<HTML>In a message dated 9/13/01 9:50:41 AM Central Daylight Time, pianobuilders@olynet.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I am also aware that John Steinway would sign everything in sight at a dealership he would be visiting without listening to any of them. Does this signature then add any value to the piano? That, I think, would be strictly up to the buyer. In some cases it probably would (the salespeople certainly thought so) and not in others (Can the buyer play and hear the piano and how does the piano perform and sound?). Del </BLOCKQUOTE> A dealer in St. Louis advertised on radio and TV that Mr. Steinway would be at the showroom to sign the piano you bought. It was strictly a sales gimmick. They did the same thing when Franz Mohr came. Willem </HTML>