News
Boyds - The Piano Shop is owned by Jason & Alison Boyd. We started our little store with just four pianos in 2005. Jason has been a piano tuner in Brisbane for over 30 years, and Alison (that's me!) was a manager at a large accounting firm when we started our little family of two children (plus a menagerie of cats, dogs, fish and chickens) and were looking for a different way to make that family ideal fit into a busy working life.
Jason's dream has always been to have his own little piano shop, and Alison wanted to be able to spend time with the kids while still contributing to the family income and keeping an active brain. We needed Jason to maintain his tuning business so we had an income, and Alison was prepared to staff the shop as long as the children could be around, so we suggested the perfect way to do that was to have a piano shop in an old-fashioned corner store where we lived behind and had pianos out the front, waiting for the bell to ring when someone opened the door.
Not even knowing if such a thing still existed, the next day we were on the real estate site searching, and there it was! Our dream personified, a beautiful corner shop in a gorgeous family suburb with a four-bedroom house attached at the back. Could we be any luckier? So off we went to the bank armed with budgets, cash flow forecasts and a pinch of hope, sold our home and bought that corner shop to see if we could make our dream come true.
The beginning was slow, as I said we had four pianos on the floor. The first few years were pretty tight and I sold quite a few pianos with a baby on my hip or a toddler pulling on my skirt. But over time people learned about us and we've been slowly and steadily increasing our stock, and our reputation has grown. We hope we are known for our friendliness, our honesty and our beautiful pianos.
These days our kids are adults and we have all moved away. We think they have fond memories of growing up in 'the piano shop house'. We now use the whole building for pianos and have over 40 grand and upright pianos on the floor at any given time. Jason is still out tuning pianos most days, and has some really special clients. I run the shop, do the books, handle sales, and I teach piano as well.
We are 'living the dream' as so many people say, tongue-in-cheek, when asked how they are. But we really are. That doesn't mean it's easy, or always smooth-sailing, and the bills are always there waiting for us at the end of the month, but we're in it together and we make a great team. We hope we can keep doing what we love and keep providing beautiful pianos to music lovers for many years to come.
It seems obvious, right? We are the Boyds, and we have a piano shop. So we are Boyds - The Piano Shop.
But why specifically that name? It comes down to a book called "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" by Thad Carhart. If you love some French romanticism and the tales of a traveller, then this book is just so lovely. It's the story of an American writer living in Paris who wants to buy a piano. He sees this little hole-in-the-wall piano repairs shop and goes in to ask for advice on where to buy a piano. He is told by the owner that he can't help him and doesn't know anyone who can.
Then he meets some other people and tells them the tale of visiting the funny little shop which is really just a counter and learns that he needs an introduction to be accepted by the little piano shop owner. Once he has that, he returns and the amazing world behind that little counter is revealed, re-introducing the writer to his childhood love of pianos and music. The imagery is amazing but the concept of having a collection of incredible pianos all with stories and personalities is what we have based our whole business on, and why we are called 'The Piano Shop'.
Buying a piano can be an amazing experience, for so many reasons. But it can also be stressful and overwhelming if you're trying to decide on a piano when other people are in store and playing other pianos. Have you ever tried to listen to two people talk at the same time? Imagine what it's like listening to two pianos!!
For most people, a piano is a significant emotional and financial purchase and at Boyds we think you should have the freedom to listen to the pianos in peace and see if any of them engage your heart or mind, without competition. Even if you know you aren't ready to buy today, we still welcome you to make an appointment and see what we have available now and get an idea of what we'll have in the future. There is no obligation to buy.
We do open on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm if you don't feel comfortable having a one-on-one appointment and we welcome all customers, but we can't guarantee a quiet moment to really enjoy your selection process.
We have a super-easy self-scheduling system you can use to make an appointment to pop in, or you can call Alison on 0415 121 676 to request a booking. We are happy to see you during the day or in the evening, even over the weekend.
You can access the self-scheduling system by clicking here.
Sometimes we do! We welcome good quality upright and grand pianos in many brands, especially Yamaha, Kawai and Steinway & Sons. If you are wanting to sell your piano, send us some details and pictures via text or email, and we can open a conversation.
However, if your piano is very old (more than around 60 years) or in poor condition, then that's not something we will take on. We can only suggest Gumtree, Ebay or Facebook Marketplace to move those pianos on. And unfortunately sometimes the only place we can suggest is Piano Heaven, (aka the dump) which is a sad reality once an instrument is past its best-before date. Maybe try upcycling your very old piano into something else, like a bookcase, desk or even a garden feature!
If it is a piano that you are purchasing, the delivery time is usually around 5-10 business days. We use professional piano carriers to deliver all of our pianos to make sure you get the best service and they are extremely busy!
If the item can be posted or couriered, then our delivery time is generally 2-3 working days.
Our customers have many and varied pianos, and Jason has been looking after some of them for nearly 30 years! Jason is an accredited Steinway, Kawai and Yamaha technician but has experience with just about every piano you can imagine. We do not tune pianos over about 60 years old. There are still so many pianos around Brisbane that Jason is usually booked about a month in advance so we had to draw a line somewhere. If you aren't sure about your piano, feel free to contact us.
We use a great self-scheduling system for most of our piano services. You can follow the link here.
If you'd rather the personal touch or have questions about your piano, please feel free to call Alison on 0415121676 to make your booking.
If you are representing a school or institution with several pianos, please do give Alison a call or email.
Our standard tuning fee for a new client is $270. We allow extra time to assess a piano we haven't seen before, and to give us the opportunity to do any minor adjustments needed prior to tuning.
If you are an existing customer our fee is $250, and you should allow up to 90 minutes for the technician to complete the tuning.
Bear in mind that there can be other issues that need addressing and these are not covered in a standard tuning fee. The technician will assess what is needed and quote accordingly if any additional work is required.
If you want to book in an appointment, please use our self-booking system by clicking here.
Generally we recommend you have your piano tuned every 12 months. Some teachers or other professional musicians choose to get theirs done more frequently to keep their piano in tip-top shape. If you leave the piano too long without tuning, the technician might need longer to get the piano back to pitch, and the piano may not stay in tune as long after tuning. This might result in additional tunings being necessary in a shorter timeframe to get the piano back in tune.
If you want to book in a tuning, please use our self-booking system by clicking here.
If you've selected a piano either instore or online, your delivery is usually included as part of your purchase price. If your piano arrives and you feel that something isn't right, just get in touch with us. Usually we can pop straight out and rectify any issues that might have occurred during delivery, such as a wobbly pedal or sticking keys. (Pianos can be a bit fussy about being moved!)
It's always a good idea to consider whether access might be tricky (eg stairs or tight turns) and discuss that with us prior to purchase. Sometimes a smaller piano is the only choice if access is difficult. If the carriers are unable to deliver the piano due to access restrictions, we will refund your purchase price minus any costs of attempted delivery and return to our store.
If you are unhappy with your piano for any other reason, please call us to discuss. We will try to resolve any issues but if we can't resolve them we are willing to discuss a refund within the first seven days of delivery, minus delivery and collection costs. After this time we may still be able to assist you with a buyback offer should you decide you no longer want the piano.
If you buy any other items from us like metronomes, benches, sheet music, covers or other accessories, we follow the Australian standard for returns. If your item is faulty we will refund or replace it at no charge. We cannot accept returns of sheet music due to copyright reasons. We do not accept returns for change of mind.
