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Topic: Sho Bud changer springs |
Criss Mills
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 28 Sep 2008 6:46 am |
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I am going to start a new topic here but really it is related to the Sho Bud changer I have been working on.
This is a 70's Super Pro Sho Bud D10 with Aluminum necks. When I got it the springs that helped the raise levers were on strings 10, 8, 7, 5, 3, 1 (the springs on 1 and 7 must help the G lever but I rarely use it). I am wondering 3 things.
1. They seem to have little to no tension on them when pedals and levers are not depressed. How can they help if they are not tensioned? How tight should they be?
2. Are they on the right strings? Some have suggested that it is not good to have them on the strings that raise and lower.
3. Pedal C has always been stiffer than A and B. Is this usual? Seems the logic would be off if I added a spring to string 4 to help C.
Thanks
Criss Mills |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 28 Sep 2008 12:59 pm Re: Sho Bud changer springs
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| Criss Mills wrote: |
1. They seem to have little to no tension on them when pedals and levers are not depressed. How can they help if they are not tensioned? |
Loose springs won't help. But on the bright side, they won't hurt either.
| Criss Mills wrote: |
Some have suggested that it is not good to have them on the strings that raise and lower.
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If a spring is too tight, it will interfere with lowering. That is, as you lower, the spring will pull the raise bar up.
So it is difficult to set exactly the right tension that will assist a raise but not interfere with lowering. IMO Zum has the best solution, which uses a slotted bracket and wire ties to make the adjustment easy, in this inaccessible part of the guitar.
Here is a similar system (actually on a partially disassembled Sho-Bud)
In my experience, if you both raise and lower a string, the raise assist spring must be kept so slack that there is little or no benefit. So I rarely use them there.
On the other hand, if you don't lower the high G# string, you can probably put a stiff spring on it and get some real relief on the feel of the B pedal.
Here is the hillbilly way I did it on my Sho-Bud, and it actually works well:
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Criss Mills
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2008 6:24 am springs and pedals
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Earnest,
Thanks for the info. That makes a lot of sense. The Zum method seems very flexible. I could not make it out to well from the picture of your sho-bud ( The lower part of the picture did not show up on the screen if it was in that part)....but it seemed like you had just pushed the spring down in between the coils on to the catch bar to shorten it up. If this is what I am seeing, I can understand the ease of tightening it by increments.. but a little confused about what keeps it from coming off the bar.
One other issue now that I have mine re-assembled. ....The C pedal rods must not be in the correct place because I cannot get enough travel to pull the E to an F#. Wonder what gives here? Must be something simple I am missing.
Criss Mills |
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Criss Mills
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2008 6:27 am
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Earnest,
I looked again and maybe what you are showing is a piece of wire tied to the end of the spring and attached to the hole in the catch bar?
Criss Mills |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2008 2:37 pm
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OK, here is a better picture of my hillbilly raise assist spring on the 3rd string of a Sho-Bud.
In the picture, I'm pulling another rod out of the way so you can see it better. There is a bracket just to the left of my big finger that would hold one end of the raise assist springs that you saw on your guitar. They are short, limp, unadjustable, and useless. It looks like there is one lying there unhooked.
A simple collar would work as well as that fancy tunable brass thing on the right end of the rod, since you only need to make coarse adjustments.
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Criss Mills
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 2 Oct 2008 10:15 am spring adjustment
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I think I have got it now. Thanks for the new picture. Looks like you attached it to the end of a rod that you could adjust to pull on the string. Very clever. I made some crude attempts on mine after your first message and it seemed to help. Not very satisfactory though for making changes. Your system offers new possibilities.
I think I am not going to be satisfied until the pedals and levers work with the same ease as my MSA. I want this steel to work as it has a great sound and it seems like it could be adjusted until it does... but am I expecting it to do something only more modern steel designs can do? |
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