<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1605" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> I'm not sure I want to step into this ring save to say that an ebony finish is the most difficult one for me, the most time consuming of them all.  One tip you may appreciate though is this; instead of spending hours and hours filling the grain before primer, do your best and rub crosswise and fill as best you can.  When dry, use a polyester primer instead of lacquer, it will go on at 8-15 mils thick and will save you countless hours on prep and you can spend more time on the finish, which you will.  Whether you use waterbase of which I have no experience, or lacquer, which is what I use, or enamel, which I have used also, you WILL SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF TIME AND ELBOW ON AN EBONY PIANO.  I have used black polyesther but my filtration system is not geared for that, and was difficult to finish as well.  You may want to look into polyesther and electro-static before you begin.</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Good Luck</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Tom Mc Nabb</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>