I tried my hand at butchering a B-17 Brooks I bought new off of an Ebay auction for about $60, and was pretty pleased with the results. Here's a link to a thread I started on the Road Bike Review forum, with pictures of the saddle, which graced my '78 Raleigh Pro Mk V, recently auctoned off (yes, I included the saddle with the bike):
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/
Anyone with a bit of patience can probably get the same results.
Bill Silverman
Pasadena, CA, USA
rsilvercat@earthlink.net