for that!” Sometimes they could, other times they couldn’t. New pianos are big-ticket items, as anyone who has recently priced one knows. A new Yamaha or Kawai grand may cost from $8,000 to $9,000. Small uprights cost about  $4,500 and even “beginner” pianos go for about $2,500. It’s not surprising then, that there is a market for reconditioned pianos. In fact, they outsell new ones buy a ratio of 8 to 1, according to “Music Trade” magazine.

   Children are notorious for losing interest in music lessons. So, if you have a budding pianist at home but wonder whether he’ll stick with it beyond a year, you’re smart to buy an older, reconditioned instrument rather than an expensive new one that may sit in your house unplayed. If mother’s old spinet has been gathering dust in a corner, you might want to hire a piano technician to rehabilitate it. A good piano will last 200 years, if cared for and restored every so often. The Browers have worked on a slew of oldies, including a 1918 Behr Brothers and Co. player piano. They’ve refinished historic pianos such as a 1907 Steinway, as well as Nickelodeons. Such jobs aren’t necessarily more difficult than reconditioning a standard modern piano. It all depends on the quality of the instrument and the care it received. Piano re-builders will tell you that newer American instruments are rarely as well-made as those built 50 to 100 years ago. “Prize pianos are pre-1940’s”, John Brower said. “They sound better as they get older.” Some new pianos from Asia are of low quality, though they cost $5,000 or $6,000 each, he said. They contain inferior wood, instead of the natural hardwoods of the American-made pianos. 

   All piano restoration requires four things: technical knowledge, skill, attention to detail and tremendous patience. Consider Baby Grands. These are grand pianos that measure less than 5 feet 5 inches from back to front. They’ve become popular in recent years. Even people who can’t play buy them to dress up a formal living room. It takes John Brower six to eight weeks to refinsh a baby grand. If he has to work on its innards as well, it may take longer. He has to know different woods, mahogany, walnut, cherry, oak and birch - how they take finishes. He has to know how to tear down a piano, remove the strings and pins, lift out the 200 pound cast-iron plate to which the strings are attached and repair cracked soundboards. He must know about grain fillers, sealers, stripping agents, glues and sanding techniques, and he has to breathe all the fumes and sawdust that are generated on every job. “It’s not clean work,” said John’s wife, Cher. “But, sometimes, it’s like a treasure hunt.” Cher Brower said the family has found many surprises in pianos. These treasure hunts include coins, stamps, and negatives of old, old photographs. “And sometimes the wood is a surprise. People paint pianos all sorts of colors, often covering beautiful mahogany or oak wood.”

   John Brower said that he had other career options, but he wanted to restore and tune pianos. His 10-year-old son, Jordan, plans to follow in his family’s footsteps. He’s already polishing brass hinges on piano lids and sanding wood components. He eventually will learn everything about refinishing and restoring a piano by working alongside his father. “It’s in the blood.” John said.

   “Pianos are our life.” Three generations -- Adolph, John and Jordan – agree that their love of wood and woodworking, and of things mechanical, keeps them going. John Brower’s daughters, Karissa, 13 and Triana, 7, also get in on the act. They sometimes help sand nicks and scratches on piano lids and legs. All the Brower children play the piano, taking lessons from their grandfather.

   Part of John Brower’s pay is the pleasure and gratitude of piano owners when they see a family heirloom restored for the first time or when they sit and play a beloved instrument newly rebuilt. At first, they just smile and they sit down and play, he said. Then they say, “It’s just like I remember it from Grandma’s house.”