Not to prolong this thread but I came in late and think someone along the way questioned whether any reputable restoration was possible with out replacing soundboards. Check this <http://tinyurl.com/5o3olw> out. I was lucky enough to meet these folks some years ago and they do absolutely amazing work. I think one of the underlying assumptions here is that the new pianos are necessarily better than old ones, and that's simply not the case. They are built with different expectations and mental models of what a piano ought to be but that doesnt make them better or worse, simply different, and they should be judged on their own terms. --Dave New Orleans.
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