<!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 5.50.4207.2601" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I find myself in a bit of a = dilemma.  I have a client that is the owner of a five year old American made Story = & Clark studio piano.  Actually, the piano has been a relatively nice piano = to tune and service.  Upon my last service appointment, I had discovered = that eight of the twelve ribs had separated from the board.  Upon further investigation, I concluded that the board had buckled mostly along the = line of the tenor, treble bridge and any attempt to draw the ribs back to the = cupped board would be futile.  I have contacted the manufacturer who has = been most gracious in attempting to resolve this matter.  However, my dilemma = is this: As many of you are aware Story & Clark no longer manufacture = the Story & Clark piano.  As a result, the manufacturer has no other = option but to replace the piano with a piano that they currently represent, = which is the Prelude made at the Dongbei Piano Company in Dongbei, China.  = My client has asked me if this piano would be similar in quality and value.  = I have absolutely no service history with this piano.  Could anyone who = has any history or service track record with the Prelude studio provide me with = some information that might help.  This is clearly a situation where = both parties ( the manufacturer and the customer) have legitimate positions.  I thank you in advance for your input.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>