Adjusting pedals ab&c

[John Sluszny]

Is there a particular method for adjusting height of pedals A, B, and C ?
Which one should I start with, and which ones next ?
Thanks.

[Avery Bradshaw]

I think its a matter of personal preference. I like to set both of my A&C pedals a little higher than my B pedal. It makes it a little easier for me to rock onto the pedals, especially when wearing boots to play.

[Ian Rae]

I agree that it's personal, to do with the geometry of your ankle. If you follow the principle that pairs of pedals should bottom out together, then A and C will probably be a little higher as they typically have more travel.

[Jon Light]

It can be a more complex question than it seems, at first, because the follow-up questions are 'how do you want the pedals as rest? Where do you want the pedals at their full-down stops? How much does this matter to you? There's stuff that can be done in the rodding to supplement the adjustments you make at the threaded ball joint pedal rod connector to fine tune the height of the starts and stops. But first you have to determine where you want these to be.
I had a steel that just felt bad, either pedals down or pedals up....I had to choose which mattered more to me because I could only get one position to feel right. Or....I changed some rodding to get the up position and the down position to feel right for my anatomy.

[Paul Sutherland]

Set the A pedal first, so it's just high enough to not bottom out with the surface of whatever floor you might encounter.

Then set the B pedal so it feels good to your foot as you play A & B pedals together, and so you can rock cleanly on and off each of the pedals without moving you foot from side to side.

Then set the C pedal so it feels good to your foot as you play the B & C pedals together, and so you can rock...., etc.

[Mack Quinney]

I’ve always had problems with this due to wearing various shoes with different soles between practice and gigs. I absolutely love MSA’s rod adjustment system. Just a few turns up close to the body, and problem solve. Don’t even have to get off my steel seat. Wish all of my steels had this feature.

[George Biner]

Set the B pedal so it is high enough to clear floor or carpet or hi-lo shag or whatever.

Then, you have to get the A pedal high enough so when you are just playing the A only, the B is undisturbed without twisting your foot into a pretzel. Of course, you can't raise it too much or it will be hard to hold the B down and rock the A on and off. That is the basic tradeoff. This is assuming Emmons setup (A on left)

The C height can be same as B unless you do a lot of splitting of the BC, which I don't personally do yet.

[Bengt Erlandsen]

A "short" or "quick" B pedal makes it easier to set up a comfortable placement of the A and C pedal.

If set up correctly it should be relatively easy to do all these positions in order.

LKL + A

LKL + A + B

A + B

A(half) + B

A(Half) + B + LKR

B + LKR

B pedal only

A pedal needs a longer travel than B pedal, but not so long that it interferes with playing either pedal alone.

Best wishes for finding your most comfortable setup so the guitar make you go instead of or when playing.

B.Erlandsen
Zumsteel S12extE9 7+7

[Andrew Goulet]

Still working this out on my new steel, but I will say that a little adjustment goes a long way. One or two turns on the ball joint connector can mean the difference between comfort and frustration.

[John Sluszny]

Thanks everyone, appreciate !

[George Kimery]

I cut three blocks of wood very precisely. For the A pedal, 1-9/16", the B pedal, 1-5/16", and the C pedal, 1-7/16".

I used a small level to level the guitar so it would be level and parallel to the floor. With the pedal rods disconnected, I lifted each pedal up and slid the wood beneath the front edges of the pedals. I then turned the pedal end connectors clockwise or counter clockwise until they aligned with the rod connector studs on the pedals. I removed the blocks of wood, then slid it back underneath the pedal. If there was space, I turned the connector a half turn clockwise. If the block wouldn't slide under just perfect, I turned the connector a half turn counter clock wise. I repeated the process until each block of wood slid underneath each pedal perfectly.

These wood block dimensions work for me. but maybe not you. Once you get your pedals where you like them, cut some blocks the right length for you, label each block and save them. Any time the rest of your life, any guitar you may ever own, you can easily set the pedals height.

[John Sluszny]

I cut three blocks of wood very precisely. For the A pedal, 1-9/16", the B pedal, 1-5/16", and the C pedal, 1-7/16".

I used a small level to level the guitar so it would be level and parallel to the floor. With the pedal rods disconnected, I lifted each pedal up and slid the wood beneath the front edges of the pedals. I then turned the pedal end connectors clockwise or counter clockwise until they aligned with the rod connector studs on the pedals. I removed the blocks of wood, then slid it back underneath the pedal. If there was space, I turned the connector a half turn clockwise. If the block wouldn't slide under just perfect, I turned the connector a half turn counter clock wise. I repeated the process until each block of wood slid underneath each pedal perfectly.

These wood block dimensions work for me. but maybe not you. Once you get your pedals where you like them, cut some blocks the right length for you, label each block and save them. Any time the rest of your life, any guitar you may ever own, you can easily set the pedals height.

That is 3,97cm, 3,33cm and 3,65cm
Thank you, very good idea !!!

[John Sluszny]

I cut three blocks of wood very precisely. For the A pedal, 1-9/16", the B pedal, 1-5/16", and the C pedal, 1-7/16".

I used a small level to level the guitar so it would be level and parallel to the floor. With the pedal rods disconnected, I lifted each pedal up and slid the wood beneath the front edges of the pedals. I then turned the pedal end connectors clockwise or counter clockwise until they aligned with the rod connector studs on the pedals. I removed the blocks of wood, then slid it back underneath the pedal. If there was space, I turned the connector a half turn clockwise. If the block wouldn't slide under just perfect, I turned the connector a half turn counter clock wise. I repeated the process until each block of wood slid underneath each pedal perfectly.

These wood block dimensions work for me. but maybe not you. Once you get your pedals where you like them, cut some blocks the right length for you, label each block and save them. Any time the rest of your life, any guitar you may ever own, you can easily set the pedals height.

Thank you, very good idea !!!

[Bengt Erlandsen]

You might be able to get away with just one block w dimensions


A X B X C

1-9/16" X 1-5/16" X 1-7/16"

3,97cm X 3,33cm X 3,65cm

B.Erlandsen

[John Sluszny]

I did it approximatively using George Kimery's measurements with a ruler and it's pretty comfortable.
Now, is there a way to fix the connectors ? The guitar is a Carter.
Thank you George K and all the others !

[Tucker Jackson]

Now, is there a way to fix the connectors ? The guitar is a Carter.

There is a small nut next to the connector that is used to lock the connector in place. Once you have the pedal height exactly where you want it, just get a wrench and tighten that nut so that it is pushing against the connector (that would be unscrewing from the pedal rod to push it against the connector).

This is easiest to do with the rod connected to the guitar and pedal so the connector doesn't try to turn when you turn the wrench. You need that nut to be tight enough so that when you take the rod off, the connector will not turn (although the spring-loaded outer barrel will still turn... but the inner part with the hole in it needs to stay in place).

See this Carter information website for pictures of this (click on 'pedal height'):
http://steelguitar.com/adjustments.html#
.

[John Sluszny]

👍😉