A Quiet Steel Guitar

Mark Edwards · From: Weatherford,Texas, USA

It has come to my attention that some steelers out there will go to any lengths to ensure that their knee levers, pedals etc... make no unnecessary noise. From my own experience every steel I have ever sit down behind has made some form of noise when activating the knee levers/pedals. I know of a few folks out there that will tweak and peek their knee levers/pedals with rubber/plastic grommets, utilize different types of lubricants, tighten, loosen whatever it takes to make their steels less noisy.

I'm under the opinion that knee levers/pedals will alway make a certain amount of racket, and as long as it does not interfere with or override the music, tone etc... I'll leave it alone. I'm sure this is just personal preference, but how many of ya'll out there go the extra mile to ensure that there is no noise coming from you steel. Other than the acceptable levels that knee levers/pedals will make?

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

... and... <i>what is the best way you've found to stop all that clatter??</i>

Bill Miller · From: Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

My Carter is very quiet mechanically but it does produce one noise that I could do without. When I punch the 'C' pedal the 'A' pedal, being disengaged, will bounce and make a clatter. It's not a huge problem but I haven't found a solution to it. I did cut a little foam rubber insert to put between the pedal bar and the top of the 'A' pedal to try and limit it's upward travel, but that didn't work. You'd need just enough downward pressure to prevent bounce without exerting enough force to partially engage the 'A' pedal.

Mark Edwards · From: Weatherford,Texas, USA

Jim my steel makes a certain amount of clatter, but I don't think it is anything that is not heard in the majority of steels. It does not interfere with the music or my steel, I just live with it.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

My two Emmons are fine in this regard (or, at least, acceptably quiet), but I had three ZBs and what a din came from those undercarriages! The noise would transmit to the pick-ups and out of the amp, too!

They were pretty guitars, but I don't miss that particular characteristic.

RR

Robbie Daniels · From: Casper, Wyoming, USA

One way I get around the A B C combination is I raise the 4th string to F# on my knee lever. I never have to release the A pedal. Just easier for me and you can also get the Franklin pedal in reverse.
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Carter D12, MSA S12, 12 String Custom Made Non-Pedal, Evans FET 500LV, Evans SE200, Peavey Nashville 400, Fender Steel King

John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

Bill,
A spring, attached to the cross shaft where your "A" pedal rod attaches, should keep the whole assembly from lowering by itself. Also, there might be a little binding of the pull rods of the A and C pedal. Both pedals pull the B string to C# independantly, but, a lot of manufacturers will run their rods on top or in close proximity since they're pulling from the same changer finger. Any inherent friction might cause the A pedal to drop slightly and cause a noise because it's not being tensioned. I have a U-12 ZumSteel and my 6 pedal would drop down and stay there until I released the flatted E knee lever. I talked to Bruce Zumsteg about it and he sent me a spring to mount to the cross shaft and it solved the problem. It really wasn't a sound problem. I just didn't like the pedal lowering and staying there all by itself. You might want to call the builder and see what they can offer. I'm sure it can be remedied.

richard burton · From: Britain

Another reason for the A pedal clatter could be the thread on the (A) pull rod (where the nylon tuner screws on) catching on the fifth finger, when it is being raised suddenly by the C pedal.

Bill Miller · From: Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

John, Richard, thanks for the info. I'm going to check into it more closely. I do know that the noise is coming from the 'A' pedal itself. I've gotten down on the floor and repeatedly engaged the 'C' pedal by itself and and if I give it a quick punch the 'A' pedal flips up and then clatters when it returns to rest. It does seem like there may a bit of binding in the pullrods since the 'A' rod has to be moving along with the 'C' rod or the 'A' pedal wouldn't budge...right? I keep everything well lubed under there but I'll try and see if I can isolate the source.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

good advice above..

on my steel it is barely noticeable...especially using two amps at very HI volume Smile

good luck..

t

Bill Miller · From: Gaspe, Quebec, Canada

Tony...that's the thing eh? It really isn't noticeable in a performing situation at all...which must be why I've had the guitar about 3 years and never took the time to resolve the issue. But from time to time when I'm practicing quietly it starts me thinking about getting under the hood.
Now my old Sho-Bud Professional made enough racket that the singer used to find it distracting.

Stan Paxton · Posted 25 Jan 2007 5:23 pm

I never had the "A" pedal problem, but the pull rods under my Mullen created quite a bit of clatter against each other. I took a 3" wide strip of thin foam with plastic backing (flooring underlayment) and threaded it thru the spaces between most of the rods. Stopped over 50% of the clatter, and doesn't creat any bind on the rods.......
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Mullen Lacquer SD 10, 3 & 5; Mullen Mica S 10 1/2 pad, 3 & 5; BJS Bars; LTD400, Nashville 112, DD-3, RV-3, Hilton VP . -- Gold Tone PBS sq neck; Wechter Scheerhorn sq neck. -- "Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone." -anon.-

John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

I think there's some inherent noise from every steel, because of all the mechanical aspects. You can learn to live with it or not. I have found though, if you're recording in a studio, noise is a major detractor. Especially if you're system is being miked with your favorite amp. You won't pick up the noise, generally, with a fast tune, but, if you're playing some nice slow, silky backup, inadvertant noises can get through. Going direct to the board will omit this comepletely, but, a lot of us like to use our own set ups and distracting noises can be a nuisance. I would definitely try to locate and fix the problem, but, that's me. Single coils and hum are another problem, but, that's another story in itself. JMHO.

Dave Van Allen · From: Doylestown, PA , US , Earth

If you listen closely to "Slowly" by Webb Pierce/Bud Isaacs.. you can hear the clunk of the Bigsby's pedal mechanism as Bud plays the signature riffs...

It's part of our Heritage guys! Very Happy

"live it, or live with it!"

Gary Carriger · From: Victoria, Texas

I'm with Tony....it's not a problem on the bandstand.
Gary

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

On my new MSA Legend, both ends of the pedal rods attach with ball joint connectors and it produces almost no mechanical noise when played.
JE:-)>
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Emmons D10PP 8/4 -75'
Emmons S-10PP 3/4 - 79'
Emmons S-12PP 3/4 -78'
MSA Legend SD12 5/5 -06'
Mullen S-12 4/5 - 1986
Nashville 112 x2 W/Knob Guards - Don't leave home with out one!
Walker SS rack system - 12"BW's
Quilter Steelaire Combo

Jerry Heath · From: Harrah, Oklahoma, USA

My pull rods on my Sierra are inside of heat shrink tubing. This is an innovative way to keep the pull rod clatter down and can be implemented on most guitars.
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Jerry Heath
Sierra Sessions U-12
MSA Vintage XL U-12
Nashville 400
Sessions 400
Profex II
Pod XT
Hilton Volume Pedal

Mark Edwards · From: Weatherford,Texas, USA

Great idea Jerry, I bet that does cut down on some of the noise.

Robert Leaman · From: Murphy, North Carolina, USA

My Sierra Session D10 8+7 was from the beginning, and still is the quietest pedal steel that I have owned. An Emmons D10, bolt-on, push-pull made the most noise and it was offensive.

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