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Topic: New to me Fender 400, looking for pointers. |
Will Gibson
From:
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Posted 14 Nov 2019 7:53 pm |
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Howdy folks- went from a Sho-Bud Maverick and used it as collateral to borrow a Fender Forrest White Lap Steel that I have been learning Don Helms and Leon McAuliffe tunes on. Well, today I traded the Maverick for this— and I still get to hold on to the White on loan!!
After posting on the Fender Pedal Steel facebook group I have gathered that this is a longscale model from either 1959 or 1960.
At first glance, I also assumed that it was not refinished, however now that I have set it up and taken stock of everything it looks to me like the Fender decal was sharpied over after the refin, and there is a spot near the bridge that it looks to me the original finish is still visible.
Also- a previous owner added a knee lever, I’m doing my best to figure out it’s action and how to connect it.... I’ll take some more detailed photos of it specifically. It looks like a previous owner added a roller but and roller bridge as well, which to my understanding were not stock on these models.
I haven’t tuned it up yet or plugged it in, but I’ve tested all the pedals to the best of my availability and everything works.
That being said, before I think about tuning it up and setting up a copedant, I’m assuming that I need to go through, clean, and lube everything. We also caught on the facebook group that the distance between the pickup and strings is too great. Any other advice, anecdotes, tips, etc will be greatly appreciated.
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Michael Sawyer
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 5:29 am
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They are alot of fun,I own 2.
Mine are both 4x1- however my copedant would be no help to you as I play in a C13 tuning...( at least that's what I call it)
How was your Maverick set up? |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 7:05 am
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| It's definitely an early model 400 (first generation). The guitar does appear to have been painted, and the roller bridge and nut could have been original...or could have added by a previous owner, depending on when the guitar was manufactured. Your guitar could have been manufactured as early as 1958, or as late as 1962. |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 7:10 am
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These were shipped I believe with an A6 tuning. If I am wrong someone please correct me.. however I think over time most evolved into a standard E9 tuning omitting the 1st string F# and 2nd string Eb of the 10 string E9 tuning... If it were mine I would use an E9 tuning WITH the chromatics, delete 7 sting D and 5 string F#, and then get those on a single lever ... 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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Will Gibson
From:
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 8:16 am
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| Michael Sawyer wrote: |
They are alot of fun,I own 2.
Mine are both 4x1- however my copedant would be no help to you as I play in a C13 tuning...( at least that's what I call it)
How was your Maverick set up? |
I would be interested to see that tuning. Although I'm getting this one all cleaned up and set up, I'm likely going to still be using it as a console steel for quite some time.
My Maverick was a 3x1, and I used E9, but embarrassingly I couldn't tell you the exact copedant. I bought it last August thinking that I would use Winnie Winston's book and get after it. I really struggled because my theory knowledge and understanding of the instrument itself really wasn't where it needed to be for me to be given 10 strings, 3 pedals, and a knee lever. After talking with Chris Scruggs on instagram I decided to trade (so I thought) the Maverick for the aforementioned lap steel which I've been learning in E13 and A6. I spent enough time on it, that I felt like buying the 400 would be a good step that would give me 8 strings to use without pedals, and then as I keep going, reincorporating pedals into my playing. |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 9:06 am
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Depending on what kind of music you're wanting to play, setting up the guitar in A6 or E13 might not be a bad idea to keep things familiar. You can try different pedal arrangements and add them to your playing, or still be able to play it like a straight steel. It's so easy to change copedents on the Fenders.
My 1000 is set up with C6 and F13 with pedals working both necks (I don't have a knee lever). They're both great (though I'm getting more and more fond of the F13 neck--the higher pitch sounds great with the Fender pickups). I used to have E9 on one neck, but found that I didn't really like it as an E9 guitar that much and I had a 10 string E9 guitar already.
Dave |
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Michael Sawyer
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 9:21 am
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I will be glad to post my copedant, as soon as I can figure out a way that it copies to the post the way I typed it...🤔
Last edited by Michael Sawyer on 15 Nov 2019 9:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Will Gibson
From:
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 9:21 am
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| David Ball wrote: |
Depending on what kind of music you're wanting to play, setting up the guitar in A6 or E13 might not be a bad idea to keep things familiar. You can try different pedal arrangements and add them to your playing, or still be able to play it like a straight steel. It's so easy to change copedents on the Fenders.
My 1000 is set up with C6 and F13 with pedals working both necks (I don't have a knee lever). They're both great (though I'm getting more and more fond of the F13 neck--the higher pitch sounds great with the Fender pickups). I used to have E9 on one neck, but found that I didn't really like it as an E9 guitar that much and I had a 10 string E9 guitar already.
Dave |
Early Hank Williams-style Country & Western like Don Helms' stuff, and Western Swing specifically Leon McAuliffe, Bobby Koefer, and Herb Remington....
Plus Sneeky Pete FBB style Country Rock (one of the reasons I wanted a 400 since before I even bought the Maverick)
Pretty drastically different styles between those two, but I know the copedant that Sneeky favored was B6, which I'm can't be very different from those old Western Swing tunings..... In my mind, using E13 or A6 on the 400 would allow me to still do the Sneeky Pete-influenced stuff with the right copedant. |
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Michael Sawyer
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 15 Nov 2019 9:43 am C13 copedant
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Bb( high)
G
E
C
G
E
C
A
P1 - raises Bb to B,drops high C to B
P2 - raises E's to F
P3 - raises G's to A
P4 - raises C's to D
Left knee lever lowers E's to D |
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Mark Perrodin
From:
Tucson Arizona, USA
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Posted 18 Nov 2019 6:12 pm fender
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i really like sneaky pete's B6. you have a total of 5 changes so you
can do a lot of what he did. sneaky's first 3 pedals would work and
you can use pedal 7 as your knee lever.your pedal 4 could be sneaky's pedal 8. tons of music from that set up. |
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Will Gibson
From:
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Posted 20 Nov 2019 9:36 pm Re: fender
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| Mark Perrodin wrote: |
i really like sneaky pete's B6. you have a total of 5 changes so you
can do a lot of what he did. sneaky's first 3 pedals would work and
you can use pedal 7 as your knee lever.your pedal 4 could be sneaky's pedal 8. tons of music from that set up. |
I'm currently setting it up with the four pedals being 1,2,3,7, and then the knee lever will lower the 1st string a whole note. Finished reassembling it today after a deep cleaning and subsequent lubrication. Gonna get the last few strings that I'm missing for his gauges tomorrow, and then I just need to replace a few hog rings and I should be able to tune it up and start playing.
_________________
1955 Forrest White Model Fender Lap Steel, Fender 400 Pedal Steel. |
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Mark Perrodin
From:
Tucson Arizona, USA
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Posted 5 Dec 2019 1:19 pm
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| glad to hear you're setting up your guitar with 1,2,3,7. you are going to use 2,3 and 7 a lot. you'll be squeezing that 7 pedal all day long. it's a great, completely musical and usable tuning. i sit down to play my b6 400 every day. |
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Mark Perrodin
From:
Tucson Arizona, USA
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Posted 6 Dec 2019 6:51 am
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| by the way, lowering your 1st string a whole step gives you the same note as using pedal 7. was thinking about adding a knee lever to add that same change and also drop string 6 a half step. haven't decided yet. |
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