<!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 6.00.6000.16481" 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 Gene</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  I've seen many of these.  It's one step up from the Mexican Sama job.  They don't replace boards in Europe routinely.....re crown them sometimes but rarely replace from what I've heard on this list. Shim it yes, many many shims</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  The thing is...... Dealers are business folks not usually Artisans & some people will... just like trout .......go for shiny sparkly rather than the real deal.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  If a dealer gets the price of new M for trash like this then in my book, that's fraudulent, or maybe just an excellent rip off artist with a great line. same thing</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  In this case the client swallowed hook,line & sinker.  How truly unfortunate.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>   INMO it would be better for these kinds of dealers to go do something like sell refrigerators or ice to Eskimos.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Moral of story. Don't work for this type of retailer</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Rant over...done...for now... maybe</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>I had only one experience.<BR>1918 SSM<BR>First impression was confusing - nice high gloss poly with beautiful <BR>matching veneer inner rim, music desk and fallboard - this and the Steinway <BR>name threw the first curve. New action to include frame and keys. However, <BR>glides were omitted and the sostenuto monkey guide as well.<BR>Action was not even close to being balanced at over 70 grams down and less <BR>than 19 up.<BR>Back action was original and I replaced it. The lift lever tray was badly <BR>warped and they had gone to great pains to make the dampers work ok.<BR>Sound board appeared new but on closer inspection it had been stripped, <BR>bleached and refinished very carefully - it was dead.<BR>Many case parts did not fit well because of the extra thick finish.<BR>The una chorda stop on the cheek block was missing.<BR>All trap levers were new.<BR>The action was not regulated very well and a few samples showed over 10.5mm <BR>dip - customer did not want me to do any regulation.<BR>It was the shiny kind of thing that trout like people go for.<BR>The rebuilder did not include a disclaimer.<BR><STRONG><EM><FONT size=3>The customer paid about the same price as for a new SSM.<BR></FONT></EM></STRONG>As I was working for the retailer it was a difficult situation.<BR>I will avoid them in the future.<BR>Gene Nelson<BR></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">Get a sneak peak of the all-new <A title="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" href="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>