<!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 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Matthew,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    This is a question I = get all the time. I simply explain to the client (mostly technicians) that in some = cases it is more expensive to restore an ivory keyboard than it is to put a nice = new plastic set. I further explain that piano playing should be an enjoyable = visual, acoustic and tactile experience. If the keys are worn out, uneven and = cracked it is not attractive to look at nor a pleasure to play. This defeats the = whole purpose of playing. Most technicians have a stash of salvaged ivory = heads from old keyboards that can be used as replacements. When replacing a head = ensure that is atleast the same size as the one being replaced, preferably = larger so it can be trimmed to match the rest.</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=toddpianoworks@yahoo.com href="mailto:toddpianoworks@yahoo.com">Matthew Todd</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 02, = 2005 10:23 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Missing Ivories</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>How do you all deal with a customer's piano that has three, four, = five or ten missing ivory keytops (and others being chipped and cracked), and = they don't want to replace them because they just like the fact that they = are ivories?  Do you just leave them because they cost a lot more = than the plastic tops?  Or what do you explain to the client?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Another question...what if a client has just one or two missing = ivories, and everything else is in great shape.  Can we just get one or = two ivory keytops to replace it with?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks!</DIV><BR><BR>Matthew Todd<BR>Todd Piano Works<BR>Piano Tuner/Technician<BR>Tuning - Repairing - Regulating <P> <HR SIZE=1> Do you Yahoo!?<BR>Yahoo! Search presents - <A = href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=30648/*http://movies.yahoo.com/movie= s/feature/jibjabinaugural.html">Jib Jab's 'Second Term'</A></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>