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Topic: Edwards Light Beam Pedal |
Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 8 Jun 2002 12:38 pm |
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I have a Edwards Light Beam Volume Pedal and I'm wondering if anyone knows the history of this item (who, when, where, why). It's also a sideways/tone pedal too but I've disabled that feature for the time being. I need to adjust this thing in a couple of ways. The 'off' postion or full up position isn't off enough for me and this AC powered pedal gets almost hot enough to iron a shirt by the end of the night. I'm wondering if that's normal or fixable. It's a really heavy pedal, which I like, as it stays put. It's my backup; I have a really excellent 'main' pedal. I'm just curious and want to learn from those with experience with these. Thanks in adv.
Bob M. |
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 9 Jun 2002 9:48 am
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Bob, Don Edwards made those pedals, and he had a music store in Denver, Colorado. He also sold steel guitars. Ronnie Millier, of the Charlie Pride Show, used to work for Don. Terry Bethel ,of the Mel Tillis show, was recently telling me about buying a steel from Don in the early 60's. I have two of the Don Edwards pedals, one is straight volume, and the other is tone and volume. You wanted to know more about the pedal you have: The up and down travel of these old Edwards pedals is only 1 inch. Much less than most pedals. For example the old Sho Bud pedal moved up and down 1 1/2 inches. This makes for a very short and quick action. The overall height of these pedals was pretty tall also, although the castings are a work of art. The operation is based on a light shining on a photo-resistor. The light is shaded with a brown piece of plastic. A rat tail file was use to file the plastic thin to thick, in a narrow "V" shape. This allows for more or less light to fall on the photo-resistor, as the light shines through the plastic. It would be difficult to change the travel, to get more up and down movement, without a lot of work.
The Edwards pedals did not have a pre-amp and simply bled signal to ground. This is one reason so many people complained about the loss of high end frequency with these pedals. Those that wanted more high end frequency and had a Edwards pedal, simply jacked up the trebble on their amps. Not the same quality as high end pickup frequecy, but artificial high end sound never the less.
So it gets hot does it Bob. Bob, there is a 120 volt transformer inside the pedal and there is where all the heat is coming from. Transformers have a coating on the wire. This coating breaks down over the years and starts to crack and break up. Nothing lasts forever and this transformer coating was put on about 40 years ago. If there was ever a problem, let me remind you that your foot is resting on a possible 120 AC volts. That is the main reason I decided not to rebuild the two Edwards pedals I have. I simply would not feel comfortable with a 120 volt transformer inside a metal volume pedal. Maybe you have a lot more nerve than me. Hope this information helps. |
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 13 Jun 2002 6:10 pm
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Nerves of Steel, I guess.....duh, excuse the pun.
I'm an 'electronics' guy so I'm observing safe electricity procedures.
I was wondering if all of 'em did that big heatup routine or mine was 'special' that way?
I like to make all this older stuff work as good as it can; I hate having alot of old broken junk lying around. I don't really use it much, just once in awhile. I will take your good advice and heatshrink the transformer leads and do some improved grounding. My pedal had a cap across the in/out jacks. By trial and error, I got the pedal to sound pretty good by replacing that cap with a better quality audio device with a different value.
Of course, this pedal doesn't compete with today's high tech stuff, but its fun to have around and working; a real conversation piece for steel players and quite a great chrome deco objet d'art.
Keith, thanks for taking the time to tell its story.
Bob M. |
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Bill Crook
From:
Goodlettsville, TN , Spending my kid's inheritance
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Posted 14 Jun 2002 2:25 am
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Bob....
If the Xmer is your only concern, simply replace it with a new one.
All of these type pedals use a 6.3 or 12 volt transformer avalable at most any Radio Shack today.
As for the quick change in volumne, one simply changes the V shape pattern of the material allowing the light to hit the photocell. This is not rocket-science stuff here. This can be accomplished by placeing black tape or other material to change the amount of light avalable to the photo-cell, onto the moveable part of the pedal.
A somewhat heat level here is to be accepted. You have a Xfmer and a light bulb that generates a fair amount of heat.
Most comsumer devices have built in protection for short-outs and such. If the transformer should develope a short, I'm sure it would fail long before you knew there was a problem. Most transformers have an internal (non-replaceable) fuse in the case of shorts and/or excess heat.
Now, this is NOT to suggest you dis-reguard any safety practise,but only to say that an amount of heat is permissable in thes pedals.
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 14 Jun 2002 11:13 am
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Thanks for contributing, Bill!
Based on your response and my being around things electronic, I'd say this pedal gets too hot and needs some sort of attention. It really shouldn't get more than mildly warm to the touch and mine goes well beyond that.
I'm always observing good electrical safety practices as I have a healthy respect for electricity. I learned a long time ago what parts not to put my tongue on. I just like to consult the wise and experienced men and women of this forum before I go about re-inventing the wheel.
