<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Feb 23, 2007, at 6:03 PM, Thomas Seay wrote:</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Suppose a string broke the day of a recital on your main concert piano?<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Suppose I won the Powerball jackpot with a single one dollar ticket or got struck by lightening. You deal with what comes as it comes along.</DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> Would you put an "awful" (your adjective) sounding universal string on an otherwise meticulously prepared instrument and expect someone to play an important solo piano recital with it? Yikes!</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The S series strings are much better than the small set, and chances are, you are the only one who will hear a difference. IF you can splice it, do that first. But you do what you have to do. When you have to be extremely frugal with budget money, it just doesn't make sense to have this set of strings sitting under the cabinet just in case you win the lottery. You could be restringing a piano that needs it instead.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Also, universals don't stretch nearly as much as new custom made strings. A universal will be more stable for the concert. So, "awful" sounding would definitely not matter if it won't hold tune.</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">BTW, ordering bass strings one at a time is not cost effective. Call Mapes sometime and ask them how much it costs for them to send you 1 single bass string and then do the math. It doesn't take very many single replacement strings before you've paid for a complete set.</FONT></P> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>Completely disagree. You're not buying a full set one by one. 2 strings replaced on 4 concert pianos over 30 years is much cheaper than a full set sitting there rotting taking up space in a cabinet. Besides, when you use that one string to keep your set complete, you really need to order a replacement for it, no? Comes out the same, except you've got $200 worth of strings sitting there in case lightening strikes.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Jeff</DIV><DIV>defending my devil's advocacy</DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV>Jeff Tanner, RPT</DIV><DIV>University of South Carolina</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>