pedal adjustment question

Matt Perpick · From: Brooklyn, NY, USA

Hi all,

I recently lowered the height of my ABC pedals and my steel feels a lot more comfortable. But after tweaking this, my 1st and 6th strings aren't *quite* in sync anymore. When I press the A pedal down, for the very first part of the throw only the 1st string bends. As I keep pressing, I can feel the 6th string catch and start bending. This isn't ideal because (a) they are momentarily out of tune with each other and (b) it's harder to get a perfectly smooth bend.

Can anybody advise how to adjust the start and end points of the throw on each string?

The steel in question is a 2020 Mullen G2.

Thanks.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

First of all, we are talking about strings 10 and 5, not 6 and 1.

I am puzzled because changing the pedal height (presumably at the pedal rod connector) would have no bearing on the pull train action. So while the ways to address the speed and sync of the pulls can be discussed, I'm wondering what else is going on.

Approaching the sync of strings 10 & 5, as you describe it, the 5th string pull is currently more efficient and requires less of the pedal's motion to get from B to C# than the 10th which currently needs to start early and move the whole throw. So one approach would be to make the 10th string pull more efficient by moving the rod from its hole in the bellcrank to a hole farther away from the cross shaft as depicted in the pic. This will result in a sharp C# on string 10 and will necessitate backing off the nylon tuner. This will bring it into line with string 5.

Matt Perpick · From: Brooklyn, NY, USA

Thanks for your reply Jon. And yes, 10 and 5 obviously.

I agree that shouldn't change things. But I can't think of anything else that could have affected this. I'll think a bit more about it.

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

Did you just change the pedal rod length to adjust the pedal? This change should not have changed the 5-10 pulls timing.

If you changed holes on the bell crank or adjust the pull rods length. This could cause the problem you described.

If you done anything with the bell cranks or pull rods to make the adjustment, If you can move everything back, And get the pulls timed.
Then just use the pedal rod connector to adjust the pedal height. Would be the easiest fix.

Good Luck finding the problem, And a quick cure. Happy Steelin.

Matt Perpick · From: Brooklyn, NY, USA

Bobby, yes that's all I changed. I agree it shouldn't change the timing after inspecting the mechanism. So maybe something else is afoot. Or maybe it was never perfect and I'm just noticing this more now?

I did try some other holes on those rods, but I need some time to experiment with balancing both pulls, string tension, tuning, what holes, etc. I might put everything back and start again as you suggested. Or maybe I should just stick to lap steel Smile

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