<HTML>Arlin, The Crown upright certainly lived up to its name.  It was one of the be= st built pianos bar none, even out of the East coast, from the early years o= f the 20th century.  I have significantly rebuilt several of these gems= and while yes, it is many thousand$, no ever complained about the price whe= n the work was done. We have no way of knowing exactly what the piano sounded like when it was ne= w as none of use were alive and recording equipment was too primitive to giv= e an accurate audio record. But with new action parts, and high quality, col= d pressed hammers (Isaac, Ronsen) the piano will sound great. Replacing a pinblock or a soundboard in an upright is quite possible and can= essentially give you a new piano which will be passed to even more generati= ons. Can you tell I love these pianos? <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> 1.  Assuming the action could be rebuilt and the strings replaced, how<= BR> nearly would such a repaired piano resemble a new piano in sound and playability? 2.  Is it feasible to take apart the frame so that the soundboard can b= e replaced (Can the sound board even BE replaced?) 3.  How many thousand dollars would such a job cost (ball park figure w= ould be fine). Thanks for any advice you can give me. By the way, I've been reading the digests of post on the board and have learned a great deal from lurking around you all on the board.  I hope = to be joining the Austin chapter of the PTG soon. Thanks, Arlin </BLOCKQUOTE> Andrew Remillard ANRPiano.com ANR Piano Service 2417 Maple Ave Downers Grove, IL  60515 630-852-5058</HTML>