<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=UTF-8 http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charse= t=utf-8"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV>I think the weather in the East has done too much damage for a whole lo= t of upright restoration to be viable.  In the past when asked to do a = piano of questionable value I have actually made the client sign a form that= states:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Aunt Minnie's Star Grand current value  -$150</DIV> <DIV>Cost of rebuilding and refinishing  Auntie's horrible Star Grand -= $10,000</DIV> <DIV>Value of priceless family heirloom after superlative rebuild job - $150= </DIV> <DIV>I then explain that they should think of the investment value of the pr= oject as being the rough equivalent of throwing $10,000 into the Atlantic Oc= ean.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If after seeing this in print in their hand, they actually want to proc= eed then I feel I've done my duty and we can go ahead and I can sleep at nig= ht. Otherwise it's pretty sad to see the really horrible junkets suck up mon= ey that could otherwise go into restoring a nice piano.  Although, I ha= ve a soft spot in my heart for the M&H, Ivories and Pond types that real= ly were so wonderful.  It's a pity that they just don't bring enough in= the normal market to validate the repairs.  Topperpiano</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>