CHARLES K BALL

Mr. Ball is an extremely gifted piano technician. My opinion is clearly shared by others, as he serves as the head piano technician for the University of Texas at Austin and is also frequently called upon to work major piano events such as the Van Cliburn competition in Dallas. Before I discovered him, I had the misfortune to work with another Austin tuner who kept trying to convince me that there was something seriously wrong with my then recently purchased (new) piano. I finally became suspicious that the other tuner was trying to set me up for costly repairs (e.g., restringing the piano!) and switched to Charles Ball on the recommendation of a high end piano dealer. From the very first tune my piano started to sound better. Mr. Ball has perfect pitch, tunes by ear, and brings a piano into harmony with itself (the other fellow tuned using a tone generating device for each note and inevitably there was dissonance across octaves). Rather than manufacturing problems to run up his bill, Mr. Ball's mantra was and is that 'less is more'. When I was shattered that my 'big purchase' might have been a costly mistake, he reassured me that the piano was fine and did not need any adjustments beyond normal tuning. He confidently predicted that it would 'settle' as it aged, and indeed it has. Under his loving care over the last four years my "European" salon grand has matured, and now sounds like instruments that cost a great deal more. The bass rumbles and the treble sings, and I could not be happier. Mr. Ball charges about half of what the other fellow was charging and gets the job completed in about a third of the time. To top it off, he is a simply delightful gentleman, and I would have absolutely no hesitation about leaving him alone in my home.