Fender 400 Modifications Finished

Russ Tkac · Posted 10 Jun 2006 5:24 pm

I got an old Fender 400 last year. It came with six pedals and was a bit tired looking but all there.

I started collecting the parts I needed from the forum and eBay and ended up with more than I needed. So, I bought some parts, sold some parts and gave some to friends. The end result is a very nice playing guitar with great tone. In total I added three pedals and the roller nut and bridge upgrades. I bought some cable from Lowes and modified the cables for pedals 8 and 9.

This is the setup I'm using.

It goes good with my sunburst!

Russ

[This message was edited by Russ Tkac on 10 June 2006 at 06:29 PM.]

Fred Shannon · From: Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas, R.I.P.

Nice job Russ, and thanks for the help and advice for my next attempt.

Anyone having a roller nut and new type bridge for a 400, I NEED 'EM BADLY!!!
pHRED

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

Russ Tkac · Posted 11 Jun 2006 12:53 pm

Fred,

That six pedal you picked up a while back would do nicely for an upgrade. It looked very much like mine.

Russ

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

Russ-Looks good. Good setup too...al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Nice job Russ!

I got my 1000 runing pretty well now (the 400 is like a new guitar the way it's dialed-in) - need sopme spring changes and knee levers, but most of the rest is on the money.

We've got all sorts of Fender parts news about to break, so stay tuned guys - several sources are planning on giving a shot at manufacturing of some of the harder-to-find goodies, like pulleys, roller bridges etc. We now have a rod and rod-end source for older models (but not rod-ends for newer ones yet); tuners, legs and pedals are still hard to come by - but the other mechanical stuff, which is the most needed, is getting there.

Fred Shannon · From: Rocking "S" Ranch, Comancheria, Texas, R.I.P.

Russ, you're so right on the axe I bought recently. Same color, but has the old style changer and nut. (i've already got the pedals and cables set for 8 pedals). Thinking very seriously about adding at least 3 knees. But am still up in the air about that. I don't want to do anymore until I upgrade the changer and nut. May have to back off it if I don't find them.
Phred

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

Roger Edgington · From: San Antonio, Texas USA

That's cool Russ. My first pedal steel was a blond 6 pedal 400 just like yours'. I traded it for a 1000 with the stainless front.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Fred - why would you want to swap out the changer? IMO the older style works great, and with either a roller bridge or the little rocking "shims" that were made for me there's not much of a friction issue (the nut is far less critical IMO - in fact, I think a solid nut probably adds to the sustain).

I'd just wait until the roller bridges are available, which should be soon hopefully. Then slap on your knee levers and let 'er rip. FWIW My 1000 has one neck tuned to E9 and the strings finally went kinda dead a couple of times from playing it - never have broken a 3rd string with that rocking-shim assembly - and all I know how to do in that tuning is pedal-mash, so that poor .011 is taking a beating with no breakage.

I've got the 4-knee setup, but using pedals until I can afford to have some knee levers made. 1-3 are normal Emmons, 4 is the PF pedal on strings 5 and 6, and 5-8 are the "knee" levers.

Works pretty well. Still trying to get used to the fact that I have tab and lesson materials with 6 or 7 different naming systems and arrangements for the knee levers, and that's without the "feel" stop on the second string (I just drop to D).

When I get completely baffled I go back to the B6 9/2 400 which seems to make much more sense to me.

Roger Edgington · From: San Antonio, Texas USA

Russ,it's possible that is my old steel as I traded it to a guitar player in northern Ohio in the early 60s. Normally the 400 only had 4 pedals.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Actually the 400 had any number of pedals, up to 8...although 9 or 10 have been added with the right main pulley. But from the factory 4 and 6 pedal guitars were common, 8 less so.

Russ Tkac · Posted 11 Jun 2006 3:33 pm

Roger,

I got the 400 from Texas. I'll keep a look out for yours though.

Russ

Russ Tkac · Posted 12 Jun 2006 8:22 am

Thanks Al! If you like the setup is HAS to be OK!

Russ

Russ Tkac · Posted 13 Jun 2006 5:50 am

Here is Roger and his 400 in the early 60's. He looks like a real pro to me.

Russ

[This message was edited by Russ Tkac on 13 June 2006 at 06:50 AM.]

Roger Edgington · From: San Antonio, Texas USA

Russ,
Thanks for posting my picture. This is also where Connie Smith got her start when Bill Anderson came along with "Once a Day". One season, Jimmy Crawford played steel and I played bass. Most of the time the main steeler was the late Deacon Morris of Columbus, O. on a steel he built himself. It was rare to see anything besides a Fender or Sho-Bud in those days.
Roger

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