<!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>I have had a Bechstein concert = grand from 1928 with one piece ivory.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Twice I have seen some incredible = imitation in celluloïd that were so good that they fooled the merchant selling them = as ivory.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My trick to recognize ivory, along with = the fingerprints of random shape, is to bite in it.  If you bite in = ivory, you get the unique tooth on tooth contact feel and noise, like when you bite = on your own teeth.  If you bite in celluloïd (no need to start a fire) = you get the feel of something much softer.  I never tried to bite in plastic, = as I recognize it easier.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I covered once a keyboard with ivorite, = which is as easy to shape as ivory, but when played with slightly damp fingers (as = happens) has a less firm contact than ivory.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stéphane Collin.</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=pianotech88@yahoo.com = href="mailto:pianotech88@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</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 04, = 2004 5:12 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Keytops</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Is it true in EVERY circumstance that all ivory keytops have two = parts (head and tail), and plastic tops come in one piece.  Or are = there other ways to tell the difference?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Someone on the list told me that I can never ask a stupid = question, so I guess this is a test.  I am just starting out, but thanks!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Matthew</DIV></DIV></DIV> <P> <HR SIZE=1> Do you Yahoo!?<BR><A = href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/100/*http://promotions.ya= hoo.com/new_mail/static/efficiency.html">New and Improved Yahoo! Mail</A> - 100MB free = storage!</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>