ric, It is difficult to confuse Beech with Pear, while it is fairly easy to tell Sugar Pine from White Pine by sight. If one has difficulty in doing so and taking samples is not appropriate, perhaps this should be noted at least in an appendix (yes, he mentions Service Wood). Two friends of mine _did_ carefully document the Pleyel upright in the collection (with the offending Pearwood nut) and non-destructively were able to identify each species; perhaps this has to do with their day-to-day experience in working with the stuff, both in brand new and hundreds of years old instruments. I highly suggest reading Poletti's paper, which addresses nearly every aspect of Koster's paper, including the peer review process prior to its publication. My original post was just a gasp in awe. But what a list, at the moment with discussions of early designs, historical temperaments and historical wire! Keep it up. Clark
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