<HTML>In a message dated 5/29/02 9:39:55 AM Central Daylight Time, collin.s@skynet.be writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">It doesn't work on the low tenors, neither on the high trebble, but elsewhere, waw ! I'm just afraid for premature wear of the hammers and maybe some trouble at the flange center pin, carrying so an unusual torque.  </BLOCKQUOTE> Stephane The sound you get might be pleasant to you, but I think it is a sound that is not "normal" for a piano. The effect you have is the same as using the shift on a grand. Instead of hearing three strings, you only hear two. What the oblique hammers on an upright is doing is the same thing. The hammer is only hitting gone or two strings on a soft blow. But on a normal to hard blow, the hammer is creating a certain amount of distortion in the tone because the hammer is hitting the strings at an angle. One of the procedures in voicing is making sure the hammer is making contact with all three strings at the same time, because if it doesn't it creates a false beat. Each one of the three strings are activated at a different time, creating false beats. And this is not even taking into consideration the tremendous amount of stress on the center. Is it worth having to replace the butts and flanges more often, to get the unique sound you are getting. Wim</HTML>