Tom et al, Having done this numerous times, I consider replacing the entire lever easier. I block up the lift rod so that all the dampers and even and approx. at the "lifted" position. I then replace every other one, keeping in mind where the old one was. Bend to match it's neighbors and attach the old damper head w/orig felt. Once the new ones are on, then I take the old felt off. You can put the treble felt on at the bench, but have to put the bass ones on in the piano. Try to put the same thicknesses of felt back on that were originally there. This will help with lessening the amout of regulation needed. Oh, once the heads are on, I nip the excess wire off with a pair of starrett wire cutters. Makes for a nice neat job that is probably better than original. The only bugaboo to this is that you will need to do some spoon bending! :-( As for the jacks, I prefer to replace the entire wippen and save for a time when it's slow, to replace the jacks, backchecks, etc. Then the next job you use the "rebuilt" ones. Best Regards, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
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