<HTML><PRE>Hi William, Please be patient with me on this one, but I have not been able to visualize why making the naturals effectively shorter would put players with smaller hands at a disadvantage. Kindly elucidate. Thanks, Alan Eder In a message dated 3/16/07 5:37:48 AM, pianotech@a440piano.net writes: << Mark, As for grinding the fronts down. Please don't. Have you ever played a piano with such a treatment? It is really quite unpleasant. At least for someone like me with small hands who frequently uses the very fronts of the naturals. However, I'd imagine that most players, regardless of hand size, play at the fronts frequently enough. That 1/16" may not seem like much, but it really is. I strongly recommend against grinding them down. Best, William R. Monroe >> ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.</HTML></PRE></HTML>