Damper lifter

[Don Mannino]

Ted and List,

Many pianos share this design of damper tray, including Kawai. Our =
procedure (greatly abbreviated) is this:

1. Remove sostenuto rod from the sostenuto brackets.
2. Raise the upstop rail(s) all the way up.
3. Disengage the pedal lever and turn the trap lever retaining hook =
(L-shaped hook that holds the trap lever up during moving).
4. Remove the pitman
5. Mark the location (up and down at both ends, side to side) of the =
damper flange rail on the cross-block (belly rail, whatever you want to =
call it).
6. Remove the 3 or 4 screws which hold the damper flange rail to the =
cross-block.
7. Gently ease the entire damper assembly towards you, gently flexing =
the damper wires, until the damper tray block screws are visible through =
the strings from above.
8. Use a long thin screwdriver to remove the damper tray block screws.
9. Swing the tray block up, then remove the flange screw that is hidden =
behind it.

The block and flange are now out, and can be repinned / repaired / =
replaced. When all is in good working order, just carefully reassemble =
everything. As long as you put all the sccrews back where they were, the =
only adjustment that will be needed at the end will be the damper upstop =
rail.

Let me know if you have questions about this.

Don Mannino