Bird-Cage pianos question

[Susan Kline]

I see two reasons and one possible side-effect for the overdamping system:

1. The dampers work by weight instead of by springs, like grand dampers.
Del Fandrich has an interesting observation about the quality of damping
by springs versus weight.

2. By hanging the dampers over the hammers, they could make the soft pedal
system work. A strip of fairly stiff felt glued at the bottom edge to a
slat is suspended between two dowels under the strike line, and is
moved between the hammers and the strings when the pedal is depressed.
Normally, this space would be occupied by underdampers. The quality
of tone is quite different than a normal upright soft pedal, and the
touch doesn't have to get sloppy when the left pedal is being used.

3. The overdampers don't damp as completely as underdampers. Perhaps
they wanted the glow. Looking at very big, FANCY, elaborate, standard uprights
which still had little bitty short bass wedges has led me to think
that the makers wanted more subtle (though even) damping than we like today.

Okay, Roger -- give.

Susan