<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16441" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>  <STRONG><EM>Hi Wayne</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  I've experienced this malady many.many times over the years with a variety of Asian pianos. So if experience is a profound teacher & you want to benefit from the hard knocks of others, then listen.  Petrified felt will always be ........Petrified.  Explain it to the client clearly. A rock is a rock</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>    The money she saved on the piano now needs to go towards a hammer transplant.  There are times when heroic measures don't work & the patient/hammers, what ever, are dead on arrival. You've done the heroic measures & so, Knowing when to just say no, is an important part of the next generation of protocols coming our way on these "pianos".....  sorry, I mean  " Fortes" </EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  I often think we as technicians are shy about telling our clients the truth with confidence.  Well,...I just had to finally get over it, & when I did  & every body was better served and less frustrated in the long run.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Hope it works out.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Dale</EM></STRONG></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><SPAN class=878032719-11062007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4>I have a customer with a newer Chinese piano with harsh sounding hammers. I have tried chemical softener, needled and the piano still sounds bad. The customer has chemical sensitivity so I can't use anything in her home now. I was there a couple of weeks ago and used the steam method on the hammers and it work great. I was happy and the customer was happy, but today she left a voice mail saying the piano is harsh sounding again. How long will the steam method last? Will I need to do this often? I just want to have a happy customer with out having to swap pianos with her.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=878032719-11062007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=878032719-11062007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4>Wayne</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=878032719-11062007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=878032719-11062007> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4>Wayne Walker</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4>Piano Tuner / Technician</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=4></FONT></DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG>Musicstop Acoustic Piano Service</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG>264 Herring Cove Road</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG>Halifax, NS, Canada</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG>B3P 1M1</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left> <DIV align=left><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2><STRONG>902-221-1540</STRONG></FONT></DIV></DIV></SPAN></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>