<HTML>In a message dated 4/22/01 3:38:38 AM Central Daylight Time, dnereson@dimensional.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">To Carl Meyer:    A long-time technician for the public schools here in Denver has used springs to "restore" the crown in some pianos (mostly studios and old uprights), and with successful results, i.e. better tone, longer sustain, more volume.   He gave a technical at a chapter meeting some years ago, and it would take a while for me to find my notes, but briefly, he used angle brackets fastened to the backposts, automotive valve springs, fender washers, and adjustable bolts to vary the pressure.  I believe the spring / fender washer / bolt assemblies, one fastened to each backpost, pressed directly on the ribs, probably behind the long bridge.   Seems he may have let the tension down first in some cases, or maybe just in the bass, I don't remember, but I could look it up.  Anyhow, the results were quite impressive.  He didn't recommend it for fine pianos, mind you, but to bring some life to an old piano that would otherwise be junked, it was a fairly quick and inexpensive cure.    Sincerely, David Nereson, RPT, Denver </XMP> </BLOCKQUOTE> This sounds like a good way to restore some life into older pianos, but the question remains, is it worth it? Is the time and materials spent to doing this process worth the end result? How long lasting is this process? Willem </HTML>