While I am completing the drudgery of removing the plate bearing strip, and the straight side sound-board molding, I would like to write a little about the Erard pin-block. This first picture shows the treble end of the pin-block stretcher assembly, I have replaced the upper stretcher pieces so that you can see the whole thing. As you can see, the structure is made of solid Beech, cut roughly on the quarter, and not particularly close grained. The lower shelf is made of two longitudinal planks. The vertical line in the middle section, is a split, otherwise the middle section is one piece from side to side. The row of rectangular indentations in the top piece appears to have been made by a type of bench hook, as illustrated in this plate from Roubo, Fig 6. Beech is a very dense wood, more so than hard maple, and, in this case, it is cut correctly. So why do these pin-blocks deteriorate so badly. One reason, and the one most often given, is over-stringing, in other words stringing ...