Barri Hartman

He passes himself of as a Steinway restorer. Far from it. He made a mess of my piano. This is the first piano I ever had 'restored'. A Steinway restoration is supposed to use Steinway parts and specifications. When it was delivered, it sounded like a train wreck. f you have a valuable piano, do not use him. Barri does not know how to do a professional restoration. He did a restoration on my vintage Steinway. There were so many things wrong. If you don't know much about piano restoration, you need to rely on word of mouth. If you have a Steinway, there are a few retired Steinway factory workers that opened their own workshops in Yonkers, NY. It's worth it. After 5 years and paying Barri $15,000 for the restoration, I had to send it out again. Just got it back. Now, a 100 year old Steinway looks new. Here are just some of the issues with the restoration performed by Barri: 1. The finish was trash and he blamed it on veneer and the age of the piano. ********. He has an unheated workshop in his garage and the glaze cracked. The recent restoration from Emporium Piano in Yonkers is beautiful. 2. When delivered, it sounded like a train wreck. He said "let it settle in". After a year, I found retired Steinway technicians to work on it. 3. He doesn't know how to regulate actions. 4. He does a terrible job applying new key tops 5. He didn't change the bushings in the pedal box. 6. Doesn't know how to voice a piano 7. Installed metal bars for the music rack and lid prop 8. Substandard tuning job. He uses a meter and can't tune by ear. This makes the tuning sound mechanical. 9. The pin block was drilled incorrectly. He put the pin in at 90 degree angles. This is incorrect. 10. The strings, where attached to the pins, were touching the plate and pin block. 11. Doesn't use Steinway factory colors when repainting the plate. 12. Does a terrible job fixing the veneer. It was chipping and peeling on delivery. 13. He used the wrong hammers. The tails hit the backstop, creating rubbing. 14. One particular note that sounded seriously bad, only needed to be twisted. He soaked the hammer in hardening solution. Barri really doesn't know how to do a restoration. If you have a valuable piano, don't use him. If you have an old piano and only need it to be functional, that's your choice. I guess sometimes, people don't know what they don't know. Barri does not know! His effort is a hit and run job. Once he has your money, you won't see him again. Barri makes excuses because he doesn't know how to resolve issues. My teacher referred me to his piano technician. This technician does jobs on the weekend, is the head technician at the Peabody institute. He maintains over 200 pianos. He rebuilt the action, re-topping the keys, a full regulation with Steinway factory weighting. If details make a difference to you, don't use Barri.