Pedal Action on MCI Steel?

[Randy Carson]

What are pedals like on an MCI? stiff, easy, quick, long, soft?

[Johnny Jones]

You can make the pedal action,anyway you like.I have a long throw,and soft pedal.

[Johnie King]

I’ve had several MCI steels they all hAd good pedal action.

Here’s a MCI I had for a short time that played very well.

[Johnie King]

I’ve had several MCI steels they all hAd good pedal action.

Here’s a MCI I had for a short time that played very well.

[David Mitchell]

Like everyone else said it can be setup to play how you like it. I have 3 EMCI's. There is 3 things you can change on any all pull pedal steel to change the action. All user serviceable if you got any sense at all.

#1 - Look at the pedal rods where the ball joints attach to the pedals. The closer the pedal rod is to the pedal bar will make for easier action. Some steel guitar companies give you an option to change that by simply moving the connector to a different hole like the old Sho-Buds. Most all can be modified with a drill and a thread tapping set.

#2 - If you'll look at the changer end of the guitar you'll see that the top 3 rod holes raise the pitch and the bottom 3 lower the pitch. The closer the pull rods are to the bottom of the changer finger (further away from the top of the guitar) the easier the action and the longer the throw. The closer they are to the changer axle the stiffer the action becomes.

#3 - Flipping the guitar over you will see the bell cranks and the pull rods attached to them. The closer the pull rods are to the cross shafts the easier the action but it will shorten the throw a little bit. The higher to the top of the bell crank the stiffer the action will become.

[Bill C. Buntin]

Randy that’s some good insight mr Mitchell as just provided.

My thought, because I play exclusively emci and have always been partial to them, but as stated above they can be adjusted for whatever feel you desire. Mine are a little stiff on pedals, but I’ve worked on my knees as stated above and have them all fairly easy and smooth.

I might add that I’ve added a few extra stops on some of mine just cause I like a real positive hard stop.

Mci equipment is good stuff in my opinion

Bill

[David Mitchell]

I might add that I’ve added a few extra stops on some of mine just cause I like a real positive hard stop.

Mci equipment is good stuff in my opinion

Bill

Absolutely! Pro players like solid stops. Spongey pedals and knee levers are an undesirable trait on any pedal steel. I too think MCI's and EMCI's were as close to perfect as an all pull can get. Buddy Emmons thought so too but he said his only regret was the inability to add split tuners on the changer the way it's shape. Bud Carter did provide an extra rod for split tuning.

[Randy Carson]

Thanks so much guys..I've found perhaps because I started on a Mullen years ago that I prefer the Mullen pedal action which to me is very positive so this is what I'm trying g to achieve which is easy but not long either how would you set it up to get the Mullen type action since I have a Mullen for stage that is left in the band trailer. I would want to set this MCI up at home to play the same if possible any comments? Thanks Again!

[Jerry Overstreet]

You can only do so much with the geometry you have to work with. A guitar's design determines the geometry.

I owned an MCI for a few years. It was a nice playing guitar.

I've also owned 3 or 4 Mullen guitars over the years. The MCI pedal action is not the same. Mullen action is within the top 2 or 3 guitars I've played.

I don't think any adjustments to the MCI will make it play like a Mullen.

That is not a knock on the MCI...fine guitars...just the difference in the 2 designs. IMO.

[David Mitchell]

I set my EMCI with hair trigger pedals. It plays much easier than the two Mullen I owned which had extremely easy to play positive action by doing the steps above I spoke of. Now there is a caveat. Anytime the action is that easy to play the least bit of pressure on the pedals or levers throws it horribly out of tune and I don't mean just a little either. Another thing is if your shoes are too heavy you can't even feel the pedals under your feet. My EMCI is also not stock. I designed the undercarriage with nothing but pedal cross shafts that have the set screw stop that slams the aluminum rail on the body. Very position stops and fully adjustable. Looking at it at first glance there appears to be no stops at all. You just have to look a little closer. As Jerry mentioned the design somewhat dictates how much adjustment you can get away with. This is true but any of the Bud Carter products can setup to play too easy but they don't come that way. Like others said the Mullen comes stock with about the best action you can get. Easy to play but not too easy to play or rather throw out of tune by lightly having your foot on top of the pedals when not in use. A Mullen is probably the best guitar made if you don't ever want to do any maintenance. I played the first one I had all over the country for 15 years and never even lubed it or anything. Still working flawlessly when I sold it. I still don't know why I sold it. Gorgeous D-10 red lacquer with MOP inlay 8 & 8.

