ReRodding a Fessey

John McConnell · Post by **John McConnell** » 2 Sep 2004 5:29 am

I recently purchased a Fessey 13 atring guitar from a fellow member of the forum. He neglected to mention that the guitar had a very unorthodox setup on the pedals. It has the A B & C pedals on 2 3 &4 instead of 1 2 & 3 position. This makes using the A pedal and F lever together very difficult. Anyone know of someone in Northern California who does setup work on these guitars?

John McConnell, Yuba City, CA

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 2 Sep 2004 5:33 am

I'm not sure how far of a drive he is (he is in California, though) but I would take it to Blackie Taylor. He's been doing repairs/sales for about 30 years now.

Joe

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 2 Sep 2004 5:46 am

I would be glad to help anytime- give me a holler- 760-721-4149 (I'll be in St. Louis this weekend though).

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 2 Sep 2004 6:08 am

<SMALL>It has the A B & C pedals on 2 3 &4 instead of 1 2 & 3 position. </SMALL>

Sounds like a good thing to me. Maybe you can adjust the angle of the dangle of the F lever to fit those pedals where they are.

Scott Swartz · Post by **Scott Swartz** » 2 Sep 2004 6:26 am

It is becoming fairly common to have pedal 1 be a different pedal that works well in conjuction with the A pedal, such as G#-G or the PF pedal.

Similar to the way the B pedal is placed between A and C because you want to be able to hold B and rock onto or off the A or C pedal.

If you can adjust the levers or get used to the setup it will give you more changes to work with. What change is currently on pedal 1?

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 2 Sep 2004 6:58 am

I just realized this must be the 13-string Fessy that Jim Smith owned that then went to the guy in Boston, who then sold it to you....yes? If so, I believe that you may not need to re-rod anything....the pedals can be moved over. Jim had drilled holes in the pedal bar so that the pedals would be more comfortable for him. When I looked at the pic of the Fessy, I noticed that the pedal rods were not straight up and down....this is because the pedals on the bar were shifted slightly.

Try shifting the pedals back first, and then maybe alter the KL a bit (adjusting the knee lever should be super simple)....I'd do those things before making mass changes.

The most frustrating thing about this darn instrument, IMO, is that whenever you purchase one, it can take up to two weeks of tinkering with everything to get it to play comfortably. That means tweaking pedals, moving cross rods, etc. Everytime I buy a different one, I swear it's the last time! I never learn, though

Just be patient with the guitar when making adjustments....and if you get to the point that you feel that the adjustments just aren't working, then by all means take it to someone that can give you a hand with it.

Joe

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 2 Sep 2004 7:07 am

I agree with Earnest, leave the pedals where they are and adjust the knee lever. Move it if you have to. It is very valuable to have the extra pedal outside the A pedal to experiment with. Many people now put a Franklin pedal there. If you didn't have that extra pedal already, you'd want to add it later. Consider yourself lucky. Just adjust or move the F lever so that it works good with the A pedal. If the LKR lever is a problem, adjust or move it also. You should still be able to reach your foot outside the A pedal to use the extra pedal.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 2 Sep 2004 1:57 pm

If you decide to leave the pedal changes where they are, it shouldn't be too of a job to move the left knee levers one slot to the right.

John McConnell · Post by **John McConnell** » 2 Sep 2004 2:33 pm

Thanks for the tips, John

Bob Hamilton · Post by **Bob Hamilton** » 2 Sep 2004 5:39 pm

John I'd be happy to help you out with the Fessenden if you're ever in the San Luis Obispo area. Probably wouldn't take more than a couple of hours if you know what you want to change it to and the rods will work. Bob H.

John McConnell · Post by **John McConnell** » 4 Sep 2004 9:07 pm

Thanks again, especially to Joe. I moved the pedals on the bar back and that really helped. I will still need to move the LKR but I will have to look at it before I go tearing into things. Anyone know when this Guitar was made? I just think that this forum is the greatest thing. I don't know how to thank you fellow forumites all but you are great for giving me the information on the guitar.

John McConnell, Yuba City, CA
ShoBud D10 Professional Fessenden S13 Peavey Nashville 1000

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 4 Sep 2004 9:32 pm

Jerry Fessenden delivered it to me at the Mass Bash in the summer of 2001.

I had about an hour to tweak it, then played my set with it.

Aaron Garrett · Post by **Aaron Garrett** » 7 Sep 2004 10:35 am

John,

I'm glad you are happier with the guitar. Just for the record I told you to move the pedal board over, just as I told Joe before who then passed on the information. I also offered to help pay for re-rodding if you wanted to do that, and told you how old the guitar was. I just want to be clear that I was completely honest.

As was pointed ou the pedal set up is not abnormal.

Anyway glad you are enjoying it.

Aaron