<HTML>I just got through tuning= my first square grand, an 1873 Steinway.  Special thanks to Jon Page, = Paul Chick, and Joe Garrett for good information.   All in all, it was nowhere near the pain I thought it was going to be. &= nbsp;I suppose many years as a bike racer has gotten me used to bending over= in such an ungainly way that it didn't phase me too much.   I had my oval-tipped hammer in hand ready to do battle with the beast, b= ut when I opened the lid, I was almost disappointed to see square headed tun= ing pins!  Question:  could these be original?  And much to m= y chagrin, somebody had written the letters of all of the naturals on the pl= ate next to the pins.  It did make my job a bit easier, I must admit, b= ut I unnecessary and desctructive. The hammers looked as if they had been replaced not so long ago, and the= y had a nice sound.  I proceeded with Jon's recommendation of a Broadwo= od Best temperament(per Tunelab Pocket) and set the pitch at A 435.  I = hope this was the right thing to do, because when I arrived, it was between = there and 440. The previous tuner had tuned it in ET at 440.   The pins had been doped, but they didn't seem too spongy, though quite a= few of them were springy and hard to set.  Got up to A7(the last note = on the keyboard) and the hammer didn't hit the string.  Great!  An= opportunity to remove the action.  It was a very simple process, and n= ext thing I knew, I was examining a very simple, ingenious and beautifully m= ade device.  At first I thought that the jack had broken off, but it ha= d merely flopped forward.  I flopped it back.   Put the action back in, finished tuning, put the dampers back on.  = When I played the tone was incredibly rich and sweet, the pitch and temperam= ent made the piano sing!  The owners were thrilled, and so was I. It wa= s a worthwhile 2 1/2 plus hours, and--I never thought I'd say this--I look f= orward to my next encounter with a square! Dave Stahl</HTML>