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Topic: Portland, Oregon Pedal Steel Repair?Edit: Fixing. Thanks. |
Ben Cartwright
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 7:54 pm |
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Howdy,
One of my changer fingers is stuck and my B pedal won't raise or lower the 3rd g string. I have no idea how to fix it and I have a show one sat. so wondering if anyone knows of someone in the Portland, OR area that can take a look at this this week? I'm sure it's an easy fix but I have no idea where to start and don't want to start messing around.
Or, any suggestions on the forum? I'm sure it's hard to understand what I'm talking about without looking at it so here's a photo. You can see one of the fingers is stuck in on the third changer (the one without the string). It's not moving at all when I press the B pedal. The 6th string g works, just not the 3rd. Ugh. Anyway, thought I would check on the forum.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by Ben Cartwright on 27 Jul 2010 9:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stan Schober
From:
Cahokia, Illinois, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 8:26 pm
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Ben, did this happen when your G# string broke ?
Or did you remove it to show the changer better ?
Can you move the finger manually ?
Check your return springs below deck also.
_________________
Emmons S-8 P/P,DeArmond 40. Slowly drifting back towards sanity. |
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Ben Cartwright
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 8:39 pm
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Yes, this happened when the g string broke and I cannot move the finger manually, or barely. It moves but not without a lot of effort. I didn't want to force it.
I'll check the springs.
Thanks for the reply Stan. |
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mike nolan
From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 8:47 pm
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| Did you find the ball end of the broken string? Sometimes they can lodge between the fingers and jam things up. Get a flashlight and look around in there. Also depending on the way the changer is constructed, there might be a guide slot that the changer finger has to fit in.... it may have popped out of the slot. What brand is it? |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 8:49 pm
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Have you put a new string on to see if the tension pulls the finger back into position??
What brand of guitar?
EDIT: Oh Yeah, look for the ball end like Mike says.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 55 years and still counting. |
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Ben Cartwright
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 8:53 pm
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It's a Fessenden S10. I'll try the string to see if it pulls. Or see if it breaks  I'll check to see if there is anything lodged but I don't think there is. I can push the changer back but it won't stay. The pull rod for that string is super loose so that might be the issue too. |
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mike nolan
From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 9:14 pm
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| Put the string on and see what happens.... the finger needs the tension of the string to pull it to it's normal position. With no string, the return springs will pull the finger toward the keyhead end of the guitar.... and make the pull rod seem really floppy. |
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Ben Cartwright
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 9:16 pm
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Thanks for the replies. I got a hold of Larry Behm here in Portland to take a look at it.
Live and learn and learn some more!
-Ben |
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Ian Miller
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 9:21 pm
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Did this happen during your set at Centaur Guitar the other day? Anyway, you can always call Russ Blake at The 12th Fret guitar shop on Belmont, I can't say what his day's workload will be, but I'm sure he can assist in some way. Good luck, and nice meeting you!
EDITED TO ADD: and one of those ways would probably be telling you to get in touch with Larry! |
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Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 9:59 pm
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| mike nolan wrote: |
| Put the string on and see what happens.... the finger needs the tension of the string to pull it to it's normal position. With no string, the return springs will pull the finger toward the keyhead end of the guitar.... and make the pull rod seem really floppy. |
1] shine a flashlight in the changer and check for a broken string end (unless you found it already)
2]Mike is exactly right. Put the string on and tune it up to pitch. The return spring force usually needs to be balanced by the string's tension to get back to neutral.
3] Also check the 3rd string pull rod, to make sure it hasn't slipped out of the bell crank slot. |
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Christopher Woitach
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 10:08 pm
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Lynn Stafford, a forum member, is an excellent steel mechanic. He lives in the area, and has done great work for me.
_________________
Christopher Woitach
cw@affmusic.com
www.affmusic.com |
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Bill Moore
From:
Manchester, Michigan
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Posted 28 Jul 2010 3:52 am
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| Did you turn the guitar upside down while the string was off? This has happened to me too. I'm not sure exactly what occurs, but it seems the changer parts move too far forward and jam. Loosen the tuning nut, remove or loosen the string. loosen the screw on the return spring, unhook the spring from the changer finger, move the parts of the finger around, forward and backward until it goes back into position. Hook up the return spring, tighten it up, Tighten up the loose string. Retune, make sure the return spring tight enough, after raising the string, the return spring has to be tight enough to hold the finger back against the stop. That should fix it. |
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Ben Cartwright
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 28 Jul 2010 6:59 am
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Hey Ian,
Kind of. I broke the string right before out set while I was tuning; got another one on and it made it throughout the set. But, last night I opened her up to restring it and ta-da.
Anyway, nice meeting you too. Hope your CD release show went well. You guys sounded great. |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 28 Jul 2010 8:44 am
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I would be glad to take a look at it if still needed.
I'm sure we can get it working correctly.
Give a ring,
pete b.
cell: 503-621-8209 |
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David Kellogg
From:
Tualatin, OR
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Posted 30 Jul 2010 7:31 pm loan
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| Hey Ben, I will loan you a guitar if you need one for a show. |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 7:38 am
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| You've got more friends here than you know, Ben, if you need help or a loaner you have lots of options |
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Larry Behm
From:
Mt Angel, Or 97362
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 2:48 pm
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Problem solved at this point in time. Ben is a pro musician and will be a very good steel player. Now that we have his guitar fixed it is up up and away.
Larry Behm |
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Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 7:16 pm
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| Ben Cartwright wrote: |
Hey Ian,
Kind of. I broke the string right before out set while I was tuning; got another one on and it made it throughout the set. But, last night I opened her up to restring it and ta-dat..... |
..so what was the problem? trapped string end?
glad all is well |
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Stan Schober
From:
Cahokia, Illinois, USA
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 7:18 pm
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| Tony Glassman wrote: |
..so what was the problem? trapped string end?
glad all is well |
Yes, inquiring minds want to know !
_________________
Emmons S-8 P/P,DeArmond 40. Slowly drifting back towards sanity. |
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Larry Behm
From:
Mt Angel, Or 97362
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 9:09 pm
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I can not put my finger on the issue, just got lucky I think.
Larry |
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Bill Moore
From:
Manchester, Michigan
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Posted 1 Aug 2010 7:38 am
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As I mentioned in the previous post, based on my experience, if there is no string on the guitar, and the changer parts move forward, they might jam like this. It has happened twice to me, on my Fessenden. This may be something that will only occur on a Fessenden, I have not had this happen on other guitars. The first time this happened, I had removed the string, and turned the guitar over to look at something, then turned it right side up, put the string on, and saw it was jammed. The fix: lossen or disconnect the return spring, move the changer parts around until they go back to the right location. Hook up the spring, put on the string. Back in business.
Bill |
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