<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000EE" vlink="#551A8B" alink="#FF0000">   Wimblees@AOL.COM wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>I Richard: I think you and I went 'round and 'round on this subject last year. I asked you then, and will ask again today: how many Petrofs have you serviced, and how long ago did you service them?</blockquote> Well lets see,  I have been in Bergen for about 18 years now, Probably 1/4 of all pianos I have serviced here have been Petrof verticals 110 mm. I see quite a few grands mostly the "5 foot" variant, a few a bit larger, and 4 full concert grands (one of these was delivered 3 years ago with a very visable "hairline crack in the plate in the left corner, pinblock end) So I guess about 18*.25*300(pianos a year) is 1350 pianos. I just got finished putting a 140 vertical in decent shape, new hammers, new bass strings, lots of action work, fill dead space between the plate and the pinblock, and a few rebores of bridge pins (a few of these were just toooooo bad to let leave) <blockquote TYPE=CITE>  The other question I have to ask is directed at Petrof, and I will call them to ask. Are the Petrofs shipped to Europe, and particularly to Norway, different from those sent to the USA? I ask that because I just cannot see the problems you are describing.</blockquote> I have no idea, wouldnt suprise me so much one way or the other. On that note, while working in Seattle from 1991 to 1993 I came across several new Petrof grands in a store Del used to do some work for. (tho I never got to run into him) and at Evans Music. I saw no basic differences with them there. A fellow I know there (RPT) routinely put out of the box Petrof grands on their side and starts working in epoxy resin into the area often open between the plate and the pinblock. I dont know what to tell you Willem, but I got to call them like I see them. On the positive side, I have always kinda enjoyed fooling with Petrofs. You can take a stock Petrof, put about 10 hours of work on the action and bridge and make a big difference. Much more dramatic then the same 10 hours on a Yamaha or a Korean, or a good German. They do have an ok sound. Better then most comparably priced pianos. And if you are carefull enough about picking one out for a customer you can get them a good enough deal, if its a deal they are out after. <blockquote TYPE=CITE>  Willem</blockquote> Richard Brekne I.C.P.T.G.  N.P.T.F. Bergen, Norway </body> </html>