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Topic: Stiff B Pedal, my first Fender 1000 |
Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 21 Jun 2013 8:44 am |
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Hi cable Fender players, I play lap steel for about 4 years and just bought my first pedal steel, a Fender 1000. I want a pedal steel that feel and sound like my stringmaster and I'm very happy with the 1000! Its a nice faded to brown sunburst short scale.
The only problem I have is with the B pedal for the E9 neck. It is very stiff, I clean everything with lighter fluid and then lube with tri-flow and everything id smooth except this pedal. The low G# move easily the A but I have problem with the high G#, it need double the travel and effort so the low G# move easily to A and after with some effort the hight move to A.
The first string set I had .011 and 0.020 and difference effort was to big between the two so I change to a plain 0.022 and its a lot better to the high G# is still stiff. I tried a 0.010 but it break just by tuning it.
Any suggestion?
thanks! |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2013 11:07 am
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The changer should be a double raise/double lower. Try moving the cable to the other finger on the changer. You may need to have the changer taken apart and cleaned and lubed. Try the other raise first. Also check the cable and pulley to make sure the cable isn't hanging up somewhere or the pulley needs lube or replacement.
_________________
Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 21 Jun 2013 5:11 pm
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From this chart http://www.daddario.com/upload/tension_chart_13934.pdf
To have the same tension from a 0.011 of the same note one octave lower you need a plain 0.022 or a 0.024 round wound.
I have the 0.011 and 0.022 for G# but for some reason the high one is a lot harder to bend to A. My cable is ok and the charger work well, its clean and well lubricated.
I have a second Fender 1000 on the way (I want I second one to leave a the work, I travel a lot) and its in new condition so I will be able to compare if this one work better.
I really feel that with some work and maintenance a Fender steel can be very smooth and mine stay in tuned very well, no mater the weather change or the use of pedals. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Jun 2013 4:33 am
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Remove the cable loop, the string, and the spring, and then try moving the raise and lower parts of the changer finger with your fingers. With nothing restraining them, these parts should flop forward and backwards quite freely, and all the other parts should move easily, as well. If they do not, and you have already oiled or lubed, then something is binding or stuck and a teardown is required.
These guitars are highly sensitive to string guages, as there are no adjustments to even out the pulls between different strings. It is therefore a fact of life that some pulls will be harder than others, and that some pedals will have more or less travel, since there are no pullers on a shaft to make fine adjustments with. |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 22 Jun 2013 5:03 am
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| Fred Glave wrote: |
| The changer should be a double raise/double lower. Try moving the cable to the other finger on the changer. You may need to have the changer taken apart and cleaned and lubed. Try the other raise first. Also check the cable and pulley to make sure the cable isn't hanging up somewhere or the pulley needs lube or replacement. |
What do you mean by double raise/double lower?
I thought this meant a string could, for example be raised a half step with one pedal and a whole step with a different one (same thing for lowers).
My Fender 1000 certainly doesn't do that, or if it does, I haven't figured out how to make it do so. |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 22 Jun 2013 7:00 am
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My guess is that it is an issue at the pulley cassette at the keyhead end. Check to see that no cables are overlapped. Or something stuck in the changer.
If it was a string gauge issue I could see the pedal being stiff, but not "very stiff" as you described.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars. |
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Brett Lanier
From:
Hermitage, TN
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Posted 22 Jun 2013 8:02 am
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| I have no knowledge of Fender 1000's ever being double raise/lower. Mine isn't either. I want to say the 800's were, maybe also the 2000's. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Jun 2013 9:19 am
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| Jeff Mead wrote: |
What do you mean by double raise/double lower?
I thought this meant a string could, for example be raised a half step with one pedal and a whole step with a different one (same thing for lowers).
My Fender 1000 certainly doesn't do that, or if it does, I haven't figured out how to make it do so. |
That's true, the 400 and 1000 models were all single raise/lower. The 800 and 2000 (10-string) models have a double row of tuning screws, and therefore have the double raise/lower capability. |
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2013 7:02 pm
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Sorry, I assumed the 1000 had double raise/lowers like my 2000.
_________________
Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2013 11:08 am
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| I tried something today, I remove the 2 G# string and the lower one make the changer move like a raise but the high one stay at the bridge and is stiff without the strings! I will try to find why... |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2013 11:11 am
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I have had four pulls on a pedal and it did not feel stiff. But maybe because I am used to the earliest push pulls with the short cranks and short fingers no pedals feel stiff to me.
The 11 should not make the pull feel stiff, unless you are expecting the pedals to feel like a Mullen.
Where is your B pedal on the apron? Do you have ten pedals or six or four?
If it feels stiff, I would expect the problem to be somewhere in the mechanical chain:
The pedal hinge, although you would know if the pedal was not floppy.
The pedal crank or the pedal crank angle - is the steel mounting pin binding holding the pedal crank at an angle that does not allow the pivoting plate to point directly at the pulley cassette?
The cables -- is there something interfering with the path of the B pedal cable
(or cables after the yoke)?
The pulley cassette - are the cables overlapped, in their proper slots, rubbing the end of the cassette mounting screws? Do you have the cables arranged top to bottom or bottom to top? The A pedal should be on the pulley farthest from the cabinet.
Is the finger bent? Did you take apart the changer and clean the fingers and polish the finger surfaces that slide on each other?
Do you have rollers at the bridge? Is the roller for the 0.011" string freely turning? A stuck roller is worse than a solid bridge.
What happens when you have another pedal cable do the pull for that finger?
Which tuner are you using for the top string? The first or the second? Even Fender suggested using the second string tuning key when using an 0.011" for the top string. The Fender manual explains that it gives you a straighter pull. I have never used the second tuning key for the first string, myself. I simply tuned to D9.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars.
Last edited by Chris Lucker on 9 Jul 2013 11:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2013 11:14 am
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2013 11:19 am
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| like you can see on the picture, if I remove the G# strings, the changer seems to normally move to the stop, that what append the the low G# and the high E of the C6 neck but not the high G# of the E9 and I wonder why |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2013 11:27 am
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| I removed the strings and every pull changer go to the stops except the high G#, I will dissemble the changer and try the figure why |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2013 11:46 am
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| GOT IT!!!! The lower stops was to tight and I dont know why but it make the raiser stop stiff!!! now everything works fine!!! |
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