<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content='"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=GENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Hi Brian, I don't have much experience with the newer = Kimballs, but I've seen a few older ones.  The mid sized grands that I've seen = have been fairly nice pianos.  Like you said, first impression when = hearing the name and such, yuck, but once you see it, it's not so bad at all... Our shop did a recondition job on one about 3 years ago = that turned out quite nice.  (The refinisher did a no-no on the = bridge caps by spraying thick coats of finish on them.  Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz...  Once we scraped things down again and provided a more = proper bridge surface, it sounded pretty good.  Better than I would = have expected.) If the piano is in excellent shape as you have = indicated, I would have no problem recommending it to anyone.  It's = no...Stei.....I just can't say it... It's no Bosendorfer, (is it? hmm?)  but it = could make someone a nice instrument to play that will bring many hours of enjoyment. Maybe someone can verify or discredit this, but I had = heard some time ago that Kimball did work, toward the end, to improve the = quality of their pianos quite a bit.  From the sound of it, perhaps they = would have done well to do the improvements, and establish a new name that = wouldn't carry the stigma that it had for so long. Just my = $0.02 Good luck, Brian Trout Quarryville, PA <A href="mailto:btrout@desupernet.net">btrout@desupernet.net</A> </DIV>= </BODY></HTML>