John,
Many of the Wessel, Nickle and Gross actions had the soft pedal
compensator and were used by quite a number of better manufacturers. And
yes, it was an excellent design. Others have also used different varieties
of springs on the jack, Chickering for one tried it. At the moment I can'
t remember the names of any others, but I have seen it elsewhere.
Ed Hilbert
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC