<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>"All you need is something approximately the right size that makes noise when the key is depressed."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Oh gosh. I got a good laugh out of that one. That is so sad, but yet so true. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks for the dose of reality!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Terry Farrell</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><FONT face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">I keep a shoe-box full of miscellaneous old hammers, shanks, and butts in the car, 24-7, never worried about their condition.  What kind of pianos will those spares be installed in?  Relatively new, well cared for, pampered by owners who want the best maintenance and are willing to pay for it?  Or sad old spinets and uprights whose owners have it tuned every 10 years whether it needs it or not, and by the way, the kids broke a hammer off a couple years ago and now we can't find it...   Don't worry about felt degradation from being in your car on a hot day.  All you need is something approximately the right size that makes noise when the key is depressed.  Better pianos and owners with higher expectations can wait for you to obtain a better hammer, or complete set.  JMO</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Mike</FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>