my life.
I only hope that I can be as high as the ‘Bushman’ is, and for as long.
Thank you.”
Grahame Merifield
I had always dreamed of owning a Steinway baby grand, but never believed that it would be possible. Iain helped me through every step of the way, from searching all the pianos at the piano auction, finding a perfect Steinway for reconditioning that I would never have spotted and then working with the french polishers to transform it into the most stunning piano. It is beautiful to look at and unbelievable to play. The transformation is amazing. I still pinch myself that it is mine and thank Iain wholeheartedly for his help. I could never have chosen this piano without his help.
