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Topic: X Factor on your steel |
Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2019 11:58 am |
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Tame your pedal steel with 1/8 inch rods an two turn buckles.
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2019 5:16 pm
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| Johnny, did you find an advantage in doing this? I understand the support factors involved but is it necessary? |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 28 Mar 2019 7:03 pm
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Larry it’s nothing to write home about but it gives you a rock solid feel when you use
Your knee levers aggressively.
No jiggle or wiggle! |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2019 3:30 am
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Interesting concept actually.. Personally I and most other steel players I have seen are not mashers that move the guitar all over the places.. After a while you can feel the guitar well enough to know how hard it need to be played.. Howver there are some guys that are very active and have problems with the guitar moving, swaying, walking.. We are all different in our physical movements.. I can see a setup such as this solidifying a pedal steel against the onslaughts of a "masher" type player.. It does ruin the good looks of that very nice guitar however... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2019 6:15 am
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Thanks Bob I agree it hurts the clean open look of this steel.
.But for a lot of players who never play out, but do enjoy playing at home I can see this as a improvement. |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2019 6:28 am
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Thanks Bob I agree it hurts the clean open look of this steel.
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2019 8:21 am
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The early Sierra guitars were mounted on a stand that resembled those for a Singer sewing machine. And I believe they had some cross braces.
Erv |
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Jon Voth
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 29 Mar 2019 6:34 pm
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Thanks for starting this issue, I have always wanted to ask the forum if the side to side rocking bothers players.
I play, maybe heavy on the knees because I am new, and have thought of this.
In my mind I would drill into the legs and install braces within the legs.
I dunno, looks bad but might feel better. Most of my playing is at home on carpet. |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 30 Mar 2019 8:14 am
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You don’t need to drill legs,
Actually the turn buckle on mine goes over bolt that the wing nut
use to attach pedal board.
At your gig to use the x brace takes about the same time as attaching your pedal rods. |
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Mitch Ellis
From:
Collins, Mississippi USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2019 4:23 pm
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The problem of the steel guitar moving from side to side has a very simple fix. It's not in bracing the legs, but in the angle of the legs. Standing 10 feet from the side of your steel, (in other words, facing the endplate) look at the angle of the legs. The front legs contact the floor at a forward angle from the cabinet, and the rear legs at a backward angle from the cabinet. This angle braces the steel against forward and backward motion. Now, standing 10 feet from the front or back of the steel, look at the legs. They go from the cabinet, straight down to the floor. If they were angled outward from the endplate, as they are from the front and rear of the cabinet, this angle would brace the steel against side-to-side motion. Again, in other words, each leg would contact the floor about 2 inches outward from where it does now. All the builder would have to do is drill the leg holes in the endplate at a different angle, lenghten the legs just a little, lengthen the pedal board, and cut the notch at the end of the pedal board at a slight angle to accommodate the angle of the legs.
Mitch |
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Johnie King
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 31 Mar 2019 5:06 pm
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Good point Mitch another words a compound angle
My sons Jackson 12 string steel has a compound angle on the two back legs An this makes it very steady an roomie for getting under to play an exit. On a short Keyless
Steel the double compound would really work nice. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 1 Apr 2019 6:55 am
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If the front legs angled out, you'd need to come up with a new way of fastening the pedal bar.
Erv |
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Tommy Mc
From:
Middlesex VT
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Posted 1 Apr 2019 7:55 am
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| Johnie King wrote: |
Thanks Bob I agree it hurts the clean open look of this steel.
.But for a lot of players who never play out, but do enjoy playing at home I can see this as a improvement. |
My first steel was a very wobbly student model....I think it was a USA Little Buddy or something like that. Anyway, rather than cross-braces, I made a very tall pedal bar (maybe 8"-10" or so) which screwed on in 2 locations on each leg. While not as solid as your cross braces, it did stiffen it up considerably. As the pedal bar was made of formica, and I was working in a formica shop at the time, I was able to match the color. Of course, the Little Buddy didn't have adjustable legs which would complicate a taller pedal bar. |
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Steve Spitz
From:
New Orleans, LA, USA
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Posted 1 Apr 2019 4:16 pm
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Good point both Mitch and Erv.
I had a keyless guitar, raised an inch, and four pulls on RKR.
Being taller and more compact, combined with the extra heft to pull four strings made the guitar dance a bit. Johnnys X brace may have helped, as would Mitch’s idea.
Another concern with Mitch’s idea , you’ve also increased your footprint, your steel now needs a bit more room. I like the idea, but I’ve played / play on some really tight bandstands.
Think of the leg angles on a string master. The trajectory is more like what Mitch suggests, which really makes sense if you play standing up. |
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Mitch Ellis
From:
Collins, Mississippi USA
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Posted 1 Apr 2019 4:39 pm
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| Erv Niehaus wrote: |
If the front legs angled out, you'd need to come up with a new way of fastening the pedal bar.
Erv |
Erv, read the last sentence of my first post. A longer pedal board/bar with the notch in the ends (the notch that the legs set in) cut at an angle that would accommodate the angle of the legs is all it would take.
Mitch |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 2 Apr 2019 7:44 am
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Mitch,
So much for speed reading. 
Erv |
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Andy DePaule
From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
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Posted 2 Apr 2019 4:15 pm Chuck Wright
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Chuck Wright did that on some of his Sierra PSG's in the early 60's.
These ones had Tom Bradshaw's Z Rack.
Vance Terry. And you thought ten pedals were a lot?;
Good ideas have a way of coming back....
_________________
Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project. |
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