<html> Bill, Kawai America didn't exist until about 1962, and we have only sketchy serial number records until about 1985 or so.  This piano was almost certainly purchased in Japan, but whether this happened recently or back in the '50s only the owner might know. I don't know what to think about the bridge situation.  If you were to restring you would have the opportunity to at least give overall positive bearing if you thought it would help the tone.  I wouldn't change it much, though, as the board may not be that stiff. Kawai bearing in our large grands is sometimes slightly negative at the rear, with positive bearing overall. Don Mannino At 10:59 PM 1/18/2002 -0500, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I looked at a Kawai 220, a 7', all original, from 1957. (Maybe I could give Don Mannino its serial number and find out which dealership it was originally sold from, and thus whether we're looking at a recycled Japanese domestic piano or not.) The action was a breeze to play, pattern leading of 1mm leads and I suspect very light hammers. Original tuning pins, and when I start driving pins in the bass, neighboring pins would chirp loose and leaving strings lying slack. In spite of all this, the board sounded fine. What did confuse me was the front and rear bearings read in the middle two sections of the board. Typically, 5 mils front bearing and -10 mils rear bearing. The front bearing ranging from 5-8" mils was acceptable, but how the rear bearing should drop so suddenly was a mystery. I've understood that If we see a bridge lean/roll after a few decades, it will be towards the front. This would produce a front bearing lower than the rear bearing. And this is inevitable with the passing years, as is sagging pinblock grip combined with climbing string friction, diminishing brain cells and increasing abdominal cells. Or so I've thought. Am I looking at a bridge which has rolled backwards from an original front/back relationship of say 4-8 mils to its current 15 mils? Or has the bridge remained as upright as it originally was, maintaining this current steep slope of the bridge top, but adding to that a drop in the crown to send the rear bearing to -10 below. Or has the bridge rolled forward reduced what may have been an even more outlandish front/back relationship. There is not sign out wrenching on the board at the base of the long bridge, or tearing of the bridge  pinning under the negative rear bearing. I may be able to get back there over the weekend to check out the crown. As mentioned earlier, I have no complaint with the basic sound of the board. Someone might condemn it for the odd front/back bearing relationship, but as the board now sounds, I'd certainly suggest that with a new block and strings, it would turn out a fine sounding and playing piano. Just as negative inharmonicity has been proven to exist (in fortepiano pianos), is this a case where a bridge has rolled, against all conventional wisdom, backwards? Thanks in advance for the collective wisdom. Bill Ballard RPT NH Chapter, P.T.G. "Lady, this piano is what it is, I am what I am, and you are what you are"     ...........From a recurring nightmare. +++++++++++++++++++++</blockquote></html>