<HTML>Dear mailing list, I give up. I am in a bit of a dilemma. I am audtioning for graduate music performance programs this fall and I need to practice hard for the next 6 months. However, my piano sucks. The only regulation that was done on it is the following: 1) aftertouch was adjusted 2) hammers were aligned to the strings 3) the resting position of the hammers was raised and aligned 4) the hammers were shaped and needled Now, this is about 20% of the work that needs to be done for regulation, right? There are several problems that still remain with this piano- 1) first and foremost, there are sections of the piano that are just way too soft. 2) certain keys bind and have friction 3) the touch is still inadequate. the keys arent very responsive and thus, trilling is hard. pianissimo passages are difficult to play. fast passages are difficult to play. I cannot and I repeat, cannot pay a technician to come to my house and do the $2000 worth of servicing required to regulate my piano. I dont have a job and my mother doesnt want to pay for this. So, my only alternative is to do it myself. So, if I cant lacquer the keys, what CAN I do by myself by reading a book? I mean, there has to be some adjustments that I can make that are easy enough to do without a technician's supervision, right? Why would Reblitz sell a book if he had no intention of allowing hobbyists do some work on their own? Can I at least tune the piano (with practice) by myself, by reading this book? Please help. I am sick and tired of playing on my crappy L Steinway that plays at 20% of its potential. Andrew Koo</HTML>