Fessenden Humidity issue (update with photos)

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 27 Jan 2009 7:24 am

sometimes when I am playing, my A or B pedal seems to get caught, or sticks somewhere between the up and the down position. I am not sure why this is happening. It will then snap back suddenly and scare the crap out of me with a loud popping noise. Is this normal? At this point I am not sure if it is a mechanical issue or if I am doing something wrong.

Update: Thanks for help from other steel players, it has been determined that the cause of the pedals sticking is bowing of the front and rear aprons, which put pressure on the cross rods. I have added some photos to illustrate - the first of which I have sent to Jerry

SECOND UPDATE: I have spoken with Jerry on the phone and he was very helpful. Cross shafts are all free now. A quick adjustment of the bushings and the shafts all have travel in them. Some of my issues were due to over tuning the nylon nuts. Another one of my issues was a spring was too loose and not returning the B to the correct pitch. All things that were correctable by Jerrys help over the phone. The bowing is still there but Jerry says that will correct over time.

Day 1: In the case with Hygrometer and Humidifiers. Both aprons are bowed. You can see the rear apron in contrast to the red part of the case, which is straight.

Day 3: Hygrometer at 57%

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Shorty Rogers · Post by **Shorty Rogers** » 27 Jan 2009 8:43 am

Most likely the inside of the hook on the pedal rod has a burr or rough spot. Some emery cloth, steel wool or a small round fine file should clean it up, but it will probably return.

Nathan Golub · Post by **Nathan Golub** » 27 Jan 2009 8:46 am

Jerry's been great about getting back to me whenever I have a technical question with my Fessy. It's always been something very easy to fix, as his guitars are easy to work on. Try shooting him an email.

Jim Park · Post by **Jim Park** » 27 Jan 2009 9:06 am

Most likely the culprit is lack of clearance between the cross shaft and the retaining strip on the back of the guitar. My Fessy had the same problem, and there are several ways to fix it. I shimmed my strip out, but you can mill a detent in the strip or grind the shaft down....either way is an easy fix. Get the pedal to stick, then loosen the closest set of screws on the strip and it should release

Jim

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 27 Jan 2009 12:34 pm

From my Fessy experience it is likely the cross-shaft. It should have a little bit of side-to-side play, and if it doesn't the guitar will behave exactly as you are describing. You can loosen the retaining strip screws and work the cross-shaft free. Any problems, e-mail Jerry Fessenden and get him to walk you through it.

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 27 Jan 2009 1:46 pm

sounds like an easy fix. I will take a closer look at it later tonight, thanks.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 27 Jan 2009 3:11 pm

I had a similar problem on a used Fessy. It was in the changer. Fiddling with the return spring tension sometimes fixed it temporarily, sometimes not. Somebody stole the instrument before I found a permanent solution.

Robert Cates · Post by **Robert Cates** » 27 Jan 2009 5:53 pm

Brian
I also have a Fessy and I discovered something on mine. The cross shafts are square but are round on the ends. On one side the shaft end goes into the steel reinforced side and on the other side wood. On the wood side there are bushings in the wood for the end to ride in and to turn in. What happened on my guitar was that the bushing backed out of the wood and was touching the square part of the cross shaft. This caused it to stick and not turn freely.

Just tap the bushing back in some and you should be good to go. Like someone said,,you should be able to move the shaft back and forth a tiny bit to allow for easy movement and no sticking when you push levers.
Keep pickin

Bob

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 28 Jan 2009 4:03 am

Hi Brian,

what Robert describes is the opposite of what you saw happen to me at that gig back in August, and which I described at lunch the other day. Could actually be either of the two problems (too much or too little clearance at the back apron). You can check if this is it by putting the guitar upside down in the case and gently sliding the cross shaft back and forth from left to right. if it pops out at one end, then this is it. I'd be happy to help fix it, but you can certainly do it yourself: minor operation.

