<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1515" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ric B,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I agree with you, (your post of the 28th).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In the case of the Chickering: even if = the soundboard hadn't been taken out with a sledge hammer, (really!), the = original board's grain orientation and construction was WAY weird! Also, the = piano had been through so much trauma, that the wood of the original was just = "trash". Lastly, there are many 8 footer Chickerings still in existance, so it's = not like I'm bastardizing a Graf or something.<G></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain, Tool Police<BR>Squares R I</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>