Do I need to lower my guitar?

Jim Williams · From: Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!

I have tried 3 different pedal steels recently and they all seem too tall for me. Currently I have a Carter Starter.

I have a fully adjustable keyboard bench that will probably go anywhere from around 18 inches to 24 inches tall.

I am 5 feet 6 1/4 inches tall. When I'm seated the distance from the floor to the top of my knee is 21 inches.

Regardless where I set the seat height, I can barely reach the levers if at all, or get in a comfortable position. I think I could learn to play this thing if I can get in the right position.

I am considering checking with a local machine shop to take an inch off the legs. I notice that a 1 inch lower kit only has two legs in it. Why would this be? Do I need to shorten all 4 legs or just two?
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GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

I'm five foot seven... and a quarter Embarassed

, so I feel your pain on the lever factor.
FYI, if you cut the legs down, you will also have to cut the pedal rods down... I wouldn't do it, as it reduces resale value.
Rather than changing the leg length, I would suggest making the levers longer.
Some guys slide some plastic tubing over the levers, making them longer.
You can measure the knee lever width and get some PVC tubing, or some other type of tubing with the same inner-diameter, from the hardware store, and slide it over the lever making it longer (if the tubing is bigger than the lever you can use some foam to take up the space and hold the lever in place).
Another thing I have seen done is you could also get a hose-clamp from the hardware store to attach a longer piece of wooden dowel or a piece of wooden/plastic/metal trim to the existing lever.
One local truck driver, who is no longer with us, broke a lever on a gig one night, went out to his truck and got a hose clamp, went into the diner side of the establishment and grabbed a butter-knife, and his knee lever was fixed in a matter of minutes, and he used it that way "'til the day he died" Whoa!

!
You're going to want to sell the Starter at some point so take care not to scratch up the levers when/if you do this (maybe use a piece of scrap material between the lever and the hose clamp).

Jim Williams · From: Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!

Thanks Pete, I have put some lever extensions on using some wooden dowel, temporarily with some tie wraps, and cut them where I could actually slide them up or down a bit. This did help, but I just dont seem to get in a position that the levers are easily accessible along with the pedals. It would be a great help if the levers were adjustable side to side, but they are not on this guitar. I've thought of having a machinist friend of mine fabricate me some new levers with an adjuster screw to allow adjustable spacing on the levers, and this would probably be preferable to lowering the guitar. The levers on this guitar are basically just 1/2 " L material, so it should be fairly easy to rig something up.
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GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.

Carl Kilmer · From: East Central, Illinois

I take all 4 legs and the pedal rods to a machine shop,
and he shortens all of them 1" and rethreads the rods.
His work has always been fantastic and I only paid $40.
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aka "Lucky Kay"--Custom built Rittenberry SD10 3X5, Walker S/S, NV-112, and Hilton Pedal

Dale Rivard · From: Ontario, Canada

Hi Jim, I have a pro model Carter and I only had the front legs shortened by 1 inch. The rear legs have enough adjustment in them to shorten by 1 inch. I'm about 5ft 6in and have trouble playing a standard height guitar. My legs are also fairly short from my knee to my foot. I play an Emmon's pedal and knee lever setup so I comfortably want to be able to engage both A & B pedals with the LKR without lifting the heel on my left foot. I also had my pac a seat shortened by 2 inches. This keeps the part of my legs from the hip to the knee parallel to the floor, allows me to use any pedal and knee lever combination comfortably and keeps my forearms parallel to the strings(guitar). Everyone's body shape is different so experiment with different seat and guitar heights until you find what works for you. Good luck!

Jim Williams · From: Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!

Thanks Dale, I want to look at it further, but I don't think the legs are adjustable on the starter to that extent.

I also went home at lunch today and tried setting the seat at about 21 inches as someone had suggested on an earlier thread and experimenting with sitting positions in regard to being further to the right...it seemed to help a lot, so I might be able to avoid cutting the legs.

I would really prefer not to shorten it if I can get used to it like it is as I probably will wind up selling it at some point, and shortening it will most likely reduce the number of potential buyers.
_________________
GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.

Jim Williams · From: Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!

Ok, got a height that I can play at with this keyboard stool, but now my back is killing me after an hour or so??
_________________
GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.

Bill Davison · From: Just far enough away from Seattle, WA, USA

I just got a Carter Starter and have the same problem with the knee levers. I was looking at it and all the levers are is a 1/2" aluminum angle that can be purchased at any hardware store. I'm going to cut the angles at a longer length, drill a hole at the top for the bolt and keep the originals for when I ever sell it. This should be a simple fix.

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