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Topic: “Little Buddy” Help- Need Guidance for Knee Lever Re-Install |
Matt Olson
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 28 Oct 2024 1:44 pm |
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Hi all,
Firstly I’ll just cut to the chase and ask if anybody has pictures of the underside of a “ Little Buddy” particularly the knee lever set up. A cheap steel with a potentially similar set up to a Little Buddy might be helpful- or even a drawn picture etc.
A while back I made a post asking the forum to help me ID a steel that I had to the opportunity to buy on the cheap from a now former bandmate. Turned out it was a “Little Buddy” and most of y’all advised me not to bother with it.
Well I didn’t listen and while I have no regrets about buying it, I completely understand why y’all tried to warn me off of it. It is clearly not a well made instrument and it’s taken months and months of frustration/tweaking/tinkering to get it to the point where it’s remotely playable.
But now I have finally gotten it to a point where I can actually play on it and make it do some pedal steel stuff which even in its most rudimentary form is so much fun. I’ve played dobro, lap steel etc for a long time and my last lap steel was open E with Certano palm benders on the B and G# so I was a bit ahead of the game on learning basic A/B pedal stuff.
The last owner removed the one and only knee lever and gave me a ziplock bag with all of the parts and pieces in it. I’ve tried to reverse engineer it a couple times but got frustrated and gave up. If anyone thinks they can explain how to do it they’re welcome to try but it seems like it might be b difficult to explain via text- really a photo of the undersides of another little buddy and its knee lever set up would likely be enough for me to get it re-installed.
If you’re thinking about buying one of these you should know that you’re not getting a quality instrument- it’s about as cheaply made as a pedal steel could possibly be while still “functioning”. My A pedal sags down below the others because the plastic (the whole pedal is plastic) on the circular/tube shaped part that the dowel runs through (acting as sort of a hinge and holding the pedals in place) has become stretched/worn out over time. I am struggling to get the C pedal to work as it should as balancing the A and C pedals to both raise B to C# requires a lot of adjustments to thumbscrews on the pull mechanisms. This could be the case with a better pedal steel for all I know.
The pick up is very noisy and microphonic and doesn’t have a stellar tone. I’m thinking about trying to wax pot it and add some more shielding. The tuning machines are cheap and don’t hold tune all that well. It rocks around and squeaks when you play it. I could go on and on but you get it- it’s a cheaply made janky instrument.
If anybody knows anything about Little Buddy’s and has any tips on making the best out of it I’d be very grateful for any tips. I’m a bit of a tinkerer/DIY guy anyway (make my own guitar pedals, like to fix my own stuff, set up my own guitars, work as a carpenter) and have more time than money most of the time so I don’t mind putting some effort into making this thing play its best.
Soon enough I think I’m going to have to invest in a halfway decent pedal steel- I’ve got the bug now. I think that learning to play on a real POS can almost be a good thing- once you get a nice one everything feels so nice and easy. Thanks everybody. |
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Tommy Mc
From:
Middlesex VT
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Posted 29 Oct 2024 10:06 am
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Matt, the Little Buddy has a "pull release" changer. I suspect the setup is similar to a Sho-Bud Maverick. Once you get the parts assembled, it might be helpful to follow the setup instructions for a Maverick.
I've owned both a Maverick and a Little Buddy, but that was back in the 70's. One thing I do remember is that the Little Buddy was very unstable, rocking from side to side. I solved this by replacing the pedal bar with a much taller one...maybe 10" or so. By using 2 connection points on each leg, it firmed things up, even if it looked unconventional.
Regarding the "sagging" A pedal, have you tried adjusting the pedal rod? The connector on the bottom of the rod (that connects to the pedal) has threads. By screwing the connectors in or out, you effectively change the length of the rod....which in turn raises or lowers the height of the pedal. Many people prefer the A pedal to be a little higher than the others. The Little Buddy has a 4th pedal which acts as an awkward volume pedal. You might consider swapping out that with your A pedal if it has less wear.
Speaking of that, it occurs to me that some of your noise may be coming from the old pot and wiring. If it was mine, I would probably bypass all of that and go directly from the pickup to the output jack. Then you'll need to buy a volume pedal, but that's something you can use for any future steels you own. If the pickup is microphonic, potting it should help.
Here's a screenshot from one of the reverb.com listings. The way I see it, the lever is lowering the 2nd and 8th strings (D# → D and E → Eb) The lever is mounted to a cross-shaft . In the center of the cross-shaft, there is a bell-crank connected to a tree, which has wires connecting to the changer blades for strings 2 and 8. There is a spring connected to the lever which holds those 2 strings fully forward against a stop bar. When you press the lever, you are neutralizing the spring and letting the string tension lower the strings. Using the corresponding screws in the endplate, you can adjust the travel (aka fine tuning) of the two strings.