[John Hyland]

It seems to me smooth and easy are rather subjective especially when it isn't know how much travel is involved. - I think travel would be a more useful indication of its playability.
On my prototype the A pedal travels 20mm at the tip of the pedal pad (130mm from the axle). For you not metrically enlightened that is .8 of an inch down over 5 inches pedal length.
I'd be interesting to hear others.
I have the travel distance about the same on the B and C pedals

[Brint Hannay]

Flipping the guitar over you will see the bell cranks and the pull rods attached to them. The closer the pull rods are to the cross shafts the easier the action but it will shorten the throw a little bit. The higher to the top of the bell crank the stiffer the action will become.

Winnie Winston in his article on Basic Mechanics in Steel Guitarist magazine #4 says:

The position on the bell crank where the pull rod attaches:
The closer you get to the axle, the easier the pull will be, but the longer the travel will be.

(emphasis added)

[David Mitchell]

Winnie was right up until he said longer. I believe he meant to say shorter closer to the shaft. I work on them all the time. All kinds of steels as well as play them. Just yesterday against my will I had to move some pull rods closer to the top of the bellcrank because I could not get enough travel even after I lower the pedal stop. I raised the pull rod up and it was enough to reach the pull destination. Think of it as a seesaw. If you are sitting close to the axle or pivot point you are not gonna go very high into the air but if you sit at the end of the board you will travel way up in the air.

[Brint Hannay]

I believe Winnie was right as stated.

I don't claim to be an expert on this, but I've spent an embarrassing amount of time studying Winnie's Basic Mechanics article trying to understand the principles, and, using the seesaw analogy, it seems to me that, at the bell crank, the pedal rod is yourself on the seesaw, and the pull rod is the person at the other end of the seesaw. If the other person (i.e., pull rod) gets closer to the fulcrum, it takes less force from you to raise them, but to make them travel the same distance (i.e., raise/lower to pitch), you (the pedal) have to travel more.

At the changer end, the pull rod is you on the seesaw and the string tension is the person at the other end. Since the resting string tension doesn't change, adjustments to easy/stiff action and travel distance at this point are made by changing your position on the "seesaw". Putting yourself (pull rod) farther from the fulcrum means easier but longer.

[Bobby D. Jones]

From manufacture to manufacture there is 4 things in their design that makes some guitars easier to set up to play easy. They set these dimensions we must work with.

1. The radius from the center of the changer shaft to the top of the changer finger the strings pulls over.

2. The length of the levers the pull rods hook to in the changer.

3. The length of the lever from the Center of the Cross Rod to the center of the hole the Pedal pedal rod attaches.

4. Mechanical ratio of pivot from pedal connection to pedal bar, To the pedal pull rod connector, Against length of pedal, From the pedal rod connector to pressure point of the foot on the pedal.

About the only thing we can move to adjust the action of the guitar, And some are limited by length of pull each string needs to reach desired note.

1. Hole in changer lever we attach the pull rod.

2. The hole in the bell crank we attach the pull rod in.

3. Some guitars have more than 1 hole in the pedal to attach the pedal pull rod to.

4. Adjustment of pedal and lever stop for action to begin
or end its pull.
Any thing else you do, You are redesigning their project.

Before computers, When I worked in the light bulb industry we always blamed mistakes on an engineer who couldn't read their Slide Rule properly, When he was making his calculations. To the engineers it would work in theory and on paper, But would not work proper in reality. Sometimes the machine mechanics and shop machinists would have to redesign parts and make them in house to get a new machine to operate properly.

[Paul Mozen]

I have to agree on the bellcrank position. I just changed my pullrods to C pedal , I put them on the top of bellcrank (furthest from the cross shaft. Very nice light push tightens the strings. My problem now is the pedals feel mushy. Any help appreciated.

Paul

[John Hyland]

I have to agree on the bellcrank position. I just changed my pullrods to C pedal , I put them on the top of bellcrank (furthest from the cross shaft. Very nice light push tightens the strings. My problem now is the pedals feel mushy. Any help appreciated.

Paul

I don’t quite understand. You suggest you have made the action lighter yet moved the outer most bellcrank position.
Also when you say mushy I presume you mean at the end of the travel. Check to see it the stop is actually hitting the stop and not just pulling up near the adjustment - you should get a nice teal on metal click at the end of the travel.