<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Andrew, Others have given you excellent responses.  I will respond to only the reference to the Reblitz book, since no one mentioned that yet specifically. You know who Reblitz is, and apparently you have the book.  My understanding of a hobbyist in this context is someone who would buy an older piano that needs a lot of work and just has fun tinkering around with it.  There is no time frame; just having fun.  And if the work turns out less than perfect, so what?  Get another old piano and try again. But your situation is entirely different.  As a pianist in advanced studies, is this what you want?  I believe even the piano technician who is most proficient at regulation would blush if we could check his very first job, because much is learned from years of experience.  I see no way you can expect good results on your first try, at least not without a great deal of frustration.  Sometimes a fine regulation cannot be achieved without new parts, and how will you know what to replace?  It'll be a very long road. I might also mention that there are do-it-yourself books on almost every subject, but that doesn't mean everyone who tries to follow the directions will achieve success. So I agree with the others -- call a professional.  Nevertheless, Reblitz's book is considered one of the better ones, so with many hours of reading and practice maybe you *can* at least tune your own piano and even more.  Just don't expect miracles to happen. (I've been servicing pianos for over twenty years, nine of those fulltime and an RPT for five.  But even now there is no way I would attempt to regulate a grand piano to meet the requirements of a fine concert pianist.) Regards, Clyde Hollinger AAKStar@AOL.COM wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>So, if I cant lacquer the keys, what CAN I do by myself by reading a book? I mean, there has to be some adjustments that I can make that are easy enough to do without a technician's supervision, right? Why would Reblitz sell a book if he had no intention of allowing hobbyists do some work on their own? Can I at least tune the piano (with practice) by myself, by reading this book?</blockquote> </html>