Spring 2024
A lot of my old friends have pianos. Some of my old friends ARE pianos!
Recently I caught up with one of my old piano friends, in fact the very oldest in my clientele.
In 1990, 34 years ago, just after I had opened my piano repair business in Nanaimo, a tall, dignified gentleman entered my shop and said, “I would like you to come to my home to tune our piano”. What surprised me was that when I made the service call, I found that the piano in question was a vintage Knake baby grand, made in Münster, Germany. This was a rare coincidence. Ten years earlier I had entered into my apprenticeship to become a piano maker in a town not far from Münster. Knake pianos were a staple in our shop, I literally “grew up” working on them.  Of course, in Canada, especially on the West Coast, it is  a virtually unknown make. Over the past 30+ years I have only come across one other Knake in this area.
So 34 years ago,  two long term relationships were initiated: one with the piano owner and one with the piano. I continued to service the Knake every couple of years for a long time, until the owner’s circumstances changed and the piano was re-homed to a local Church congregation.

It was a happy reunion and I was pleased to be able to tune the old girl to get her ready for more music making.
I would like to believe the sentiments were mutual.