Services
Piano servicing
Justin Elliott is the master piano technician at J. Elliott & Co. At the age of 15, he became the apprentice to the late master piano technician and rebuilder, Susan Graham, who was also renowned for authoring countless technical piano articles. While excelling as Susan’s apprentice, Justin was introduced to the Yamaha Corporation, where he became the youngest piano technician, at that time, to complete all of the United States Yamaha technician training. He has since been honored to be the piano technician for many piano enthusiasts, artists, and recording studios. He continues to challenge the traditional piano world with custom piano designs and unique piano servicing techniques. Some of the basic piano services that we offer include tuning, voicing, regulation, Yamaha Disklavier maintenance, full piano prep, and assisting in buying or selling a piano. We also travel all over the country to provide piano services to our clients.
Click HERE to contact us today to have your piano serviced.
recordings & events
One of our specialties include prepping pianos for recording sessions and special events. For a recording session, open communication with the pianist and audio engineers is crucial. We pride ourselves on being able to transform the piano into an instrument that conveys the emotion and feeling of the artist. This might include a simple prep and tuning day of, or staying for the whole session to jump in between takes to touch up the piano. For a concert, gala or special event, pianos are prepped for the rehearsal/sound check and again after the rehearsal/sound check. We call this our "concert prep." It consists of speaking with the pianist to understand what his/her preferences are, checking all piano legs for proper installation, regulating the pedal lyre, seating the strings, checking the plate, tuning to A440 (or desired pitch), a light regulation, and voicing the piano (creating desired tonal color). Once the first round of concert prep and sound check is complete, we confirm that the piano is to the pianist's liking and do another tuning along with light regulation. Click HERE to contact us for your event.
Piano Restoration
Restoring pianos has been a cornerstone of this family business. From a Steinway & Sons concert grand to a family heirloom piano pasted down from generation to generation, we pride ourselves in keeping a piano's history alive. We not only renovate the piano, but modify it according to the client's preferences. A piano's action has over 10,000 moving parts constructed out of several different species of wood, metal, felt, leather and plastic. With normal age and use these parts become worn and may need to be replaced. Complete piano restoration services can include case repair, refinishing, new soundboard, new bridges, new strings, restringing, new keyboard, new action, new back action, and new dampers to name a few.
Click HERE if you are interested in having a piano restored.
Client Testimonials
We have worked for some outstanding artists and pianists over the years. Just to name a few, see below. Click HERE for our full artist ledger.
““Justin Elliott is a remarkable piano customizer,” “Prince has exceedingly high standards, and if you’re meticulous about painting a piano, especially a piano that will be going on the road, you need the best.””
“Justin does an outstanding job servicing and voicing my piano. It truly sings!”
“I can’t tell you how beautiful the work that Justin did was—he is the best— really. He’s really so attuned. He needed to voice the piano, and he made it absolutely sing and sound gorgeously pristine. He noticed everything and was there for me every minute. I would request and recommend him anywhere anytime— he is that incredible! ”
““As a studio musician / piano-keys player, I have been fortunate to work with some award winning producers, songwriters, recording engineers, artists, arrangers, publishers, & piano techs…for me, it all begins with the quality, feel, & sound of your instrument which inspires and allows you to create at your highest level…so that puts Justin way-up on the food chain…he is the best piano tech that I have been fortunate to work with… his piano leg design is a work of “art & science”, as well…don’t take my word for it; give Justin a call and check it out! ”
“We have worked with J Elliott & Co for many years, and they always do exceptional work! If it weren’t for Justin’s incredible dedication to this business, we would not have been able to locate and purchase all the piano necessary for our Conservatory. He’s the only one we trust with the upkeep of our pianos, not only because of his expertise in the field, but also his caring heart!”
“Quite simply, Justin is a genius. I purchased an early 70’s 7 ft. Baldwin for my St. Pete condo 3 years ago. The tone of the piano was nice, but the action was oppressive. Justin rebuilt the action on the piano and it now plays like a dream. What Justin has done sonically with the piano is also amazing. The highs sparkle, the mids are warm with a wonderful presence and the low end is big and tight. Whatever brand of piano you own, Justin will bring the instrument to life. Get your “baby” in this man’s hands as soon as possible!”
“I’ve been working with J.Elliot & Co for many years now. I own a recording studio and we have a custom Yamaha C7 by J Elliot specially fitted with their signature ebony legs and acoustic treatment. Our clients are consistently stunned by the action, tone, and playability of the piano. It has blown away many Steinway fans. Each time someone sits down at our piano they say “Who did the action on this piano? It’s fantastic!”. Our piano is exclusively maintained by Justin Elliot and his professionalism always exceeds our expectations. I very highly reccomend J. Elliot & Co. for all your piano needs.”
“Justin Elliott is a talented professional. He is reliable and takes pride in his work. He has even found a remarkable product to maintain the beautiful wood! We are very grateful that Yamaha referred him to us when we purchased our pianos. It is wonderful to have such a gifted person caring for our lovely instruments!”
“As a professional jazz pianist, I’ve worked with many piano technicians, and Justin Elliott is one of the finest piano tuner/technicians that I know!”
“Justin has been tuning my Yamaha Disklavier since it I first purchased it. I have used other tuners on my previous Disklavier, however they did not possess the knowledge of the unique electronics of this piano. Justin knows the electronics as well as the piano. He was able to “voice” the piano, an intricate procedure to make the piano sound great in its particular location. Afterwards it sounded fantastic! We are enjoying the piano more than ever and plan to have Justin care for it for years.”
“What can I say about Justin Elliott? Simply put, he is worth his weight in gold. Always reliable, always consistent... I can “hear” him in the pianos of the clients I visit on a regular basis. He has saved me more times than I can count. Ethical, honest and extremely gifted, I am proud to call him my friend. You will be, too.”
“I’ve been playing the piano for over 60 years, and I’ve experienced many piano technicians in my life, but Justin Elliot is top notch. He makes my Petrof grand stand up and sing! And after he “voiced” my piano, it’s been a real pleasure to play it. Thank you, Justin!”