<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2>List,</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Recent posts about smoke damage warned us that smoke = is highly corrosive, and it can take years for the full effect to show up in a piano.  On another thread, some of you shared methods for removing = tobacco smoke odors from pianos.  Question:  Can tobacco smoke damage = a piano the same way house-fire smoke can, if it is exposed for a long enough time?  I'm trying to estimate a "reconditioning" (read:  "make = it play OK without spending too much") of a vertical that spent the first 30 = years of its 45 year life in the same small house with a heavy pipe smoker (he = smoked a LOT, don't know his weight).  The piano and  the house no = longer smell smoky, having had 15 years to air out.  Also, the piano was more or = less not played and not serviced for the last 15 years.  Now the wippen = flanges are so tight the hammers take about 5 seconds to return, if they come = back at all.  So, is it safe to assume that this is typical tight bushings, = size and lube?  Or is it likely the smoke corroded the center pins, = requiring repinning?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>thanks</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Mike Spalding</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>