<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; FONT-SIZE: x-small"> Well, you should agree with him. Because he is correct. It will not be a Steinway anymore, not strictly speaking and probably all that loosely speaking either. Not unless things are done exactly as Steinway does them with exactly the materials they use. That fact however has nothing to do with whether the piano will be a beautiful instrument or not. That depends wholy on the skill and workmanship of the rebuilder. Take Ron Overs modified Yamaha G2 for example. No way is that a Yamaha anymore. There is way more Overs in that piano then Yamaha I deem. But that marriage of styles can have resulted in a wonderfull instrument regardless. In short I always try to be deadly honest with such folks. There is so much "mystic" surrounding so much of what we do and the instruments that we deal with its rediculous. The best first attack is to try and demystify things as much as possible. JMV "David M. Porritt" wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE> I have been in this work for just under 30 years.  I've heard about any question or comment possible by customers.  There's one though, that completely stumps me! If a piano needs a new sounding board I often here "...but it won't be a Steinway anymore."  I often come up with a lame analogy to a race driver.  He doesn't care what kind of fuel pump his car has as long as it's the fastest it can be.  Do you want your piano to be the best it can be, or do you want to keep this old sounding board. Does anyone have a good, but not glib, answer for these people?  I just don't understand their thinking. dave <hr>David M. Porritt<a href="mailto:dporritt@swbell.net">dporritt@swbell.net</a>Meadows School of the ArtsSouthern Methodist UniversityDallas, TX 75275 <hr></blockquote> -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. Bergen, Norway <A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A>   </body> </html>