Eavestaff soft pedal

[Palefire1969]

Hello all. I was defeated the other day by the una corda pedal on an old Eavestaff grand piano. It's not doing anything, and it looks like someone has had a go at fixing it, but I can't work out what's supposed to go where. Any advice, diagrams, etc would be very welcome!

[Colin Nicholson]

I think it would be best [and easier] if you contacted a piano tuner to look at it.
Grand Pedal mechanisms/traps/ rockers/ lift rods/ crank levers/ lyre rods & stays/ springs etc vary alot from piano to piano - and there is no such thing as providing a "User Guide Diagram Book" for this. Technicians sometimes devise their own drawings perhaps during a restoration, for installation later. However, an Eavestaff pedal mechanism doesn't spring to mind.

The whole mechanism [hammers/levers] & keyboard may need to be removed first to get a better view of the internal crank lever that lies partly bedded beneath the key bed. If the crank is not working or sliding the mech & keys to the right, then there may be problem with the lyre lift rod on the pedal lyre/ poorly adjusted.... or something may have jammed between the keybed & keyframe.

I would get a pro to look at it.

TIP: If you think a professional is expensive, just wait until a novice has had a go at it!!....

costs can vary depending on levels of 'bodge jobs' done - so I would go straight to the phone book - to save you money in the long run.

Might be something simple - but its best to get it checked out.

[Johnkie]

A few photos may give us a better idea of what may be going on. I seem to recall that on some eavestaff grands the soft pedal didn't slide the action .... it merely raised the hammers acting more like an upright half-blow.

[Palefire1969]

Thanks both! I'm having another look at it on Saturday, so I might take a few pretty pictures. It never occurred to me that it might work like an upright soft pedal. Cheers!

[Colin Nicholson]

When you said "on an old Eavestaff....." is it your piano? .... or have you just recently had it delivered? .... it just sounds as though you haven't had the piano long or may not own it. If just recently delivered, it is quite common for parts to go missing when the lyre is removed. Did the pedal work fine before, and now its stopped working? .... sometimes 'logistics' is the answer!

Problem is that often we only hear half a story. Pictures might help, but depends on how they are taken, and IF the offending part [missing?] is shown clearly - which you may not be aware of.... so perhaps get a tuner to look at it if its not obvious.