Dennis Montgomery
From:
Western Washington
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Posted 17 Feb 2021 11:33 am |
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Hi all,
I recently posted this on the Fender Pedal Steel facebook group and thought I'd do the same here. While it's specific to the Fender 400, it might give some ideas to others looking to add an arm rest to their single neck pedal steel (or to any Fender 400 players who aren't part of the FB group).
Long story short, I've had tendinitis since the early 90's so have to pay close attention to the ergonomics of the instruments I play. 3 or 4 hours of playing in the wrong position can easily put me out of commission for weeks, so I've learned to be very careful. For pedal steel, that means I can only play SD configurations with a padded arm rest.
My Mullen SD12 is perfectly setup for this, but my Fender 400 (obviously) is not. I used my 400 on rare occasions the past few years, but recently decided it would be fun to set it up to the upper 8 strings of Emmons E9 with the standard A, B, C pedals and E lower and raise knee's (I added 2 knee levers years ago) and spend more time with it. Got it setup and after sitting down to play realized I wouldn't get far without adding some kind of arm rest.
Came up with a few different designs then decided to build a prototype. Began with a simple "L" shaped shelf held in place by clamps. I learned right away that the "L" could not be held in place like this as the inside of the 400's metal shell is very smooth. The clamps couldn't grab on enough to counter the downward force of my arms.
My next plan was to attach the "L" shelf to the frame by drilling out holes for a couple large bolts on each corner. I didn't really want to put holes in the 400's frame - or I should say, "more" holes as I already drilled out the changer end to install adjustable lower springs in place of the fixed tension design...but that's another story 
As I was looking at the 400 taking some measurements and warming up the drill, something occurred to me. The frame has about a 1/4" ledge in front of the wood...so...instead of making the shelf into an "L" form, I offset that "L" by 1/4". This means some of the downward force/weight of my arms is now supported by the frame itself. After making that change, one clamp on each side was now enough to solidly brace the shelf! I just turned those big clamps around so they extend underneath the frame and added a computer keyboard and mouse wrist pad...problem solved!
Once the weather warms up and I can stain & seal again, I'll get some nice wood and rebuild the shelf adding a proper arm rest pad. Until then, it doesn't move, I've got my arm rest pads exactly where I need them and best of all, I don't have to drill more holes in the 400's frame...life is good
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Hear my latest album, "Celestial" featuring a combination of Mullen SD12 and Synthesizers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhh6b_xXTx4&list=PLfXm8aXRTFz0x-Sxso0NWw493qAouK
Hear my album, "Armistice" featuring Fender 400 on every song:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfXm8aXRTFz2Pz_GXhvmjne7lPEtsplyW
Hear my Pedal Steel Only playlist featuring Mullen G2 SD12 on covers like Candyman, Wild Horses, Across the Universe & more...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfXm8aXRTFz2f0JOyiXpZyzNrvnJObliA |
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