<HTML>List, Well, it wasn't really an alligator, but when I was done with the Baldwi= n M(5' 8" grand), circa 1965, I felt as if I'd been in a river with a large = reptile.  ON the surface, it seemed like a nice piano, except the lady = told me it hadn't been tuned in probably 20 years.  The husband later i= nformed me that a "cowboy from Oklahoma" was the last guy that tuned it. &nb= sp;Probably told her that it would never tuning again. Anyway, after a pitch raise(only 10% +/- flat in the middle, slightly mo= re at the ends), I grappled with trying to get a decent tuning in it.  = These pianos have no tuning pin bushings, and I guess that's what makes them= want to spring right back to where you started from.  This particular = instrument had pins that popped just as they were about to fall into place, = and voila--10% flat or sharp again!  And it was whiny as a newborn baby= .  Almost as whiny as me right now. I can normally do a pitch raise and fine tuning in  1 1/2 hours or = slightly less if the piano wasn't way off to start with.  I was battlin= g this monster for 2 1/2 hours.  The lady kvetched a bit when I told he= r I was going to charge her for a pitch raise.  Of all da noive! Question:  would regular tuning over the previous two decades have = smoothed out the tuning pin rotation at all?   Amazingly, the piano sounded pretty good when I was done.  I hate t= o admit this, but after that ordeal, I was happy to get to my next customer'= s Pearl River. Dave Stahl</HTML>