I'm guessing, however, it might be something else entirely. The bent end of the pull rods sometimes gets out of its "slot," resting (precariously) on the "tooth" instead:

If this is indeed the culprit, and it is happening repeatedly (as it seems to be), there may be too much slack on the pull rod. This tends to happen to me while I am changing strings and there is no tension on the pull rod. (But I know this isn't it because you need to change them strings man!

). Could also be occurring if the humidity in your playing space is fluctuating wildly, as it can given the heating situation and temperature extremes up our way around this time of year.

Good luck and keep us posted,

Dan

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 28 Jan 2009 7:48 am

Hey Dan, I just changed the strings last night! It sounds 100% better now. But wouldn't you know it, I was missing a 15, as SIT put two 12s in the pack. So I left the old string number two on there until I can get a proper gauge..

I have a small space heater I sometimes use in my practice room and I find that I am retuning several times during my practice session when it is on. So maybe that is the culprit.

I took a look underneath but nothing seems to be out of order. And it is one of those things like when you have a noise coming from your car and you take it into the shop and then it won't make the noise anymore.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 28 Jan 2009 4:15 pm

What Dan describes is what I thought of, too. If you inspected the underside at a time when the pull rod had "snapped" back into the slot, it would of course look as if everything was in order.

I've only been under the hood of a Fessenden once, but it struck me then as odd that the pull rods are not secured, to prevent this from happening.

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 11 Mar 2009 6:49 am

Well, my little problem is back again and I am not sure if I need to just send this thing up to Bangor and get a tune up.

Its not snapping anymore, but rather getting stuck. The A and B pedals work fine, but the C pedal rod seems to get caught on the stop. it is rubbing against it.

When I push the C pedal down it does not return fully to the proper pitch. I have to take my foot and wedge it underneath the C pedal and physically raise it back up.

At first I thought it was my E lever, because my E's were sticking way sharp, and the lever could still be a factor. It seems the E lever and the C pedal are connected somehow, because when I move the E lever, I see movement in the C pedal.

I've stopped using my C pedal at this point.

Jim Park · Post by **Jim Park** » 11 Mar 2009 7:49 am

I had to lube my pedals the other day because they were sticking. The A pedal was very tight due to my failure to keep my guitar properly lubed. maybe I can help you with your problem.
Determine exactly which part of the Guitar is not functioning properly. With the guitar upside down and up off the strings, activate all the crossshafts and note the ones,if any, are not free with the pedal rods NOT attached. you can put a tuner on the guitar to be sure of the pitch return differences, making sure there is a tiny amount of slack in the pull rod to bellcrank location, also draw a diagram of the guitar and write all findings down. After this, loosen the aluminum retaining strip on the back of the guitar and then retest the guitar and write down all the findings. This should identify any crossshafts that are binding
With the pedal rack off the guitar move all pedals and determine which ones are not free. You may have to remove the shaft and mounting blocks and clean and relube the entire assembly to restore free movment
I know this seems like a real pain..but I am finding that my lack of maintenance on my guitar is the culprit of all my problems, and I will be performing that task this weekend

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 11 Mar 2009 8:22 am

Brian, does the cross-shaft operated by the C pedal have any side-to-side "play"? My experience with my Fessendens is that binding cross-shafts can cause exactly the symptoms you are describing - In addition to what Jim said, the easiest way to test is just, with the guitar upside down in its case, pushing the shafts side-to-side (ie, between the front and back aprons of the guitar) ...if there is not a bit of wiggle room there, say and eighth of an inch or so, you have probably found the culprit.

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 11 Mar 2009 9:33 am

that would make sense, seeing how none of the other pedals are doing it. What confuses me, is as to why its the C pedal cross shaft that is binding when I hardly ever use it. At this point I am mostly AB pedals.

Sonny Priddy · Post by **Sonny Priddy** » 11 Mar 2009 9:48 am

I Had A Fessenden And The Rase & Lower Fingers At The Changer Would Hang up on Eacher other Seems They Were To Long. SONNY.

