Goodrich Lowboy Travel

Matthew Walton · Post by **Matthew Walton** » 1 Jul 2022 7:28 pm

Hi all,

I have three Goodrich L-120 volume pedals. I'm running into an issue where my two black pedals don't have as much travel as my red one. Can I fix them to have as much travel as my red pedal?

For reference, the red one is 13-14 years old, the two others I bought used (separately) this year, so I don't know the age. They have the same black w/ gold crackle paint job with silver grip tape and beige powder-coated base. Both of the black ones stop at pretty much the same place, so I only bothered comparing one of the black ones against the red one.

Best I can tell, when fully on, I guess both the red and and the black pedal use the potentiometer as a hard stop. The alignment tab is fully seated in the mounting bracket on both (picture is of the black pedal).

I should mention that I have taken apart the red pedal and the pictured black pedal to replace the wiring, so I won't completely rule it out that I bungled something when putting them back together, but I don't think that's the issue since I haven't bothered messing with the other black one yet.

Apologies if this has been covered before, I did some searching but couldn't find anything.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 2 Jul 2022 5:48 am

Open them up and check to see if the collar that slides onto the volume pots are all the same size. A slight variance in the diameter of the colar (what the string wraps around) can make a big difference in the travel of the pedal.

And the volume pot should NEVER be the stop for the pedal. That is a design for disaster. The bottom section of the pedal should hit a rubber stop screwed underneath the top section.

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 7 Jul 2022 6:36 am

The bottom plate of the low profile pedals has a hole in it to allow for the necessary travel- not so in the standard pedals.

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 7 Jul 2022 9:31 pm

I have 2 Goodrich pedals and worked on a few others. The only sleeve I have seen in a standard Goodrich are Brass .875 in length, Around .412 diameter on the outer end, and .425 on the end with the sleeve that slides up on the pot sleeve threads. They give the pot about 180 degrees rotation. Hope this can help you figure out your problem.

That sleeve looks small to me comparing an original brass sleeve to the pot shaft.

Most pots have about 270 degrees of rotation, The standard sleeve only allows about 180 degrees of rotation. Some people will put a smaller diameter sleeve on the pot to get a full 270 degree rotation. If a player has good volume pedal control can give a steel more sustain.

Good luck on this project and Happy Steelin.

Matthew Walton · Post by **Matthew Walton** » 8 Jul 2022 7:24 am

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions and apologies for the radio silence! Despite my best efforts, life keeps happening.

I still need to measure the diameter of the sleeves, but I can tell you that the red one is the only one with a brass sleeve; the other two have the (I assume) aluminum sleeves.

Bill Ferguson wrote: And the volume pot should NEVER be the stop for the pedal. That is a design for disaster. The bottom section of the pedal should hit a rubber stop screwed underneath the top section.

I think I didn't describe the stopping well. When I say the pot is being used as a hard stop, I meant the physical body of the pot. So if I look at the end carefully, and press down on the pedal, I see the side opposite the pot flex down, and the pot side stay put. It isn't the rotation stop of the pot that is doing the stopping.

Now if what I'm describing is still asking for disaster, I may be out of ideas. There is a rubber stop on the "off" side of the pedal, but I don't remember one on the "loud" side. I will double check on this.

Jim Palenscar wrote:The bottom plate of the low profile pedals has a hole in it to allow for the necessary travel- not so in the standard pedals.

I think I remember the relief cut in the red one, less so in the black ones. I'll have to double check.

Between being a cheapskate and wanting to prove to myself that I can do it myself I like to do my own work when I can, but I may have to give in and send them in for a rebuild if I can't figure it out.

I will come back with concrete answers soon!

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 8 Jul 2022 7:43 am

Pictures would be worth a thousand words.

As Jim said, the L120 has a slot in the bottom so there would not be a rubber "loud" stop.

Is it possible that you have 1 L120 and 1 H120?

Matthew Walton · Post by **Matthew Walton** » 9 Jul 2022 12:48 pm

They all say "L-120" on the bottom, and they're all super close. I would expect the H-120 to be a much more obvious difference than what it is, but I could be wrong.

As it turns out, two of the collars are brass, and the other one is aluminum. Collar sizes of pedals shown left to right:
Pot end: 0.425”, 0.425”, 0.425”
Screw portion: 0.499”, 0.488”, 0.500”
Far end: 0.412”, 0.420", 0.411”

Here's some pictures of them all lined up.

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 9 Jul 2022 8:46 pm

The pictures are a lot of help.
If you look in the picture of the 3 VC pedals lined up, It shows the 2 dark pedals have the set screw in the identical position. The location on the red 1 is not in sight in any of the pictures.

If the pots have a flat spot on the shaft all of them will be easy, Just line the set screw up till they all 3 are set in the same position should be easy. If no flat on them it will take some tinkering to set them up.

Shove the red one and one of the dark ones to, Full volume.

Check the red one for the set screw location. If you want the 2 dark ones to act like the red one. On the dark VPs Loosen the screw that holds the end of the string to the 1/2" metal bar. unwind the string off the sleeve, Turn the pot shaft till the set screw is in the same location, Then rewind the string around the sleeve and set screw and attach string back with screw on 1/2" bar.

It may take a little tinkering but with the diameter of the sleeves so close, you should be able to adjust the dark 2 to act like the red one.

Since Mr. Ferguson works on them a lot he may have some tricks that will help.

Good Luck in this project, And back Happy Steelin.

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 10 Jul 2022 6:08 am

If I understand the "original" post, it was not about getting enough volume, it was about "travel".

The position of the set screw does not affect the travel of the pedal UNLESS the volume pedal was not in the full "heel down" position when the screw was tightened.

The #1 item that I find from pedals being sent to me other than a bad pot, is that when the string was installed two things happened:
1: The pedal was not in full off position when installing the string.
2: The volume pot was not in full off position when installing the string
3: Screw not tight holding string to the volume pedal.
4: Improper string installation.

Goodrich has a little video on YouTube that would be wise for everyone to watch. I can't tell you how many times that I had replaced strings/volume pots and had to do them over and over till I made them work.

It's really pretty simple and definitely not high tech, so I would sometimes overthink the process.

If I can be of service let me know.