<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 3/22/2007 6:02:36 AM Pacific Standard Time, dporritt@mail.smu.edu writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>Andrew Anderson said: "Steinway bluntly says in their technical<BR>reference manual for technicians that compression ridges are not a<BR>problem and are a sign of a good board under ideal compression."</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">They're right - compression ridges are not a problem; they're a symptom of a <EM>future</EM> problem. Some of the best-sounding Steinways I've heard did have compression ridges. That doesn't mean damage isn't being done, and service life isn't being shortened significantly. It's a built-in tradeoff they are apparently willing to make, and that, so far (150 years), people have been willing to pay for.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Bob D</FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000339" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000339" target="_blank"><B>AOL.com</B></A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>