<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>RE: Extra Damper Lever Assembly</title></head><body> <div>At 3:36 PM -0500 11/28/03, Tom Driscoll wrote:</div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#000080"> It's called an auxiliary or dummy damper and is designed to keep the damper rod away from the levers when the pedal is at rest. The spring is much heavier than on the other damper levers and is often the first source of noise as it will wear through the spring punching. Replace the punching (if its there )or lube W/ V.J.</font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#000080" >            Tom Driscoll</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>Tom,</div> <div><br></div> <div>I don't know if you have read the other responses, but that's what I initially said it's purpose was as well.</div> <div><br></div> <div>However, I don't recall finding auxiliary dampers generally installed on vertical pianos with only one damper lever lift rod. However, I do find the dummy levers installed on vertical pianos with the bass damper lifting feature (middle pedal) that requires two damper lever lift rods.</div> <div><br></div> <div>If these findings are correct, that would negate keeping the rod away from the dampers as the primary reason/purpose for the auxiliary damper lever.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Regards,</div> <div><br></div> <div>Keith McGavern<br> Registered Piano Technician<br> Oklahoma Chapter 731<br> Piano Technicians Guild</div> <div>USA</div> </body> </html>