Pressure on Sustain Pedal on an Eighty Eight

[Tine-E]

Has anyone shared their experience on the tension of the sustain pedal of an Eighty Eight vis-a-vis on a Seventy Three.

I have a 1972 Eighty Eight where you almost need to use your heel to press on the sustain pedal when seated to get the damper rail up.

It is so much easier on my 1977 Seventy Three!

Is there a fix to ease this tension?

[The Real MC]

Sounds like a missing hinge pin on the sustain plate under the harp assembly.  The pins should be in the harp supports.

[Tine-E]

Are the hinge pins the 2 inch rods that hold up the rail on the solid wood blocks on either end of the harp? They're both intact.

[Ben Bove]

The 1972 sustain rail is of different design than the 77 - the '72 uses a center hinge pin with a screw in it, right in the middle of the bar.  What you might want to do, is lift the harp up and check this "T" screw to see if it's screwed down enough.  Careful on how much pressure on the screw you do when adjusting, if it shears the head of the screw off it's annoying to get the thing out and the sustain bar really won't work then until you fix it.

If the T screw is up a little too high, the pin it goes through will move around a bit - it should be secure without moving the dampers down any in rested position.  If the T screw is too loose, that means when the sustain dowel pushes up on the center of the rail, it'll bow slightly and not rotate as evenly.

The 1977 is a better reinforced design needing no center screw.  It's also always a help on your '72 to go around with silicon lube and hit all the contact points - the screw coming out of the speaker cabinet, the dowel where it contacts the sustain bar, and the 2 hinge pins on the side.  Could be as simple as that.

Technically I could see how a 73 would be slightly lighter than an 88 but not to the point of needing your heel

[Tine-E]

The 1972 sustain rail is of different design than the 77 - the '72 uses a center hinge pin with a screw in it, right in the middle of the bar.  What you might want to do, is lift the harp up and check this "T" screw to see if it's screwed down enough.  Careful on how much pressure on the screw you do when adjusting, if it shears the head of the screw off it's annoying to get the thing out and the sustain bar really won't work then until you fix it.

If the T screw is up a little too high, the pin it goes through will move around a bit - it should be secure without moving the dampers down any in rested position.  If the T screw is too loose, that means when the sustain dowel pushes up on the center of the rail, it'll bow slightly and not rotate as evenly.

The 1977 is a better reinforced design needing no center screw.  It's also always a help on your '72 to go around with silicon lube and hit all the contact points - the screw coming out of the speaker cabinet, the dowel where it contacts the sustain bar, and the 2 hinge pins on the side.  Could be as simple as that.

Technically I could see how a 73 would be slightly lighter than an 88 but not to the point of needing your heel

Thank you for the tip bjammerz.

I've actually adjusted that middle T-screw so that it sits well. No gap while depressing the sustain pedal.

But let me look closer into the overall mechanism and do the lube you suggest and see how this turns out.

I was all along thinking that because the 88 has a longer damper rail (with more dampers to push on, especially on the bass notes) the cumulative pressure of 88 dampers would push up the rail with more tension therefore causing more tension the pedal. At the moment pushing down on the pedal requires conscious effort. 

Will get back to you on this.

[Tine-E]

Thank you bjammerz, I've adjusted the T screw (which sort of acts like an 'escapement' adjustment for the damper rail); polished the 3 pin/rods (center & ends) from 41 years of oxidation; silicon lubed them and other contact points along the rail.

They all helped to greatly ease the pressure. Thanks again!

[Ben Bove]

Awesome great to hear!