I have always been led to believe that piano tuners are still working at 100 years old!! In fact my parents had one who was well into his nineties and very very good at his job.

However...things change.

My tuner has retired and disappeared into the blue yonder. He was a wonderful aScot and trained near to where my 101 year old Bechstein piano was first sold... Paterson and Sons Glasgow. He worked/was trained by Cuthbertsons, many years later of course.

Anyway...I am now without him and would welcome any advice on finding a really good piano tuner. How does one know anyway?

I live near Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Word of mouth is generally the best way. Do you have any concert halls with pianos nearby? If so I would give them a ring to ask who tunes for them before concerts. Your local music shop should have some names too. I can fully understand that you do not want to trust your "baby" to just any old tuner.

Yes just asking around seems to be the best way, although there aren't always that many to choose from!

My tuner retired in his 70's only due to poor health. I'm rather lucky that he trained his much younger, extremely attractive son who now does the job instead

I do look forward to piano tuning days

You could also phone the music department of your nearest university or college and see who they use.

There is a professional organisation called the Piano Tuners' Association (PTA) which requires its members to take a test before they are admitted, thus guaranteeing a certain standard. If you go to their site you can search for a tuner in your area.

However there are some very good tuners around who do not bother to join, so the fact that someone is not a member doesn't mean that they are no good (hope you can work aout all the negatives there!)

Good luck.

The great piano engineers are few and far between.

I would try ringing up the UK importer of Bechstein, Blüthner or Steinway and find out who they recommend for tuning in your area. They are bound to have a short list of great tuners that they use for preparing pianos for concerts and recitals.