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 11 Mar 2009 11:46 am

Brian, I don't think amount of use is what makes the difference - it is just a matter of the shaft needing to get freed up. These are really great guitars, and the only problem I have ever had is the cross-shafts - a problem that I've had to deal with a time or two on two of the three I've owned. By the way, the first time it happened Jerry Fessenden was a big help - walked me through the process by e-mail.

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 11 Mar 2009 1:53 pm

Hey Brian,

if you'd like to swing by this weekend I'd be happy to have a gander.

Dan

Jerry Fessenden · Post by **Jerry Fessenden** » 12 Mar 2009 4:41 pm

The shafts need free-play across the guitar front apron to rear apron. Simply pry the shafts back , the bushings will move into the rear apron and the shafts will turn freely. The top decks are compressing and causing the problem ,,,all steels have similar problems with the dry air this time of yr. Even accostics and electrics do. I have several other brands that are locked up currently . The L - brackets on Sho-Buds need to be freed up sometimes, and even the Emmons P-P may need some shafts to be shortened. The KEY to this sitcom is to have a humidifier... get 40% humidity ... JF

David Barker · Post by **David Barker** » 13 Mar 2009 12:32 pm

I've had similar issues with my PF pedal only. After depressing the pedal it returns only half way which tends to leave the 5, 6 and 10 string out of tune until I put my toe under it and pull it up the rest of the way. I just recently applied some lube to the moving parts thinking that was the issue, but that didn't fix it.

My A,B and C pedals work great. It's just my PF 4th pedal that has that issue.....

Jerry Fessenden · Post by **Jerry Fessenden** » 13 Mar 2009 6:01 pm

Once again, the aprons are bowing inward more in the middle than on the ends because the endplates hold the body out . Use a humidifier and the problem will go away. JF

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 16 Mar 2009 5:45 am

Thanks for the reply Jerry.

(The problem is as Jerry stated - the aprons have bowed inward, placing pressure on the cross shafts causing them to lock).

Once humidity is introduced, How long will it take for the wood to bend back to its original state? A few days? A month?

And is 40% humidity the best temperature to fix it, or will 50% be better/work faster?

I currently have it put back in the case with a humidifier and hygrometer which is reading 51% humitity.

A couple things I never did when I purchased the guitar was #1 never checked how much play was in the rods, and #2 never checked the level of humidity in my house. Being new to music and the pedal steel this never occured to me.

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 16 Mar 2009 3:47 pm

Ok, just a little uncertainty here...

I live in a new construction home. It has a brand new humidification system that works through the air ducts and distributes moisture via those air ducts when the heating system is on.

I am not certain, of it but I think the humidity level in my home may have been 37%. I turned it up a bit and now the hygrometer reads 40.

So is 3% over time enough of a change in humidity to warp the apron and lock the crossrods?

Alternately, the air in the summer is regulated by air conditioning and the humidity should remain constant throughout the year in my home.

So could this also have been a contributing factor to the issue I am having? Because I figure in summer months the humidity levels must rise to 60% or more without climate control.

Brian Kurlychek · Post by **Brian Kurlychek** » 18 Mar 2009 6:30 am

I have updated my original post with photos.

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 18 Mar 2009 7:55 am

Brian brought his guitar over last Saturday and I was stunned to find there was not a hair's worth of slack for most of the shafts to move back and forth between the aprons, even with the bushings pushed significantly out towards the aprons. As Jerry predicted, the ones closest to the endplates were less affected, but even these had very little wiggle room. When we looked closely it was plain to see (as in the pics above) that the rear apron was severely bowed, and the front apron somewhat less so, but still visibly bowed. I tried taking the metal strip off to have a look at the bushings from the outside, but it was unmovable, likely being pinched tight at the endplates from the bowed wood.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this on any steel guitar? I am sure wood bows enough to effect cross shafts (it has on my Fessy), but to the point that there is zero wiggle room, no matter where the bushing are? Brian is in touch with Jerry directly, but I thought it might be informative for the community for others to chime in on this as a generic issue.

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Fessenden Humidity issue (update with photos)

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