Una-Corda Mystery

[Farrell]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
Oh man, you are about as close as you can get without being exactly =
correct. I think you are so warm here that if you were at the piano you =
would have it nailed within seconds. Dave, I think you need to get =
credit for solving the problem!

I thought of your suggestion and checked it out. It appeared that the =
shift lever poked up from the top of the keybed an appropriate height so =
that it should contact the keybed just fine. So it wasn't that it was =
too low.

So the next thing I tried was to pull the keyframe out toward the =
pianist an inch or two. When you had the keyframe out to the front edge =
of the keybed, everything worked just fine: push pedal down and keyframe =
slides over to the right in the normal manner.

Obviously, having the keyframe hanging off the front edge of the keybed =
is not too great - strikepoints and all that. So, the real trouble then =
was to figure out how to move the plate forward that inch or =
two.......... okay, just kidding.

I noticed that the hole that the una-corda lever goes through in the =
keybed was not round like most - it was oval and a couple inches long. I =
crawled under the piano again to see what was going on. And there I saw =
it. Of course, the una-corda lever is very close to the metal case for =
the player system under the keybed. I saw two abandoned screw holes and =
inch away from the screws that were holding the brackets for the =
una-corda lever in place.

Apparently the installer of the Pianomation player system moved the =
una-corda pedal an inch forward to clear the player system box. In that =
position, the lever does not engage the keyframe. And either the dude =
(or dudette) just forgot to try the pedal to see if it worked or took a =
shortcut and hoped the player wouldn't use the pedal.

So now she wants it fixed. My thought is to rout out a small area of =
partial thickness (maybe a quarter inch or so) on bottom of the middle =
board of the keyframe (the one that has the center rail mounted on it - =
the rear rail is already routed out for the place where the una-corda =
pedal used to engage the keyframe. Then install a hunk of hard maple =
that would run from the middle board to the rear board on the keyframe. =
Keep the maple hunk maybe a half-inch thick or so - keep it flush with =
the bottom of the other two keyframe boards (not too high, not too low). =
Position it correctly so that the una-corda lever will engage it, put a =
strip of leather on the correct edge, charge the owner a handsome but =
fair fee (couple hundred bucks), and then smile when she praises the =
wonderful job I did (and then smile again when I cash her check).

Or is there a better fix for this?

Terry Farrell

Off for my Saturday morning 60-mile hurricane bike ride! That long =
eastern leg should be fun with 30 mph winds out of the east predicted!
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Piannaman@aol.com=20


  A wild guess, based on a previous frustrating experience.

  The shift lever is not contacting with the keyframe at alll because =
the blocks that hold it in place on the bottom of the piano sit too far =
above (below, really) the surface to which they are attached, which puts =
the keyframe out of reach.  Installers of disc systems sometimes do =
funny things to get pedals out of the way of various contraptions down =
there.

  Dave S.

  In a message dated 8/26/05 6:07:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time, =
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com writes:

        Okay, here is my first (and likely lame) contribution to the =
daily mystery question.
        =20
        About 1980 Kawai KG-2S - about 5' 10" - very good to excellent =
condition. Lady bought it used one year ago (she paid $3,500 for it - =
perfect satin cherry case - she got a great deal!). During that first =
year she had a QRS Pianomation player system installed on the piano. We =
had set up a service appointment for cleaning the interior, tuning and =
looking at a "loose" pedal.
        =20
        The left (una-corda) pedal was just hanging down. I crawled =
under piano to check levers, etc. Everything with the una-corda under =
the keybed appeared to be functioning just fine. Adjustment appears good =
(in that, when the pedal travels down, the lever moves sideways in the =
keybed). However, when you depress the left pedal the action frame did =
not slide over to the right. The keyframe was resting on the left felted =
keyframe stop. The action slid in and out easily. It was as if the =
una-corda lever system was not hooked up to the action frame.
        =20
        What was the cause of the non-functioning una-corda pedal?
        =20
        (This is probably too easy - however, it did take me a good 10 =
or 15 minutes to fully figure it out.)
        =20
        Terry Farrell

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/31/7f/52/b8/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--