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Topic: Height of pedals? |
George Brown
From:
Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2004 7:21 pm |
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I had to raise the rear of my steel up a little, so that my knees would not rub on the mechanism, which includes an "UP" bar. I bought a pair of boat shoes, which have very thin soles, and that helped a little.
If I lower the pedals enough to make a difference, will it make a difference in the way the guitar plays. Anyone else had this type problem? Also, is there a STANDARD height, or is it purely personal preference?
Incidentally, the guitar was not built for ME.
Any info, or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
George |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 7:55 am
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George,
The height of the pedals is VERY important. For many mechanical reasons, you want to avoid STOMPING on the pedals. The best way to do this is to rest the heel of the left foot on the floor in front of the A and B pedals (1&2 for Emmons and 2&3 FOR Day pedal arrangement). If you can't easily press A+B, let off A with B engaged without A engaging at all, and let off B with A engaged, WITHOUT YOUR HEEL COMING UP, you need to adjust the height of the pedals. (yes - you will come off your heel to use the vertical lever) The pedals should BE AS LOW AS POSSIBLE without bottoming out on carpet. This turns out to be just about level / parallel to the floor. Remember: You need this guitar to play ok anywhere you take it. Could be hardwood floors; could be plush carpet. Figure about what it would take for the pedals to completely go down on a carpet. I usually set mine to bottom out the thickness of my finger below the pedal. Works good for me.
Some people like to raise the A pedal slightly to make the whole tone change bottom out with the half tone change on the B pedal. You may want to do this too.
Hopefully your pedal rods are long enough to accommodate any adjustment you need. You'll need to add adjustable extensions to lengthen or you can cut as needed and rethread the end to shorten.
You should consider lengthening the pedal rods if you have to jack the back end of the guitar up too far. It just plays better if it's more or less level. (plus, it looks kinda dippy to have it tipped waay forward) 
Your guitar should fit you like a good suit.
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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 30 June 2004 at 09:13 AM.] |
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Mark Herrick
From:
Bakersfield, CA
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 10:47 am
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A trick I discovered is to use machine bushings to shim up the front of the guitar. They go between the locking collar of the the front legs and the top of the pedal bar - same place you would put the spacer from a lift kit. The bushings, however, are very thin, about 1/16", so you have to stack a few together to get the amount of lift you want.
You can usually get about 1/2" of lift before you start to run out of adjustment on the pedal rod length. Then you would have to get extensions for the pedal rods.
The nice thing about the bushings is that they come in a 5/8" ID by 1" OD, which makes them fit the legs perfectly. Some of the lift kit spacers I have seen are way oversized and fit the legs very loosely.
I picked up the bushings at a hardware store that carries a good selection of nuts, bolts, screws, etc.
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[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 30 June 2004 at 11:48 AM.] [This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 30 June 2004 at 11:49 AM.] |
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George Brown
From:
Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 5:44 am
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Larry,
Thanks much for the advice. I just finished putting on new strings, and I adjusted the pedals as you suggested. I need to tweak it a bit more, but I think it will play much better when I finish. Thanks again...
Mark,
Thanks much for the information on the machine bushings. I'll find out this weekend of the adjustments I made work OK. If not, I'll try the bushings. Thanks again...
George |
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George Kimery
From:
Limestone, TN, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 11:57 am
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| I used 3/4" aluminum tubing with a 1/16" wall thickness to make my leg lifts. This gives you the needed 5/8" inside diameter. I bought the tubing at Home Depot and cut it to the lengths I needed. I have a polishing machine, so I buffed them up to look like chrome. You could probably polish them up with Simi-Chrome polish also. If you buy the leg lift kits from dealers, there is something that can be a problem with them. If you buy the 1" lift kit, it comes with 2 pieces of 1" tubing like I got at Home Depot. It also comes with 1" rod extenders, as many as you need for each pedal rod that your guitar has. Now here is the problem: If you measure the overall length of your pedal rods, then screw on the 1" extenders, the overall length of the pedal rod is not 1" longer, because part of the pedal rod screwed up into the adapter. The overall length of the pedal rod is now maybe 3/4" longer, not 1". The tubing to go on the legs add a true 1". This difference between the extenders and the tubing will change the height of the pedals and make them way too high. I know from experience, that is why I had to go to Home Depot and get new tubing. It was easier to cut it this way than trimming the tubing that came with the lift kit. |
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Keith Murrow
From:
Wichita, KS
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 12:50 pm
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| .. [This message was edited by Keith Murrow on 26 October 2004 at 03:46 PM.] |
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George Brown
From:
Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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Posted 6 Jul 2004 8:27 am
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Many thanks to those who answered, and offered suggestions. I added two machine bushings to the front legs, made some adjustments to the pedals, and it sure plays a lot better. I was lucky, and did have enough length in the pedal rods.
Thanks again ALL..... |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 6 Jul 2004 10:09 am
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On a standard PSG D-10, does anyone know what the height at the tip of the pedals are when shipped. I am talking about an abritray height that the factory sets them at, IF the customer does not indicate otherwise?
Anyone know?
carl |
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John Sluszny
From:
Brussels, Belgium
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Posted 6 Jul 2004 10:17 am
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| Carl.Shouldn't the pedals be parralel to the floor? |
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Jim Florence
From:
wilburton, Ok. US * R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Jul 2004 11:44 am
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| I've been adjusting mine since my first PSG[1957], ain't got it right yet. I'll go a year or two, and then start adjusting them again. |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 6 Jul 2004 12:37 pm
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John,
Do you mean the bottom of the pedal with respect to the floor; or the pedals with respect to each other.
I once saw at Emmons' factory, them use a block of wood cut to the desired height and put it under each pedal and set their height so it just touched the the top of the block.
I got a problem with parallel if you are talking about pedals themselves, since many pedals are not flat on the bottom.
I feel confident some manufacturers use some kind of standard height. I just do not know what that height is, and I would like to.
Again, anyone?
carl |
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