<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Robert, You can't (?) have tuned for a truly aggressive - concert pianist........(take a look at a new fall board after just one Russian pianist + one Rach concerto). Or you may not have noticed this "very" common phenomena before. To avoid the problem (?), sit some one down who just noodles.  In 15 years of  just concert work, I've replaced broken keys.....pedals....lyres....strings....etc....even benches, all as a result of pianists "getting into their music"! (yes, these are well maintained D's) Scratches on the fallboard are akin to scratches or even holes on the sound board (pick guard area) of a well used (played) guitar. Compliment the players. Tell them they are really getting into their playing......"just look at that fallboard"  Then refinish the board and tell them you'll be back next week to pick it up and refinish it again, and again, and........;~). IMHO Sincerely, Bob Moffatt Robert Goodale wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>Thought for the day: Have you ever put exactly ten pairs of socks into a clothes drier but pulled out only 19 when they were dry?  One of those unexplained mysteries in life that has no answer. I was talking with a client who was wondering why grand pianos sometimes develop wear marks on the fall board above the keys.  Admittedly I had no definitive answer.  I'm sure you have all notice this, particularly above the sharps.  Sometimes the wear can be so bad that it can extends well into the wood.  But then you have to stop and wonder how they got there.  For technical reasons you do not play the piano that close to the fall board.  In observing a pianist playing I have never seen any kind of technique that would suggest a reason- even in aggressive playing.  Certainly there are other case parts on a piano that receive rougher treatment.  Nevertheless somehow these wear marks appear very defined and consistent.  So here then is the riddle: How do these marks get there?  Is there a particular type of maneuver required by the pianist?  Is it avoidable? Can you find the missing sock? Rob Goodale, RPT</blockquote> </html>