The pedals, being "raises" work just the opposite. As I recall, you tune the raised notes (pedals depressed) using the normal tuners at the peghead, and then use the adjuster screws to tune the "open" notes on those strings. Again, this is the same process as on a Maverick...which there is a lot more information available for. Good luck.
_________________
1980 MSA Vintage XL S-10, 1975 Session 400
1972 Dobro model 66s
Derby SD-10
Tom McDonough |
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Matt Olson
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 29 Oct 2024 2:46 pm
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| Tommy Mc wrote: |
Matt, the Little Buddy has a "pull release" changer. I suspect the setup is similar to a Sho-Bud Maverick. Once you get the parts assembled, it might be helpful to follow the setup instructions for a Maverick.
I've owned both a Maverick and a Little Buddy, but that was back in the 70's. One thing I do remember is that the Little Buddy was very unstable, rocking from side to side. I solved this by replacing the pedal bar with a much taller one...maybe 10" or so. By using 2 connection points on each leg, it firmed things up, even if it looked unconventional.
Regarding the "sagging" A pedal, have you tried adjusting the pedal rod? The connector on the bottom of the rod (that connects to the pedal) has threads. By screwing the connectors in or out, you effectively change the length of the rod....which in turn raises or lowers the height of the pedal. Many people prefer the A pedal to be a little higher than the others. The Little Buddy has a 4th pedal which acts as an awkward volume pedal. You might consider swapping out that with your A pedal if it has less wear.
Speaking of that, it occurs to me that some of your noise may be coming from the old pot and wiring. If it was mine, I would probably bypass all of that and go directly from the pickup to the output jack. Then you'll need to buy a volume pedal, but that's something you can use for any future steels you own. If the pickup is microphonic, potting it should help.
Here's a screenshot from one of the reverb.com listings. The way I see it, the lever is lowering the 2nd and 8th strings (D# → D and E → Eb) The lever is mounted to a cross-shaft . In the center of the cross-shaft, there is a bell-crank connected to a tree, which has wires connecting to the changer blades for strings 2 and 8. There is a spring connected to the lever which holds those 2 strings fully forward against a stop bar. When you press the lever, you are neutralizing the spring and letting the string tension lower the strings. Using the corresponding screws in the endplate, you can adjust the travel (aka fine tuning) of the two strings.
The pedals, being "raises" work just the opposite. As I recall, you tune the raised notes (pedals depressed) using the normal tuners at the peghead, and then use the adjuster screws to tune the "open" notes on those strings. Again, this is the same process as on a Maverick...which there is a lot more information available for. Good luck.
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Tommy Mc- thank you for the info and the very detailed reply. I will try adjusting the A pedals rod to fix the sag- I am a pedal steel noob so I am really learning on the fly and on a very rudimentary and rather poorly built instrument. My little buddy didn’t come with a in-built volume pedal so I only have 3 pedals, A, B and C. I’ve just been using my Goodrich and Ernie Ball (funny enough I prefer the sweep of the Ernie Ball).
Using a wider board for for the pedal board is a great idea. Seems very doable and would likely cut down on the rocking. Regarding the noisy pick up- there actually aren’t any pots in between the pick up and output but I’ve considered wiring one up for volume. I actually pulled the pick up last night and “wax potted” it to see if I could cut down on the noise and microphonic. Surprisingly it actually worked well and did cut down on the hum and microphonic noise. It did seem to “dull” the tone a little but it didn’t sound the greatest from jump so I think it was worth it to bring that noise to a reasonable level.
Thank you for the detailed info about how the knee lever should function,I think between that and the similar steels you mentioned and sent pictures of I should be able to take another crack at it. i think that having a little guidance on what the knee lever should be doing will make all the difference in re-attaching.
Saw you live in VT too, glad to see there’s other players up here, I really appreciate your help. |
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Tommy Mc
From:
Middlesex VT
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Posted 29 Oct 2024 3:45 pm
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I did see another photo on reverb for a Little Buddy Jr which doesn't have a volume pedal/pot. I wonder if that's the model you have. The lever setup is similar except there is a different type of spring. Where are you in VT? I'm in Middlesex.
_________________
1980 MSA Vintage XL S-10, 1975 Session 400
1972 Dobro model 66s
Derby SD-10
Tom McDonough |
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Matt Olson
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 29 Oct 2024 4:04 pm
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| Yes that looks more like it! Thank you. I’m in Rutland, you’re in middlesex? |
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Tommy Mc
From:
Middlesex VT
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Posted 29 Oct 2024 5:16 pm
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The spring is vital, providing enough tension to pull the two strings solidly against the stop plate when at rest. Note the travel stop for the lever at the other end of the crossbar. You'll want to adjust it so the lever has just enough travel to make the change, but provide a solid stop.
Yes, I'm in Middlesex which is about 1.5 hrs from Rutland. I was hoping you might be closer so I could take a look in person.
_________________
1980 MSA Vintage XL S-10, 1975 Session 400
1972 Dobro model 66s
Derby SD-10
Tom McDonough |
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