Susan Edwards

My father was born into a family of 8 siblings in El Centro, California. His parents worked the fields and in the packing shed of a large farm. Life for his family was hard and money was always tight. Dad stepped up and showed his hardworking character at an early age by catching gophers plaguing the fields and selling their tails to the foreman for 10 cents each. Instead of buying himself a toy, he bought a chicken for his family so they could have eggs. Although working the fields was considered an honorable profession at the time, it wasn’t for Dad. He came to understand this in high school when he started to play the clarinet. With the help of a music teacher who saw his potential, he sold his beloved camera for $20 and boarded a bus for Long Beach, California. There, he lived in the back of Rodney’s Music Store during WWII and repaired musical instruments while finishing high school. It was there in high school where dad met the love of his life; Barbara Jean Fick. They married at 17 and 18 years of age, had 6 children, and loved each other for the rest of their lives. They truly made each other better people. Amid the used instruments at Rodney’s were several pianos that no one knew what to do with. Dad bought himself some books about piano tuning and repair and taught himself how to do it. This was the beginning of his passion for pianos specifically. He joined the L.A. chapter of The American Society of Piano Technicians and was one of the founding members of the PTG. Moving forward to the 1960s, Yamaha International Co. came to Buena Park, California. Dad’s name came up when they looked for piano technicians, he agreed to work with them. Yamaha then contacted dad when piano service problems arose, as he was reliable and worked hard. This was the start of a strong relationship that lasted the rest of dad’s life. When Yamaha first came to California, there was no building yet for piano parts, so the first Yamaha Piano Parts Department was in our garage at home. Yamaha and dad worked so well together that Yamaha asked dad to become the Piano Service Manager for them, and the rest is history. My father had a beautiful mind. He was always inventing, improving, striving to make things better. The Action Cradle, Repinning Tool, and Grand Action Caddy are just a few of his creations. It is out of his desire to share this knowledge that the Little Red Schoolhouse and the 37 Steps were born. With his lifelong friends Henry Haino, Kenzo Utsunomia, Jack Caskey, and Bill Brandom, he elevated the profession of Piano Technology to an art form. If he were here today, he would say, “Always work hard and do your best. If you know you can do something better, then do it better. Share your knowledge with others, as when we do better together, our profession does better.”

A Piano Technician's Biography of a Technicians' Technician

By Ed Whitting, R. P. T.

LaRoy Edwards

Many great technicians came before us, but not all were great teachers. One of the best technicians and teachers was LaRoy Edwards, R.P.T. LaRoy was part of a uniquely qualified team that made a significant and lasting contribution to the Yamaha Acoustic Piano Division's success in the United States. Yamaha began in a two-room operation in downtown Los Angeles in 1961, when "Made in Japan" was reserved for cheap gift items found in souvenir stores. A group of dedicated piano businessmen developed a marketing plan to make Yamaha pianos more appealing to American buyers. Karl Bruhn, who later became President of NAMM, was the first V. P.; Ev Rowan became General Manager: LaRoy Edwards was the first National Service Manager; and David Abell, Edith & Harold Lieberman, and Irv Cohen were among the first Yamaha dealers on the West and East Coasts. Together, they helped develop one of the world's strongest piano service departments by featuring piano service as a

sales tool. LaRoy developed the grand piano regulation curriculum called the Yamaha 37 Steps, taught at the Yamaha Little Red Schoolhouse, that became a dedicated area intended for technical training at Yamaha America Corp. in Buena Park, CA. Many hundreds of technicians went through an intense week of instruction given by LaRoy, several master piano technicians firom Yamahas headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan, along with such notable American technicians as Jack Caskey, Norman Neblett, Mark Hullibarger, Bill Brandom, Richard Davenport, Phil Glenn, and David Reed, to name but a few. The Yamaha Retail Sales Department passed on this program to the PTG, whose version is now offered at the PTG Home Office.

