About Us

Shaffer Pianos (located near Albany, NY) is solely operated by brothers Jeff and Ron Shaffer, who started restoring antique pianos more than a decade ago out of a respect for pianos as sophisticated and fascinating machines.  Jeff has been restoring antique furniture and cars for more than 20 years, but today will not restore anything that does not have strings and a soundboard. He is responsible primarily for refinishing, soundboard and pin block work as well as stringing. Ron Shaffer has a background in classical piano performing and has given concerts in piano and harpsichord. Ron is charged with most action rebuilding, including hammer work, regulating and tuning.

At Shaffer Pianos, we perform all work ourselves, restoring each piano as if it were our own. We do not hire cheap labor in order to turn out 50 or 100 pianos a year. It may take us many months to completely restore one quality piano because we believe it takes time to get to know each instrument thoroughly. All pianos have strengths and weaknesses and these characteristics must be considered during the restoration process. 

We believe in restoring antique pianos to only the highest standards possible, using only direct replacement parts when available (e.g. Steinway parts in a Steinway piano). On rare European pianos we will only use the closest to original materials available today (wire, felts, leathers), regardless of their higher costs to us. Our goal is not to sell another piano, but to properly restore one. When purchasing a used piano for restoration, we ensure that the instrument is already in good, restorable (preferably original) condition. This provides the customer with a finer antique.

In addition to the sales of fully restored antique pianos, we offer rebuilding and refinishing services as well as assistance in selling fine used pianos for individuals.  We have expertise in the used piano market and can provide sellers with an accurate value of their piano if they list it with us.  We are  actively involved with the Piano Technician's Guild and continually expand our knowledge of antique piano restoration through workshops, conferences, dialogue with colleagues and extensive research.