Friends, The piano, 1974 Kimball console. When I start pressing the sustain pedal the treble dampers lift first, then each damper closer to the tenor section lifts later than the last. The bass dampers don't lift at all even when the pedal is the whole way down. This piano has one of those two-piece liftrods. So, what is the best way to replace a liftrod hanger hook or whatever it's called? I have an appropriate length of the right gauge metal stock (.125) to make a new hook. Do I drive it into the liftrod and then try to bend it? That's hard to do, since on this piano the gap between the liftrod and the bent-over part of the hanger is only a little more than a 1/4", and I don't know how I can get a nice bend. But if I bend it first, hammering it in the hole will probably be impossible. What is the best way to do this unsavory repair? A second question, just as a matter of curiosity -- this is the third piano I've found with some sort of modification to the sustain mechanism. A piece of bent strap metal about 5 1/2" long is bolted into the hole of the liftrod tongue and extends vertically downward. The wood dowel has been shortened so its pin will fit in a hole at the bottom end of the strap metal. The first time I saw this I assumed some piano technician was trying to solve some problem unknown to me, but now I've come across this about three times, and I think they were always in Kimball consoles. Did they do this in the factory, and if so, why?? Regards, Clyde
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