LaRoy was a prolific inventor whose ideas reached far beyond piano servicing. Within the piano tech realm, he invented many tools that most piano techs have in their tool boxes, typically without knowing their origins. None of LaRoy's tools are patented, and several of them are currently being made and sold by various piano tech supply. houses. The Grand Action Dolly and Center Pin Tool are just two examples. The String Cover Industry is also LaRoy's creation. There is no doubt whatsoever that the state of piano technology would not be as highly evolved as it is today if not for the inspired insights and tireless efforts of the late, great LaRoy Edwards.

Lloyd O. Whitcomb

LaRoy Edwards. I feel a bit like the opening words of a song made famous by the great Andy Williams: “Where do I begin?” It was a supreme honor to be asked to write these words. LaRoy was the man who originally hired me at Yamaha. At the time, I was a student in a private, two-year class held by the late, great Francis Mehaffey, capably assisted by LaRoy. From the beginning, I sensed that he was the embodiment of an educator. He was a master at taking a complicated process or procedure and explaining it in simplistic and understandable terms without insulting the student’s intelligence. He was one of the primary influences that put Yamaha pianos “on the map.” Japanese representatives would hand him letters sent from customers, asking for his help in resolving matters. Thus, Yamaha Piano Service was born. Often, he’d mention that he once “took some money under false pretenses,” playing clarinet and saxophone, eventually earning the nickname, “Dutch Edwards.” Unfortunately, I never had the chance to hear him play. I remember him asking me to drive his stick-shift Volvo sedan to LAX to pick up someone who was arriving from Japan: He offered a detailed explanation of the “overdrive” switch on the shift lever.

Then, of course, there was Little Red Schoolhouse, the in-house training program for dealer-related piano technicians. LaRoy said that during the time when he and a couple of Japanese assistants (Henry Haino and Kenzo Utsunomiya, primarily) put together the “Grand Action Regulation in 37 Steps” program used in that week-long seminar, he lost six pounds. (He might have found them in the years to follow…) I was privileged to be one of the students, especially later, when I got to be one of the instructors. After all, there’s no better way to learn something than to teach it. It boggles the mind to think of the thousands of piano techs who have benefitted from that program. During one of those Yamaha years, there was something of a corporate shift, and he was asked to assume a managerial position that wasn’t well suited to his nature. It was then that he clearly stated, “I learned long ago that I am a people person, not a people pusher.” Finally, writing something like this is a bit like painting a picture or decorating a cake: The hardest part is knowing when to quit. LaRoy will continue to be an important influence for many generations of piano technicians.

David Durben, RPT

LaRoy Edwards (5/20/28–8/6/22) is a name that will long be remembered in the piano service industry. He had a significant impact on the industry for many years before his retirement as an instructor in a Yamaha Piano Service seminar in about 2017. He was a member of the ASPT (American Society of PianoTechnicians) and a founding member of the PTG. He served in many capacities both locally and nationally in PTG and taught classes in nearly every state. Among the many accolades given him by his PTG peers were the Member of Note, Hall of Fame, and Golden Hammer awards. Edwards began his career with Yamaha as a dealer in 1961, eventually becoming the piano service manager for the company in 1962. He helped to found Yamaha’s Little Red Schoolhouse (“Grand Action Regulation in 37 Steps”) seminar in 1971, which was so successful that Yamaha subsequently asked him to introduce the program to as many as eight other countries. In the United States, more than 1600 attendees over 41 years graduated from the Little Red Schoolhouse. In July of 2012, the seminar was sold to the Piano Technicians Guild (for $1) and continues to be taught. LaRoy personally oversaw the training of PTG’s 37 Steps instructors. Another hallmark achievement he may be credited for was the creation of the Service Bond program, which brought on-going service to the forefront of the relationship between dealer and consumer. This helped establish a nationwide network of piano retailers whose commitment to the concept became the bedrock of their continued success. The program was widely copied by non-Yamaha dealers. LaRoy was the first person to receive the Yamaha Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that touched him deeply. He was also an inventor, and piano technicians across the country probably have a least one of his tools: the action cradle, the quadrille jig, the string height gauge, the repinning tool, and others that have made our work just a little bit easier. LaRoy will be sorely missed by so many of us inside and outside of our industry.