Brian Krefting, piano technician and rebuilder

What I do: At age 14, when many of his schoolmates were still taking piano lessons, Brian Krefting was learning to tune pianos.

Now, as a technician, rebuilder and owner of Allatoona Piano in Canton, Krefting has gone beyond tuning. In his basement shop, grand pianos sit in various stages of reconstruction, their keyboards and mechanics removed.

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Karl W. Ritzler / Special

Brian Krefting, the owner of Allatoona Piano in Canton, rebuilds pianos. A rebuild can cost $5,000 to $20,000, which sounds like a lot until you consider that a new Steinway can cost $60,000 or more.

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“It starts in a customer’s home while tuning,” said Krefting, 40. “At about 75 years old, a piano won’t hold its tuning. That’s the chief trigger that we must rebuild the piano. A pretty hefty estimate follows that.”

Rebuilding can cost more than many pianos are worth, Krefting said. But some are worth rebuilding — notably Steinways. A rebuild can cost $5,000 to $20,000, but a new Steinway can cost $60,000 or more.

The rebuilding process can take up to six months. Krefting starts by restringing the pin block and sound board, which requires complete disassembly of the piano. The pin block, he explained, holds the pins for tuning a piano. Over time, the holes that hold the pins can loosen, making tuning increasingly difficult.

Pin blocks can be replaced, but good sound boards can’t. The sound board is the “speaker” of the piano, Krefting said. The strings’ vibrations are transferred onto the sound board, giving the tone you hear, he said.

Good sound boards are made of spruce, and the proper wood isn’t available anymore. Cracks in a sound board can be repaired. “An old Steinway is better with the original sound board repaired,” Krefting said.

Next comes the action assembly, the keys and hammers. “There are 88 notes, and each note has a whole bunch of pieces, and they’re all moving pieces,” Krefting said. All in all, there are more than 8,000 parts in a keyboard.

Some can be kept, including the ivory veneer over the wooden keys, but many are so worn they must be replaced, especially the felt that covers the head of the hammer that actually strikes the strings. Once rebuilt, there are 30 adjustment steps to each note to make sure it works correctly.

The final phase is refinishing the outside of the piano, which Krefting sends out. “It’s very involved and very messy,” he said.

Krefting reassembles the pianos and returns them to the owners himself.

“I do every single operation myself,” he said. “It’s best for accountability and quality control. Every part is done by a highly qualified technician. It takes me longer, but I like my results.”

What got me interested in this: “I grew up in my dad’s piano shop. He was a Steinway dealer in Cincinnati,” Krefting said.

His father did some piano rebuilding, and Krefting said he learned the craft from the shop’s employees. It was there that he learned to tune pianos.

Krefting still tunes pianos, “but I don’t aggressively advertise for tuning. It’s hard to get the rebuilding business without the tuning business. A lot of times, that’s where it comes from.”

And, yes, Krefting took piano lessons. “I played as a kid, but I really don’t practice anymore. Working on pianos ruined me as a musician.”

Best part of my job: “Delivering a rebuild when it’s finished to a very satisfied customer,” Krefting said. “A lot of my customers are really good pianists. They fall in love with [the finished product] because it works right — finally. … It’s going to be the nicest piano they ever played.”

Most challenging part: “There are a lot of little challenges,” he said.

Troubleshooting a piano that doesn’t need a complete rebuild can be tricky, he said. “You have to be right, and you can’t be wrong” about the problem, he said.

Many times, Krefting said he can take care of a piano problem, such as squeaky pedals, in one house call.

What people don’t know about my job: “People are surprised my job is a job and not a hobby,” he said.

What keeps me going: “I enjoy being good at something,” Krefting said. “It makes me feel good that I can

help people out and be good at what I do.”

Many times, he said, people have told him they thought their piano problems were hopeless, but he gave them a solution.

Preparation needed for this job: “A lot of experience,” Krefting said. “My experience comes from the apprenticeship I went through … starting at age 5 in Dad’s shop. It was a very gradual and natural process for me.”

Krefting said some technical schools teach piano tuning and rebuilding, and most rebuilders start as tuners. Many start by tuning pianos for a dealer, then get good enough to make house calls and, then, repairs.

A tuner can learn the craft, but it takes countless hours of practice. “You either get it in a year, or you don’t,” he said.

Krefting attended Northern Kentucky University, where he studied engineering. He nearly finished his degree, but “I decided I wanted to keep fixing pianos.”

He left his father’s shop about 10 years ago and started his own in northern Kentucky. He came to Atlanta about six years ago because he didn’t want to compete in the same market as his father.

Krefting also does work for Steinway dealers across the country and keeps up to date through contact with the Steinway factory.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@yahoo.com.

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