Guitar Restoration and Analogues to Piano Tuning w/ Danny Koentopp

Piano Tech Radio Hour

Today’s guest is a bit more unusual than what we do here at PTRH which makes it special and fun - Danny studies product design at Columbia College where he focuses on guitars. He joined the restoration team and worked on restoring museum-quality pieces from the 17th century. He has been acquainted with a lot of power tools but prefers working with his hands which is interesting for us piano makers!

Danny says “While going to school for design work, I did learn a lot about technology and what I can do with a computer - so now I’m in the perfect world of combining the two”. He designs tools through the use of computers and in this session, he talks about his processes and techniques of going about toolmaking.

As piano technicians, we are constantly working with our hands and shifting between tools - Danny’s approach is this: “I try to work with my hands. Each time I do it, I try to do it faster” - which is relevant to our profession of piano tuning, and we flesh out the parallels.

The guitar has been mass-produced but now players are getting more specific about how they want their music to sound - Danny is in the business of tailoring this sound. As opposed to this, for piano technicians, we are starting from specifics and technical details which become the basis of our practice.

In this episode, we discuss the similarities and differences between working on the piano and the guitar. For every element of guitar restoration, Eathan provides an analog for the piano.

If you would like to learn more about Piano Tuning from a completely refreshing lens while also getting a sense of how it contrasts with other string instruments, this is the episode for you.

Here’s a little bit about our guest Danny Koentopp:

Danny started taking guitar lessons at age seven and from that point, the guitar became a lifelong passion. With the support of his professors and the college itself, he focused all his work on guitar. While making his seventh guitar, he met violin maker Michael Darnton and joined the restoration team Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. He has acquired a lot of powerful tools over the years and after studying with Michael he has found it faster to work by hand.

𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓❗❗

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