Grandwork Tools

10/07/2025

We are excited to be able to offer interest free installments for up to 6 months at grandwork.tools. It looks like this option will be good through November 4th. Please spread the word if you know anyone considering a purchase.

07/10/2025

Important Update for Our Valued Customers

After operating grandwork.tools over the past 6 months, I can confidently say that Chris's pricing model was designed to keep the business sustainable and worthwhile—but not on a trajectory to make anyone rich off these tools. I fully support this approach and am committed to preserving it.

Recently, I've encountered significant price increases from our suppliers—sometimes over 3x what we previously paid for certain components. When you see a new price on grandwork.tools, please know that it reflects these higher costs, not a change in our pricing strategy.

Thankfully, these components make up only a small part of the entire system. However, as more components need to be restocked over time, the cost of a regulation station is likely to continue rising.

With that in mind, I want to offer a gentle and hopefully helpful nudge: if you've been considering purchasing a Regulation Station, now is a great time to do so—get ahead of what seems to be inevitable future price increases.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support!

https://grandwork.tools

From Keysteps to Regulation Station Packages, and from Laminated Protocols to a week-long Grand Regulating Bootcamp, Grandwork™ products help piano technicians succeed at grand regulation.

02/20/2025

Discount available for the purchaser of one non-standard Regulating Rack and Template Set:

I've been working to understand the "insides" of all of Chris's products over the past couple of weeks, and I found one Regulating Rack that is a little shorter than normal. It's plenty long for regulating any 88-note action *on a bench* but slightly shorter than needed for use with a Custom Keybed. I'm offering $70 off of for this one item. Discount code below!

The Grandwork Regulating Rack is more than a let-off rack.

1. Quickly and easily adjust the templates between string height, let-off height, checking height, and blow distance. No measuring (or remeasuring).
2. The regulating rack spans the entire action. No need to work section-by-section.
3. Record the string locations before you start traveling and squaring hammers so that you can space hammers before returning to the piano.
4. Enjoy great visibility with the built in LED strip lighting.

There's only one of these available. The first person to use this code gets it (and the code will expire). BUT, remember that this non-standard product is good for bench regulating but might not work for every action on a Custom Keybed!

The discount code is SHORT-RAIL. You can also use the link below to automatically apply it.

https://grandwork.tools/discount/SHORT-RAIL?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Fregulating-rack

Thank you!

The Regulating Rack with Template Set provides the profile of a grand piano's strings along the strike line. Select sizes from The Template Set to match the sections of a grand action and fix them to the rail so their lower edges represent strike (see the Keystep Protocol).

02/05/2025

You might've heard that Grandwork Tools and Training is in new hands. Chris Brown's great tools are still available, and we're planning new tools and digital training. We're also hoping to offer some free resources.

Please give me your input. What would make your life as a piano technician better? What could we do better as a company?

10/30/2021

This is the first in a series of videos discussing the merits and practicalities of to a grand piano's action. This video hovers over one view of the keys of an 1889 Steinway D, while I introduce the situation, but please be patient. I move on to show specifics, setup, and process for lead removal on the way to an ideal and more pragmatic weighoff.

07/23/2020

Please check out my blog posts on weigh off - Part 1 posted last month, part 2 newly posted this week (two more posts to come).

My Strategy: I only weigh off well-regulated actions. The objectives of weighoff are balance and consistency and erratic or inappropriate elements in regulation, including those of friction, inertia, and geometry, will interfere with balance and consistency whatever the weighoff.

07/23/2020

Grandwork Tools now offers the Weighoff Kit. This kit simplifies and speeds up the process of weighing off, with a choice of two styles: consistent downweight or consistent balance weight. The front row has upweights. The second row pairing weights. The third row three alternate weights that convert one style to the other. Moving the front row left or right changes the pairings to suit. Stand the pairs up on the kit's lid once selected and choose the one that gives the clearest downweight and upweight symptoms. Add the pair together as downweight (upweight on bottom, pairing weight on top) and lift the upper (pairing) weight off for upweight. Place a lead on the key in the spot (found by trial and error) where weighoff-generated hammer rise and return speeds match. Fast and accurate! Thanks to Bruce Stevens for sharing the lift and add method and to David Stanwood for his articulation of balance weight.

02/28/2020

Three places left in my April 6-8 Starter System 3-Day Bootcamp. Experience bench grand regulating that fits back in the piano, first time. Put the Grandwork System into muscle memory and increase your fun and profit!

01/18/2019

Check out my Grand Regulation and Voicing Bootcamps!

12/12/2018

I've come to use aftertouch as my dip tool and some details of why surprised me. Check them out in my second blog posting on key dip:

https://grandwork.tools/blogs/chris/roles-in-piano-regulation-key-dip-part-2