Biography
Gerald Charles MeadI was born and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. I grew up in a musical family. My Mother is a church organist and piano teacher. My Father was a retired Pharmacist and drummer. My younger Brother sings, plays trombone & bass guitar. I played the alto sax. We had a family band, and we played out for 30 years, since I was an early teenager. When I was a senior in high school, I was strongly considering college for a music education degree. I like music, but teaching it..., was something else. I knew that I had a good musical ear, and I had a mechanical aptitude, and I had the inbred desire to be self-employed, (my Grandfather and my Dad were always self-employed) . The formula = Piano Technician. I looked at a number of learning options, correspondence
courses, (I believe that you can learn piano repair by mail, but
for me personally... not piano tuning?), or becoming an apprentice
to an established
technician, (I was told that I could learn
their way to tune & repair...along with their good & bad
habits), or... I could start at a piano factory and work my way up(starting
with a broom?) The only option for me was a resident school that
was a
serious learning center that offered a complete program.
I found and chose the Sims School of Piano Technology
in Columbus Georgia.
(My preference at this point of my career is fine tuning and light repairs.)
At the Sims School, we had guest speakers visit and tell us the facts of life in the real world of music and piano tuning. We even went on a field trip to visit 2 piano factories. In conclusion, I graduated from the Sims school of Piano Technology not with... "The sum total of wisdom & knowledge", I left with a well rounded solid foundation that I have built upon these last 30 years, constantly growing in experience and enjoying a successful piano service business..... Thank you James... My class picture and we even made the front cover of the P.T.G. Journal (a note the reader: James Sims has long ago closed
the school and has since moved to Tallahassee Florida and is now in business
with his son Randy,..... Jims Pianos
Now in Business...In the spring of 1970 I moved back to my home town.. Norwalk Connecticut, and set up my piano service business. My first piano dealer that I hooked up with was Westport-Fairfield Piano & Organ (The local Steinway-Yamaha dealer at the time).The owner was Paul Fry. (He is still in business somewhere in Black Rock Ct.). I became the technician that serviced most of the "Steinway Artist" that came to the Southwest area of Connecticut, since Westport-Fairfield Piano & Organ supplied the Steinways for concerts. I took great pride in the fact that I was getting a "thumbs up" and a "pat on the back", from world renowned concert artist who were very surprised after learning I was the technician.... barely out of my teens! I also performed all the service needs of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra from 1972 till I moved out of State.In 1979 I moved my family to Florida to join the rest
of my family (parents and brother & his family). I had
to start my Piano Service business from scratch all over again! I soon
hooked up with more Factory Authorized Piano Dealers in the Tampa
Bay area. Steinway, Bosendorfer, Schimmel, Yamaha, Baldwin. I am
currently doing warranty work for Adams Pianos.
I am divorced and have 2 grown sons (no interest in piano work). I live in the outskirts of Tampa Bay. I enjoy 'free lance' television camera work, producing/video editing, I also shoot and edit weddings on DVD, camping, canoeing, target shooting, watching professional NHRA drag racing, Jazz piano, Internet 'surfin, and trips when I can get away.
You can email me for an appointment
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