[P-Marlowe]

That was a cool piano. I was a piano tech before I became an attorney. I've worked on just about every kind of piano ever made from an 18th Century John Broadwood (the piano that Beethoven played) to old Steinway Square pianos (they were junk - all square pianos were junk) to Old English Pianos (Junk) and to just every American upright every built. Most of the really good pianos were American pianos made before the depression.

The emergence of the electronic keyboard has made piano tuning a lost art. I saw the handwriting on the wall back in the early 1980's so I decided to go to law school. I still have all my tools, but I haven't worked on a piano in 15 years. I haven't actually owned one in 25. When you have 10 or 15 in your garage at any given time being worked on, you don't need to own any.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The technology for the Russian unit you mentioned would clearly have long been in the public domain. Why isn’t it replicated today? Perhaps it’s impractical to manufacture with today’s labor constraints.

[GOP Poet]

I could tell you were a technician ;-). You were prescient about the market though.

The one really knowledgeable technician I work with is also a full time musician and composer and this is how he stays afloat. He rebuilds and sells as well. I always love visiting his studio. I don't have to tell you why.

It is time to get you a piano. Your ear is exquisite. I don't know how you bear not having one. Your passion is clear. Take your lawyer money and get yourself a damn piano :-D!

Hell if those kids can have brand new Steinways with OPM, I don't know why an experienced technician, aficionado, and lawyer can't have one.