| Author |
Topic: Pedal travel on adjacent pedals? Should it be the same? |
Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
|
Posted 27 Oct 2007 10:44 am |
|
I am a rank amateur with a new (to me) pedal steel. I have been reading the thread about Pedal Placement (all the same height vs. A-pedal a little higher, etc.)
Assuming that your starting pedal heights are where you like them, should adjacent pedals travel about the same when they bottom out? Asked another way, should they bottom out all at the same height?
I am asking because my B-pedal travels further (bottoms out lower) than the A-Pedal. Is that good, bad, a matter of preference or what. Are there pros/cons to relative height of bottomed-out adjacent pedals? |
|
|
 |
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 27 Oct 2007 10:57 am
|
|
Dale,I like having the B pedal bottom out more than the A pedal because I spend a lot of time rocking on the A pedal while holding the B pedal down.I think that the way you've got it set works.
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 27 Oct 2007 12:21 pm
|
|
| Quote: |
| ...my B-pedal travels further (bottoms out lower) than the A-Pedal. Is that good, bad, a matter of preference... |
Though much on this thing is just personal preference, I believe I can say that lots of players have more travel in the "A" pedal, the reason being that it's the primary "squeezing pedal" on E9th, and longer travel on this pedal makes that squeezing easier, along with making "half-pedaling" easier. |
|
|
|
Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
|
Posted 27 Oct 2007 12:25 pm
|
|
| I agree with Donny. I like the "A" pedal to have more travel than the "B" pedal. I have the "A" pedal set a bit higher than the "B" pedal, but they both bottom out at the same level. |
|
|
|
David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
|
Posted 27 Oct 2007 3:19 pm
|
|
Well, my thinking is that pedals should all bottom out at the same place. This is so that when you press two together you get both of them all the way down. If one hits bottom before the other, I tend to not get the lower one all the way down, and it plays out of tune. That being said, your lower leg swings in an arc below your knee, so the imaginary line where they bottom out needs to curve up slightly toward the outside of the instrument. On an Emmons setup that would have your A pedal (and your 0 pedal if you have one) bottoming out slightly higher than the B pedal. This makes it easier to rock onto the A pedal alone and clear the B pedal. The B and C pedal seem to work best for me when they bottom at the same place.
Timing them to travel the same distance is another issue. The A pedal must pull a whole-step from B to C#; whereas, the B pedal only pulls a half-step. Some people like to choose the slots in the bell cranks so that these two pedals travel the same distance. However, that can make the A pedal stiffer than the B pedal. Some people prefer to have them the same stiffness, with the A pedal having a longer throw. You can try both ways, or try for something in between. |
|
|
|
Don Brown, Sr.
From:
New Jersey
|
Posted 27 Oct 2007 9:22 pm
|
|
I agree with all on this one, simply because I believe it's a personal choice. Like anything else, some like it one way, while someone else prefers the feel another way.
Gosh! Can't believe I said that!
Guess I should have introduced myself first huh? OK, I'll do that later. I always was a little bit bass ackwards.
Besides, if I were to say I play a 37 year old, 8 & 4 G.E.S. I'd be showing my age too.  |
|
|
|
