“If I believe anything in my life, and this has been passed down from my grandfather and father, it’s honesty,” Shaw said one recent afternoon during a break from working on the action of an antique Steinway piano in his Rio Road shop. “I sell thousand-dollar pianos, and I sell $75,000 pianos, and they all come with warranties. But I’ll tell you right now those warranties mean nothing. If you buy a piano from me and it has a problem, trust me, I’m going to be there. “I’m never going to leave anybody out to dry. That’s how my grandfather, father and I have always done it, and how I’ll always do it.”Įlwin L. Shaw was a piano tuner and technician, but his greatest gift was as a concert pianist and composer. Elwin Shaw’s son, Raymond, was blessed with perfect pitch and was a talented pianist and rebuilder of pianos. Thomas Shaw also has great ears, but he only can play two songs on the piano – “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.” His gift is realized in his ability to restore old pianos to pristine condition. You can find factory pianos that are good and even great! But everything Tom turns out as a restoration is the kind of instrument that takes your breath away. When a factory is turning out new pianos they have to work on a production schedule. So they’re letting pianos go that are OK, but they haven’t reached their level of perfection yet, because the technicians haven’t worked with them enough. But when Tom turns out a restored vintage Steinway or other fine pianos, they’re perfection. Each and every one of them is the kind of instrument that will take your breath away, because if they’re not ready to go, he won’t let them go.” Shaw’s integrity comes into play when a potential customer approaches him to restore a piano. “It’s very expensive to rebuild a piano, so if it’s not a top-name piano, don’t waste your money,” Shaw said. “Unless there’s some emotional attachment to a particular piano, it won’t make sense to spend $20,000 for me to restore it when it’s only going to be worth $15,000 when I’m done. Tom Shaw fine tunes the action on a hammer for an 1897 Steinway piano. “If someone came to me with a 1907 Steinway grand to restore, I’d do it because after they spend $20,000 on the rebuild it’s going to be worth $45,000. The reason is because that particular Steinway falls between the years 18, when the Steinway company owned and controlled the business. “Those are the ones everybody wants, and they’re hard to find.
After I rebuild it I’ll sell it for $40,000 to $50,000 almost as fast as I can do them.” A hundred-year-old Steinway piano will likely look rough, but I’ll pay $8,000 to $10,000 for it.
The vintage pianos Shaw generally won’t touch are those that have been rebuilt by someone else.
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