<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Verdana" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Verdana color=#000000 size=3> <DIV> <DIV>Tom,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>IF you were able to see the photos I sent, you'll see that it is indeed an underdamper system.  That's something I forgot to mention in = my post.  This is why I'm surprised the piano was made in 1917--at least according to my Pierce Atlas.  The serial # is 106557.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks for the offer of regulation help.  I'm sure I'll need it.&n= bsp; The house is under re-construction at the moment, so I'll probably wait a mo= nth or so until the dust settles.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dave</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 1/22/05 6:53:08 AM Pacific Standard Time, tompiano@bellsouth.net writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Call me privately and I'll talk you throu= gh the entire process. Actually, it's regulates quite well but with a different p= oint of perspective. I'm doing a 1906 Erard at this time, which is my 3rd Erard= experience. Very remarkable instruments with exquisite workmanship throughout.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The backchecks are frontchecks with the s= poon protruding through the shank window. Make sure to look at the condition of= the checking material otherwise potential checking issues may occur.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Also note the manner in which damper leve= r works. Even though this would be an over-damper system, note the direction in whi= ch the spoon lever moves to engage the damper underlever is reversed. Lowerin= g the spoon position causes the damper to engage sooner.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Prior years had an Under-damper system wh= ich had the damper pushing up to the underside of the strings. Count your blessing= s you aren't doing one of those!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you are going to do new hammers, Ronse= n will duplicate the short tail styled hammer molding to exact specifications. Th= e shanks, on the other hand, are not being produced anywhere ( to my knowled= ge) so be extremely careful in the handling of those parts. If anyone knows an= yone who can duplicate those types of shanks I will commission their services a= t this time.</FONT></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>