<!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 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8> <DIV><FONT size=2>Many products such as power tools have both "home" = versions as well as "commercial" versions, intended for heavy-duty use.  In = fact, the "home" versions often have a warranty clause that excludes damage from = severe use.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Do piano manufacturers explicitly market = "heavy-duty" models?  Or does that just fall out from the low-end vs. high-end models?  I know some studios are advertised as "institutional", = with toe blocks on uprights and so on, but I wondered if anyone explicitly = addresses the challenges of pianos that are played, say, six hours a day.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Thinking about the analogy to cars (like Terry often = does), the highest performance models are often the most temperamental and = fragile, requiring a lot of maintenance relative to others.  I suppose any = concert piano takes a lot of work, since the pianist requires so much of the instrument.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Just idle thoughts...</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> </DIV></BODY></HTML>