<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2627" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> Friends</DIV> <DIV>I'm considering  rebuilding another of these old rosewood monsters= for an influential client. The only hesitation I have ( well not the only one) i= s that the front of the stretcher has a crack in it and the whole of the stret= cher cap piece  is bowed up about 1/8th of an inch and has a corresponding separation between the lower portion which is the pin block. The piano IS designed for A-440 & is currently stable. It has an open face angled blo= ck with the plate that does not incapsulate it</DIV> <DIV>   The crack in the strecher, the tension at 440 , & the pitch has been stable for the ten years & holds tune. I'v= e known the piano. I hate to work on it because it needs everything xcept a fi= nish & it sound crappy. </DIV> <DIV>  My thought is to beef up the stretcher by replacing it with something like falconwood instead of plain maple and really anchor it to the= pinblock section below via thru bolts & then re venneer the whole shooti= n match.. This is a massive & large cap type  stretcher. One end is a= bout 10 to 12 inches wide on top and tapers down to 4 or so in the bass.</DIV> <DIV>  I know we've had some discussion on this before & am open to= imput & suggestions on this baby.</DIV> <DIV>  Has any one had the whole of the stretcher /pinblock assembly ou= t in one piece or in pieces or any other retrofit repair or constuction that woul= d be helpful in this regard.</DIV> <DIV>   Thanks in advance </DIV> <DIV> Dale Erwin</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>