Art & all,  I am neither famous nor infamous in this realm, but
you can add my name to the "tune it to its designed pitch" group.
Preservation is just that: preservation!  Also, as has been noted,
there are design issues here too, both in speaking lengths of pipes,
percussion instrument construction _and_ the pianos construction.

And I loved that comment that most folks sing flat anyway -- soooo
true.  If you have not had to sit through many "talent shows" you
don't know how true this is!  This is one of the things I will _not_
miss about my theatre management job.

Now that I've been "relieved" of that job, maybe I can work on the
three players I have sitting around town (I ran out of storage at my
house) but I wonder if there will be a market for them when I am done
(I'm in Northern California).

Tune 'em if ya got 'em! :)

David Dewey