<HTML>It is an unfortunate iron= y indeed that the vast majority of people who could appreciate the finer pia= nos will never be able to afford them, while most of our favorite instrument= s are in the homes of people who don't know a Steinway and Sons from a Schaf= er and Sons, or a Boesendorfer from a Bargaindorfer.   On the other side of the coin, thank God some people can afford the real= ly great pianos, or they'd never see the light of day.  I'd rather tune= a Falcone grand that never gets played than a Winter spinet that never gets= played any time! Dave Stahl In a message dated 3/3/03 1:09:26 PM Pacific Standard Time, swiftspiano@= hotmail.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> >Brand new subdivision. Not a home there >less >than $300,000 - some quite a bit more. A piano from Goodwill in this >home? I know the feeling.  Got a call one time to tune a piano.  Whe= n I got to the address, there was a brand new 3,000 sq ft house with 5 bathrooms. (husb= and is a plumber) In the middle of the huge living room stood an old Grinnel= Bros upright that had been painted several times.  The woman said t= hat she bought it a few years ago from a local music teacher and got a good deal= on it.  Now that they had moved into their new house, she was going to= refinish it herself.  No kids in the house and she only played a little. &nb= sp;Checked it over and found that the bass bridge was shot along with all of the other= usual problems. Told her that it would take a lot of time and money to get the piano rig= ht and that she would be better off looking for something different.  = Then I told her that a grand piano would look really classy in her living room = and told her that I would help her find one if she wanted me to.  She e= nded up buying a grand from the local college's yearly piano sale.  She now= has a decent looking piano and I don't have to work on junk. Moral of the story, while these people are money conscious, they are als= o status conscious.  If they weren't, they wouldn't build such expens= ive houses.  All they need is a little push in the right direction. What's more, once the first grand moves into the neighborhood more will quickly follow in an effort to keep up with the Jones'es.  I have e= ven seen people who don't play the piano go out and buy an expensive grand. And, = if you get your foot in the first door as the tuner of choice, you may end = up with a lot more new business from their neighbors as well.  Yes, it= is a real pain to deal with these junk pianos but use it as an opportunity to= sell them on something better. Ned Swift Lowell, MI </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>