I have a 5'4" 1923 Fischer Ampico A grand piano.  This is an early A
with upside down valves.  The piano was completely rebuilt in the late
1980s.

When the soft pedal engages, all of the keybed drops except for the
last 21 notes on the treble.  These never drop, the divide is sharp
and always in the same place.  I remember the rebuilder saying that
this was how the soft pedal was supposed to be set on this piano.
I have another friend who says that on his late 5'4" Knabe A that his
entire keyboard dips.

Is there a reason why it is different on these two instruments?  This
may be a dumb question but the guy who rebuilt my A passed on quite
a few years ago.  He probably knew Ampico better than anyone in the
Twin Cities area.  Actually, he was the rebuilder on both pianos.
I know that the late A has things like lost motion compensator, etc.,
that the early pianos did not have.  Thank you for any opinions or
knowledge on this one.

It might have been just a "Gene-ism" but I specifically remember him
saying that the upside down valves were more difficult to rebuild but
if they were properly done, they actually would play better.  Again,
that was probably an "opinion" on his part to compensate for the cost
of the rebuild.  He really knew Ampico and he could set mine to get
absolutely amazingly subtle nuances and overall performances out of
this piano.

Randy Hammond