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Kurzweil

Kurzweil AMS-KP-1H Piano-Style Half-Damper Pedal

★★★★★5.0 (1 reviews)

A piano-style sustain pedal with half-damper sensitivity for expressive, nuanced keyboard performances.

$99.00*
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*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated:Jun 04, 2026.Price and availability are subject to change.

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Overview

The Kurzweil AMS-KP-1H is a single sustain pedal built for players who demand more nuance from their electronic keyboard performances. Unlike standard switch-style pedals that only register fully on or fully off, the KP-1H supports half-damper operation, allowing you to control the degree of sustain by how far you press the pedal down. This mirrors the behavior of an acoustic grand piano's damper mechanism, where partial pedaling blends notes with a subtlety that binary pedals simply cannot achieve.

The pedal features a piano-style chassis that sits firmly on the floor, providing the kind of weighted, grounded feel that keyboard players expect during extended sessions. Connection is handled through a 1/4-inch stereo (TRS) plug, which carries the continuous control signal required for half-damper recognition. At 9.65 x 3.94 x 3.35 inches, it's compact enough to tuck into a gig bag alongside your other accessories. The key consideration before purchasing is compatibility: your keyboard or digital piano must explicitly support half-damper or continuous pedal input over a TRS connection to unlock the graduated sustain that makes this pedal worthwhile.

Key Features

Single pedal for electronic keyboards

Piano-style half-damper sustain

1/4-inch stereo (TRS) connector

9.65 x 3.94 x 3.35 inches

Specifications

Brand
Kurzweil
Model
AMS-KP-1H
Type
Single Sustain Pedal
Style
Piano-Style
Feature
Half-Damper Sustain
Connector
1/4-inch Stereo (TRS)
Dimensions
9.65 x 3.94 x 3.35 inches

Pros & Cons

👍 Pros

  • Half-damper design enables expressive, graduated sustain not possible with basic switch-style pedals
  • Piano-style form factor feels natural and stable underfoot during performance
  • Standard 1/4-inch TRS connector fits a wide range of compatible keyboards
  • Compact footprint at under 10 inches long fits easily into any keyboard setup

👎 Cons

  • Half-damper feature only works with keyboards that support continuous pedal input via TRS
  • No polarity switch, which may cause compatibility issues with certain keyboard brands
  • Single-pedal design means you'll need separate units if you also want sostenuto or soft pedal functions
  • Limited to sustain duty — not a multi-function pedal controller

Frequently Asked Questions

Half-damper sustain lets you partially depress the pedal for graduated sustain levels, just like an acoustic piano's damper pedal. This gives you finer dynamic control compared to a simple on/off sustain pedal.
It uses a standard 1/4-inch stereo (TRS) connector. Your keyboard must support half-damper input via a TRS jack to take advantage of the continuous control feature.
It connects via a standard 1/4-inch jack, so it physically fits most keyboards. However, the half-damper functionality only works with keyboards that specifically support continuous pedal input over a TRS connection.
No polarity switch is mentioned in the specifications. If your keyboard interprets the pedal in reverse, check your keyboard's settings for a pedal polarity option.

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