OK…so there I was!
The year was 1962…WAIT…I have a question…NO…two questions:
1. Why is when people have me as a technician, they insist on surprising me with a new piano purchase done without my FREE help. Today I went to a client’s house and they surprised me with a grand piano that isn’t as good as the console they had…oh…they were so proud. What do you say…”Congratulations!”
2. How in heaven’s name does someone write on Facebook, from my account, in what looks like my name…???? How do they do that…hacked again!!!! I had to send out 250+ apologies for what…for having a Facebook account that was apparently unsecured.
Ok…where was I…? Oh yes, 1962…
My Uncle was bent on my being a piano technician…I was bent in the other direction. So for some time I followed him around from client to client. When an action was broken…we would both stare at it like a helpless driver stuck on the side of the road looking into the hood of the car for something…anything!
He would go to the car to fetch a part, and inevitably, by the time he got back…I had it figured out. You see…I was one of those kids that took all of their toys apart…but put them back so they worked better…I was doomed!
Soon, he became frustrated with me and passed me off to one John “Larry” Scheer. Larry was “Mr. Technical” in the guild. He wrote most of the technical articles…he was the guru of piano technology and happened to live close by…what luck????
Ok…I was almost hooked…almost. I called Mr. Scheer and he told me he was no longer taking on students. I understood. We talked more. He asked questions and I answered them. He was impressed by the fact that I had read the last nine years of the piano technicians journal given to me by my uncle, and memorized all of his technical articles. “OK…maybe one more student”.
Now, instead of following Uncle Pete around, I followed “Uncle” Larry. He loved the fact that I showed up on our first appointment together with a note book…yes…the same kind I kept track of my book request; that black and white marble, hard cover, sewn copy book.
We worked together for one year until he said, “Kid…I have nothing more. You take faster than I can give”, and turned me loose just after I promised to take my test and become registered…more on that later.
In the time I spent with my Uncle and Larry, I bought books…read them all, bought tools…wore them out learning and by 1964 started…wait for it…Onesti Piano Service…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not a piano technician…doomed!
I thought I would just do it to get me through college…I did that, but forgot to stop!
Through all of this…there was the mystery of rebuilding…you know…taking the piano apart and putting it back together…only better. I did it with toys. This was a musician’s toy…sorry…tool…why not.
Why not, I’ll tell you why not! That business really wasn’t up and running yet. It was in its infancy…yet to be invented, and I was in on the invention…now it gets interesting.