<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2668" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>   Ron</DIV> <DIV>  8 mm /.320ish is on the thin side for a 9ft grand= of any make . A board this thin doesn't really need much thinning. In f= act it's probably not thick enough in the treble. I'm unaware of the German= factory's rhetoric on panel thinning. I'm guessing it sounded a bit thin? grin</DIV> <DIV>  Regards</DIV> <DIV>  Dale</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2>Very often the factory line doesn't match the actual product. How <BR>often hav= e we heard about the tapering of sound board panels from <BR>S&S. They may = have done it at some time but . . . The original board <BR>which I pulled from = a 1962 Hamburg D last year had a 8 mm thick panel <BR>everywhere. I still ha= ve the original panel at the workshop.<BR><BR>Ron O.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV= > <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"= >Erwins Pianos Restorations <BR>4721 Parker Rd.<BR>Modesto, Ca 95357<BR>209-577-8397<BR>Reb= uilt Steinway , Mason &Hamlin Sales<BR>www.Erwinspiano.com</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>