<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1593" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>David, </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Seek and ye may find! The good ones are where you find them. Ditto to Joe Goss, there are simply more at the NY and Hamburg selection rooms plus you may have an opportunity to jump the usual pecking order.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Having consulted on many buys and been to both places more than a few times I can make a few suggestions. First be prepared to leave with nothing. Don't just buy the best one they offer at the time. You can inquire "Do you have anything else maybe just coming out of the voicing dept?" I purchased a truely superlative piano with no legs and no serial number, and who knows who would have gotten it if I hadn't pushed. One other way to do this is to wait until just a week or so before your selection appointment and call up and ask for one or two more than they would be offering. I inquire how many will be available, usually 4 or 5, and then ask for 5 or 6 stressing how important I think this will be, without any specific reason other than that is what the "committee" would like. The bottom line is that you should compare as many instruments as possible unless one knocks you out in the process.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Best of luck,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chris Solliday  </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>