PTG

Wally Brooks grew up in the piano business. His father was a piano technician and Wally followed in his footsteps. Wally was 16 years old when he joined the Piano Technicians Guild in 1958. Since that time he has been a true leader within the PTG and the industry, forming life long friends and strong business relationships along the way. He formed Brooks LTD in 1980 to supply the needs of piano technicians with products such as piano actions, tools and parts.

Jim Coleman recalls watching his father, a true traveling music man, tune a piano when Jim was just a boy. He not only went on to make a career of tuning, but set standards for testing tuners for the Piano Technician’s Guild. Over his long career, Jim owned and operated his own music store in Arizona where he began teaching the fine craft of piano tuning. For a while Jim worked for Conn and Baldwin but found his greatest interest was in the developing world of electronic piano tuning tools. Along with his long time friend, Al Sanderson (also interviewed for his collection), the two men became the leading experts and inventors in electronic tuning devices.
 

LaRoy Edwards is the celebrated piano technician who began his long association with Yamaha back in 1961, the year before the company officially entered the United States market. Along the way he helped create the bond assurance program for retailers to track customer satisfaction, and the Little Red School House program for piano tuner training on new products. LaRoy was the first person to receive the Yamaha Life Time Achievement Award, an honor deeply meaningful to him.
 

G. Frank Emerson is a piano designer whose roots are firmly based in piano technician training and experiences he was involved with in the early part of his career. He became a well respected piano designer for the Baldwin Piano Company in the 1970s while continuing to support the Piano Technicians Guild, for which he has often provided educational presentations. Frank was hired by Hailun Piano Company, based in China, and has since worked with the factories to implement the craftsmanship needed to build the instruments he has designed. He was awarded the Friendship Medal, China’s highest honor to foreign experts.

Marshall Hawkins was the first African American to lead a US Navy band. He was also the first African American to serve not once, but four times, as president of the Piano Technician’s Guild. Yet, he shies away from being called a pioneer, “I just am doing what I love.” Marshall provided tremendous insight and background into the establishment and growth of the guild, as well as the challenges facing keyboard technicians in America. He was among a few charter members who worked long and hard to create a useful teaching criteria that has served the industry for over 40 years.

Taylor Mackinnon grew up in a very musical family and his father played a key role in introducing Taylor to a variety of instrumental music. Taylor was a choral music major and earned a masters degree in music before teaching for nearly a decade. In 1974 he moved to Oregon where he began working as a piano technician, a skill his father and uncle taught him. Taylor became very involved with the Piano Technicians Guild and in fact served on the organization’s board, becoming president of the PTG from 2000 to 2001.
 

Ben Mcklveen has had a very colorful life as a service man during World War II and a piano technician who cared for the instruments of many top performers and orchestras. He played oboe in the military band before serving in George Patton’s Third Army and traveled straight across Germany with Patton. After the war he studied music performance and played solo and utility for several symphonies. He continued to perform until after his 89th birthday. Back in 1952 his piano tuner retired and Ben decided the craft would be a great sideline while he performed. His contributions to the craft were recognized when Ben was presented the Piano Technicians Guild’s Golden Hammer Award in 1990.

Ted Sambell was born in London, England and made his living as a piano technician in London, Ontario, Canada. With poor eyesight Ted was often told he was limited in his career choices, but has said many times that being a piano technician was the ideal job for him and one he has enjoyed for over 60 years. After World War II, when his family moved to Canada, Ted was hired by the Heintzman Piano retailer to care for their instruments. He developed a local reputation for his craftsmanship and dedicated to the art of piano tuning, once estimating that he has worked on over 40,000 pianos.

Dr. Albert Sanderson revolutionized the process of piano tuning by inventing the electronic tuner. Although the device was first questioned by the industry among fears that it would put piano tuners out of business, it proved to be a helpful tool for the technician who could then complete a job faster and with measurable results. Improving on the original design, Al released the Accu-Tuner, which came complete with a microprocessor. Acceptance of the technology grew over the years. In the 1980s, the Piano Technicians Guild began using the product to qualify its members as certified tuners.

Jack Wyatt is well known in the piano industry as the historian of the Piano Technicians Guild. In fact, when the PTG opened a museum in their home office in Kansas City, MO, Jack was there to take on the project of telling the important story of the organization’s contribution to the industry. Jack’s own career as a piano technician began in 1946 and has developed into a meaningful role within the industry. In 2004 he was inducted into the PTG Hall of Fame and three years later won the organization’s top service award, The Golden Hammer.