Pedal Adjustments?

Tim Kowalski · From: Illinois, USA

On my MSA I am having some trouble rocking to my A pedal and getting completely off of the B without moving my LKL a little. (like C to Em) Should I look at adjusting one of the pedals, or do something with the knee? Right now the pedals are all even when up or down.
I have tried moving my seat a little right or left which does not seem to help.
Where should I start?
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Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

You might try raising your "A" pedal a little bit higher than your "B" pedal. That's what I have done for years. My ankle just doesn't bend far enough to allow me to use just the "A" pedal without either hitting the "B" pedal or the knee-lever.

Lee

Don Brown, Sr. · From: New Jersey

Jeff, not seeing in person, it's pretty hard to say, but for whatever it's worth, try moving your seating position all the way over to the right. The center of my seat is approximately at the 14th or 15th fret. See if that helps first.

Second, would be to not adjust anything that would or could change the tuning, so to speak, but see if you have adjustable knee levers, to where you can simply adjust the ANGLE of the LKL knee lever a little farther away from your leg. That might give you enough room so you don't move it, while rocking to your A pedal.

I like having my A pedal, a bit higher than the B pedal, when they're both depressed. Others may not.
It depends on the guitar, whether or not you can simply shorten the pedal rod to make that happen, without disturbing the pull itself, without any other reajustments needed.

Hope that helps,
Don

David Doggett · Posted 5 Dec 2008 5:45 pm

You may have to adjust both the pedal and the lever. As others have said above, most people (with Emmons setup) have their A pedal a little higher than the B pedal when they bottom out (where they are in the pedals up position is not really important). And the angle of the knee lever should be adjustable. You have to reach a compromise - you want the levers close to the knee, so you can hit them quickly; but you don't want them so close you inadvertently push them when you are working the pedals alone. It's all a balancing act and requires some experimentation to get the ergonomics just right for yourself.

Ronnie Boettcher · From: Brunswick Ohio, USA

Try doing what the others said about just adjusting the LKL. Raising the A pedal a few turns, will not alter the tuning, because you still have the same travel from stop to stop. Now if you adjust the LKL to the left a little, you should adjust the LKR to the left the same amount, so the knee spacing remains the same. If you still do mot have the clearance you need, it is not hard to move the whole LKL, LKR assembly to the left. Remember every player has different size legs, feet, and thighs, and the bones in everyone do not have the same movement. As I got older this happened to me, and I had to move my knee levers left almost 2 inches, so I could rock the A pedal, and the LKL, without moving the B pedal. Everyone is different, so adjust your guitar to fit you.
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John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I have the (A)-pedal level with the floor, when in the up position. Then, with the (A)-pedal depressed, I have my depressed (B)-pedal slightly lower and with the (B) & (C)-pedals depressed, I have them set even and then (B) & (C) pedals up, take care of themselves! And my LKL is set far enough to the left so as not to interfer. In fact, I have 2-LKL's, 1-LKV and 1-LKR. My first concern is clearing the (B)-pedal when rocking (A) & (B), and next concern is the LKL's, then LKV and finally the LKR.
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richard burton · From: Britain

On my steels, to overcome this problem, I reduce the pedal travel.
This makes a for a useful reduction in the amount of 'knee movement' when rocking off one pedal (whilst keeping the adjacent pedal pressed).

Of course, with reducing the pedal travel, more pressure is required to press the pedal, so I use helper springs to 'do the work for me' Very Happy

THIS VIDEO is the only one I can find that shows my leg/knee lever movement whilst rocking off the 'A' pedal (I play CBA), so I raise my E's on my LKR, and lower them on my LKL

Joseph Barcus · From: Volga West Virginia

if all else fails you could grind the left corner of the pedal at a ankle, ive seen alot of players do that.
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Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Along with proper adjustments, your knee should be able to stay in one place. Try holding your knee with both hands so it can't move. Work the pedals normally and HOLD THAT KNEE STILL. It can be done. I have my left knee levers fairly close to my knees and I can play 4 pedals without my knee swinging and hitting the levers. Maybe 5 to 15 minutes a day or two will help greatly. It teaches you to play the pedals with your ankle instead of the whole leg. Muscle training and muscle memory is the key.

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