Annoying click on B pedal

Dave Hepworth · From: West Yorkshire, UK

My PSG has developed an intermittent
" click " on the B pedal .It didn't alter the tuning and didn't seem to come from the changer end but was felt thro the pedal.
I tried slightly moving bell cranks around that area if it were rods snarling up....to no avail.So I swapped the B pedal rod for rod C and the problem went away.So I took a fine file to the " hook " of the B pedal rod and all seems well now.I wonder if it was a high point on the curve of the rod.Has anyone else had this problem ? The pedal rod hook connects to an actuation arm that is a thin vertical affair and I wonder if this has a " cutting " effect on the pedal rod ,creating a high point.Comments appreciated.

Tucker Jackson · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

This is a new one for me, but your theory makes sense. Looks like you figured it out.

If in addition to putting the C-pedal's good rod on B-... you did the full swap and put that offending rod on the C-pedal and it clicked there, it would have really nailed it down to being the rod. Maybe you did this? But filing out a groove and finding that fixed the issue is pretty convincing proof too. Smile

Brian Hollands · From: Geneva, FL USA

Yup. Fixed more or less the same way, a rat tail file.
Mine was on a Sho-bud.
_________________
'81 Sho-bud LDG, 2 EMCI's

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

Sounds like your guitar may be a MSA Classic, The pedal rod hole is in a very thin piece of metal. They will wear the pedal rod hook.

Happy steelin.

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

I've experienced the same with my MSA's over the decades. The rat tail file trick.
_________________
1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

Dave Hepworth · From: West Yorkshire, UK

Hi guys,
Thanks for the positive and confirmatory replies.So glad the file technique was the answer.FYI my steel is a Mullen RP SD10 3x5.

Tom Campbell · From: Houston, Texas, USA

I have a Mullen PRP that I am experiencing the same symptoms on the same pedal. I'll definitely will apply your remedy!!!

Larry Bressington · From: Nebraska

Also, Check that the ball socket is centered on the pedal rod when it sits in the pedal ball, if it's off center when you tighten the lock nut, it will click as the ball finds center when applying the pedal.
_________________
A.K.A Chappy.

Barry Yasika · From: Bethlehem, Pa.

The same thing happened to me. I couldn't find anything wrong with the rods. On an 2020 MSA all the rods are interchangeable so that was experimented with and rule out. I must have tried a million things because the "click' your talking about kept my pedal from making it all the way down to the stop without extra pressure. Hence leaving the note slightly flat. It's a touch instrument to play but when you're fighting with it just to get it to do what it was designed to do with little than normal effort it can really test and push your patience. I almost sold the dam thing over that.

The answer: I put the guitar upside down and pushed the pedal down over and over again very slowly. I found the the lever that extends or restricts the pedal travel had been lined up improperly at the factory or that it shifted. that meant only have the adjust screw actually hit the stop block. This cause some wear from the adjustment screw that would vary in the way it hit that block, causing my mysterious false stop or click. I loosened up the the stop block and moved it over so the screw would hit the block more precisely as designed. I also filed down the thread marks and my problem completely cleared up.

Partly and understandable as oversight at the MSA factory, or it may have shifted because it was not tightened down enough. Shipping a steel in a truck can cause all kinds of random vibrations. I took courses in Model Analysis so I know this for a fact. Anyway, I worked for me. I'm in meteorology or calibration and am use to paying very strict attention at the tiniest adjustment or setting which is what helped me identify my problem. I was pretty well hidden to I very methodically and meticulously went through every movement of that linkage system.

Good luck

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