<!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 6.00.2900.2627" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8> <DIV><FONT size=2>I've been studying piano technology for ten years, = on and off (I've passed the RPT written exam), and have been tuning professionally = for a year and a half.  I've applied to North Bennet St. for this fall.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>I was just asked to take care of an S&S D for a = local community college.  It's 1917 vintage (played by Rachmaninoff at = one time!), and rebuilt by Steinway about ten years ago.  It's = suffering from humidity damage: 8" crack in the soundboard behind and under the treble = bridge and elsewhere, false beats in the low tenor (loose bridge pins?), and = loose tuning pins in the bass.  One or two are so loose I was tempted to = mute them, for fear they wouldn't survive a concert.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Of the needed repairs, the only one's I'm qualified = to do are to CA the loose pins, which I've done successfully three times = previously.  I'll happily do this on someone's no-name, 100-year-old, 4'8" neonatal = grand with rusty strings, but I want to ask for advice before doing anything irreversible to an instrument of this caliber.  I can do the repair = without side effects, I'm sure (I pull the action and use copious amounts of = plastic tarps), but still...</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Is the right thing to do to simply write up a report = and say that it needs a new pinblock, bridge cap, and at least epoxy in the = soundboard cracks?  Or let Steinway re-evaluate it?  Is it = better to pull the loose pins and shim with sandpaper or veneer rather than = risking CA?  Will Steinway scoff if they get a CA'd pinblock to replace?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Side note: it has a disassembled DC system... sigh...</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy Shuster--</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Bluefield, WV</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>