Bob M.
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 14 Jun 2002 4:31 pm
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Bob here is some things to do if you do rebuild this pedal: Bill is right, you can replace the transformer. As old as the transformer is, I would sure replace it, since transformers like that can be had for less than $10.00. Not all transformers have a safety fuse inside them but you can install one. I would use a grounded cord to the pedal as that prevents you from becoming the ground. Running a ground wire may cause noise and I don't know how you would get around that problem, if there is noise. Maybe Bill can tell us how to
maintain a ground and get rid of hum. No matter what you do to the "V" shade, the light shines through, the pedal "still" only moves up and down one inch. You can alter that movement, but it will take a lot of work and lots of new parts. You still have no pre-amp in the electronics of the old Edwards pedal. This "milks" a pickup, causing a loss of highs. You might try putting a 150K resistor between the pickup and the pedal, so the electronics won't "milk" the pickup. The best solution is a pre-amp. I re-built one of the Edwards pedals I have. Here is what I did: I took all the guts out, ran a 12 volt DC wall wart power supply to the pedal. This eliminated the danger of 120 volts AC. Inside I installed a pre-amp. For the control of the signal I used two lights instead of one. These two lights were controlled by "V" shades turned opposite. By using two of the "V"s I was able to create a voltage divider. I used two Cds cells, photo resistors. Here is how I got around the ambient light issue. Meaning a lot of these photo resistor pedals would not go all the way off because of light coming between the crack of the two halfs of the pedal. I made my lights really bright. You can get extra bright LEDs at Radio Shack. The Edwards pedal I rebuilt sounds as good as any pedal I have ever built. If you use a chip integrated circuit for a pre-amp, do yourself a favor and get something better than a 741. The 741's are cheap, and sound really terrible. Some guys like rebuilding old cars, or race cars. I am one of those who likes rebuilding old steel guitar pedals. |
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 15 Jun 2002 12:13 pm
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Keith,
Alot of good advice there. What do you recommend instead of the 741's? (I've been using some of the Burr-Brown stuff with excellent results.)
My old Goodrich model 400A volume pedal uses 2 photocells in a voltage divider config. and that's a better solution. But I'm really trying to get the photocell to turn the Edwards pedal completely off. It stays on a bit too much for my taste at the end of its travel. The short throw doesn't bother me but, then again, I'm not using it very much. Fusing is always a good idea - I'll add an in-line fuse (if there isn't already one there).
Alot of great suggestions from guys in-the-know! Thanks.
Bob M.
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 16 Jun 2002 8:11 pm
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Bob, try the Burr Brown 604 chip. You do know Burr Brown was bought out by Texas Instruments, but that 604 chip is still available. Correcting the problem of the pedal staying on when in the off position can be difficult with photo resistor pedals.
They all had that problem to some degree. You may have to change the photo resistor, or the intensity of the light, or alter the shade, or all of these to get the pedal to go all the way off. It is difficult when light gets in between the top half and bottom half of the pedal. |
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 17 Jun 2002 1:37 pm
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Keith,
Thanks for your time and advice!
Bob M. |
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Jim Florence
From:
wilburton, Ok. US * R.I.P.
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Posted 20 Jun 2002 10:08 am
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Bob, I used one for many years, still have it and if it weren't worn out mechanically I'd still be using it. It is when the light is brightest, that the pedal is off. I'd say since you have that heat that your transformer is breaking down, and consequently the bulb is not as bright as it should be. I replaced the transformer a couple of times over the years. You also may have the wrong light bulb in there. Should be a #58. If the photocell has been changed that too could be the problem. I just happen to have a couple of them
Jim
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 20 Jun 2002 10:57 am
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Thanks, Jim, for you knowledge and experience!
Is that 'Wilburton Mountain", OK?
Bob M. |
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Jim Florence
From:
wilburton, Ok. US * R.I.P.
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Posted 21 Jun 2002 7:45 am
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No Bob, The song was "Wolverton Mountain" recorded by Claude King. I had the pleasure of playing that song with the great C.K. many
times. It was merely a figment of Merle Kilgore's imagination. Not based on any real place. |
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Bob Metzger
From:
Waltham (Boston), MA, USA
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Posted 22 Jun 2002 1:04 pm
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Please excuse my pun, but how serendipitous that you've played with the man himself! I'm glad my little gaff unearthed and shined some light this bit of history!
Thanks, and thanks to all who contributed to this most interesting thread!
Bob M.[This message was edited by Bob Metzger on 22 June 2002 at 02:05 PM.] [This message was edited by Bob Metzger on 22 June 2002 at 02:07 PM.] |
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Jim Florence
From:
wilburton, Ok. US * R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Jun 2002 3:50 pm
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The thanks go to you, I haven't had a chance to talk about it in years.
Jim |
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