<!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 6.00.2800.1458" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mathew Todd said: "<FONT face="Times = New Roman" size=3>I have been asked to go look around at pianos, play them, and = then make a decision on what is good.  What would be a fair price?  I = mean, would you charge by the hour, or find out about how long it'll take, and then = make a decision?"<BR> <BR>Matthew,</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" = size=3>IMO, you are going about this backwards. Have the potential piano owner do the leg = work. Let him/her narrow down the possibilities to maybe two...? You go at each = one and make a decision regarding playability, tone, cost, etc. Charge by the = Service Call Fee/ Hourly Rate, whichever is greater for the time expended. Of = course all this is contingent and the fact that you have talked to the client, = prior to the "big search"; stressing TONE as the major criteria..secondly Touch as a = criteria and looks as being the least critical, (that's what God made refinishers = for.<G>!)</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" = size=3>(BTW, my first reaction, to your question, was akin to the Mercedes thingee...."if ya = have to ask....!")( second reaction was....."where the hell are all the supposed = "Mentors"?????" for these newbies?????</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" = size=3>Best Regards,</FONT><BR></DIV></FONT> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain, Tool Police<BR>Squares R I</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>