Ron, No, it wasn't a trick question. The scenario is true. The first time I came across it, I removed the retrofit, cut a new dowel to the proper length, and that seemed to work okay. If no one else has seen this, then my only guess is that a local retailer had this done to some pianos for some unknown reason. I can tell you, though, that this retrofit enables to dampers to have a LOT of lift! Actually, having said that I may have just had a flash of inspiration! Maybe the liftrod hanger was partially broken before it was completely broken, and this was the way some previous tuner got all the dampers to lift far enough. Apparently that worked for a while, but eventually that failed to do the trick. I might check this out with other technicians at our next chapter meeting. No doubt someone else ran into some of these pianos or maybe even did the work. Regards, Clyde Ron Nossaman wrote: > >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 > > Maybe a carload of pre-cut pedal dowels shrunk during the Mezzo > Thermonealization treatment, and they worked around it? Or maybe they > thought it made the piano look taller? How about, can the action be pulled > past the rod without taking it out if it were full length? Is this a trick > question? > > Ron N
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