<HTML>       Hi John    Thanks for the concise post on string planes and standardbore hammers etc    Let me start by saying that I have calculated the string plane, center pin height on             every Steinway that has passed thru my shop for the last 15 years.(Yes they are all over the map.) From that the bore specs. for each section are determined according to the needs of that section. So no standard bore hammers in this shop and I don't undercenter them which can obviously compound the strike line placement as you clearly stated.   O.K. that being true then my experience on American Steinways at least is that the designers straight line strike line doesn't work all that well in many of there pianos.    My colleague Scott Jones a well known and like tech worked for Steinway until more recently. I understand that before he worked for the company he was a private tech working for a stwy dealer. Apparentlyit  was his persistent complaint about the strike line  on the model  B that got there attention. Later as an employee he was able to introduce a modification to the plate so that a horseshoe shape is now incorporated into the plate instead of the strike line.    All this to say that although this may not be news to many it is well known to some who deal with this in rebuilding shops and field techs. John the change in sound from rehanging hammers  slightly in octave 6 can make the difference between failure and success tonally especially with people who hear well and demand more from the "money"/melody notes.   My Local symphony has a forties D that I rebuilt a few years back. This piano has the modified strike line now and quite improved, Another example is a model O that went out last week with a new belly was significantly disappointing  in the entire first capo section until rehung closer to the stretcher.   A Model A-2 that went two weeks ago came in with an original shrike line that the less experienced would have been tempted to straighten but it was an original factory line and it was working well so obviously the guys for finishers new how to get around this design anomaly.   I'm not forming in hard and fast conclusion about this yet but it seems that those stwys whose plate sit quite close to the stretcher seem to have a more significant problem in this area.  Considering how things float in the construction of this piano its easy to surmise why this is so.           Best----Dale Erwin</HTML>