<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> December 14, 2001 4:32 = AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Cracked = plate</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>"the crack-prone Bechstein plates of some = decades back"</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>Hi Del. Was there a range of years where = this was a problem? Or are most all old Bechstein's subject to this weakness. (My = specific concern is my own personal 1900 Bechstein grand that I will = be rebuilding in the next year or so.) Thanks.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <SPAN = id=__#Ath#SignaturePos__></SPAN> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2>Terry, </FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2>I don't know. Someone from = Europe would be better able to answer this. There weren't all that many Bechsteins in = the Northwest (U.S.) when (and where) I was doing field service and general rebuilding work. I've encountered three early Bechsteins with multiple = cracks in their plates. The first was owned by a dealer who really, <STRONG>really</STRONG> wanted to see if it was salvageable--he'd = way over-allowed for it on a trade--and so we tried but it was hopeless. New = cracks appeared beside the old ones as the old ones were being repaired. I = don't remember when this piano was made.</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2>The optimistic view would = be "if it ain't cracked yet, you might be safe..."</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080 = size=2>Del</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>