Hello Terry, I've not persued the Abel services yet, but I'm sure that the end result is excellent. The question of course is whether a square grand deserves quite that level of excellence. The Ronson price sounds high enough for a square! One piano I did (a Mathushek design square) required three length of moldings, so I appended pieces on the end of an upright set with epoxy. Slow and tedious work, but turned out just fine, and is still holding after 12 years. Boring hammers yourself is a recommended route, but you need the gear. I've done it all along, just chose to invest and modify a variable tilt table, which several other techs in my area have now copied for their own shops. Saves time and can improve on accuracy. I can quickly vary the angle for each hammer in the time it takes to reach for the next hammer. Are you replacing all shanks? I would, if only for security. Have you visited the Abel website? It is interesting to view this small but quality plant. http://www.abel-pianoparts.de (as others have already listed) Aren't squares fun? There's only one way to learn to fix these things - just jump in and do it yourself! Ralph Thorn
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