The Steel Guitar Forum

Why not short dowels too fat for the inner leg?

So, is there a consensus these days as to the best place to get clutch kits for legs? Don Burrows link doesn't appear to be working?

I had one leg that would "creep" down. I tried various things, including a clutch from a mike stand. Nothing seemed to work. Finally, I reversed the insert and no more problem. I had cleaned the insert piece but it still slipped. Reversing gave it a new point on the insert to tighten down on.

I surprised no one mentioned it yet but what I have done that worked a few times is just turn the clutch over. That way it snugs on the other edge. Worth a try .

Jeremy Threlfall wrote:So, is there a consensus these days as to the best place to get clutch kits for legs? Don Burrows link doesn't appear to be working?

Sounds like Gary Sill is the best contact for these parts

By clutch I mean that beveled ring inside thing you twist to tighten it

There is a whole kit, made by "Atlas" (see link below) which includes the bevelled ring and some spacers and other little bits and bobs (I've never laid my actual eyes on one). I understand that some mic stand clutches are direct fits, but (being in Australia) I want someone who knows to assure me that what I am buying will fit my Sho-bud legs before I buy them

http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/040535- ... und-MSCE-K

GET THEM FROM DON BURROWS. Far cheaper than Atlas and noticeably cheaper than Gary.

Thanks Lane. I'll try and track him down again. I watched your "Move it on Over" vid again last night, one of my favourite things out there atm. Thanks for that too!

You're quite welcome. I need to get better at speaking smoothly and quickly.

As long as you don't lose the knack for playing smoothly and quickly in the process

Been there and done that too. I gigged an old MSA S10 for 5 years with dowel rods in all 4 legs. I had them in both front legs with holes drilled through them for the Pedal Rod bolts. Had the dowels hot glued to the small tube so the dowel rods could not move the bolt holes out of line. I had them in both rear legs too. You can lengthen either back leg to set up on out of level places. You just can not shorten them. When you lengthen a back leg you are then depending on the Clutch adjuster to support the weight. I hauled the steel many miles in the back of a PT Cruiser set up with amp. and. seat under the steel.

Hi all,

After getting my first pedal steel, an 80's MSA, I noticed that the legs slipped when I pressed the pedals. I'm a bit taller so I have the legs higher than most folks. Anyway, I took apart the clutches, cleaned them and tried everything to get them to grip.

Then it occurred to me that they really aren't designed to resist the kind of force that they are subjected to - holding a microphone up doesn't require much effort.

I read all the replies here but I wanted to keep the legs fully adjustable just in case but also wanted them rock solid. My solution is small 16mm hose clamps on the lower leg. They can be set for the right height for playing on a level surface and just left there but if needed can be adjusted as required. And they don't look too bad.

The clutches still work well enough to set the leg heights, the clamps just make sure once the legs are set they're not going to move.
[img]https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix ... 2229_1.jpg[/img]

Have the same problem. I just tighten the crap out of them. Use a rag or something to keep your hands from getting marked by the nut splines.

Hold the leg rubber off the floor, tilting the guitar back a little, then let out a little extra height on the inner shaft before tightening the adjuster and then set the leg back down on the floor to allow the extra slippage to lock the inner shaft in place.

You may have to do a few trial and errors to get the right height.

Basically a bad design idea for such a heavy guitar.

But the legs do need adjust-ability for uneven floor surfaces not unless it stays parked somewhere for long periods of time.



Atlas clutch kit. I'm thinking though that the rubber parts need to be fatter and proli made out of polyurethane like heavy duty shock absorber eyelets to hold the weight of a psg better.

Here's an idea for you tall people (at 5'9", I'm not amongst you). Since most of us never adjust the front legs to accommodate uneven floors, get a length of pipe or conduit that's larger than the inner pipe and the notch in the pedal bar (but not by a lot), and cut to the right length to go between the clutch collar and the pedal bar.
Personally, I'd choose hard copper plumbing pipe, highly polished, then waxed to seal in the shine, because I think that'd be purty.
Pedal pressure will then never get delivered to the clutch, but to the big-ass collar and the outer tube.

My previous post, I thought I had it fixed by reversing the rod. That worked for a while but it started again. The front legs are only about 10 years old and no problem. The rear legs are the original 1981 legs that came with my Franklin. I ordered Atlas repair kits for both rear legs. The new repair kits have a different nut so I used the old nuts, so they would match the front, but it still had the problem of slippage. I used the new nut that came with the repair kit and no more problems.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... tml?sts=pi

Lane Gray wrote:get a length of pipe or conduit that's larger than the inner pipe and the notch in the pedal bar (but not by a lot), and cut to the right length to go between the clutch collar and the pedal bar.

What is a proper pedal height off the floor ?

Best leverage and pedal travel is when the bottom of the pedal bar is just barely clear of the crutch tip.
(hint: front leg crutch tips will last longer if you put a washer in there to protect the rubber from the cutting metal tube).
Then the spacer tube goes between pedal bar and clutch thingy (what is the name of the female threaded bit?)

Lane Gray wrote:Best leverage and pedal travel is when the bottom of the pedal bar is just barely clear of the crutch tip.
(hint: front leg crutch tips will last longer if you put a washer in there to protect the rubber from the cutting metal tube).
Then the spacer tube goes between pedal bar and clutch thingy (what is the name of the female threaded bit?)

Thanks Lane. I get it now!

I answered a different question than was actually asked, but I think it's the question you meant.
Once you have the pedal bar secured, you can adjust the pedal height. I recommend disregarding the height of the pedals at rest, because the best ergonomics is keeping the flexion of the ankle to a minimum.
Set the APPLIED height to a quarter inch or so (5-7mm in the civilized world) above the floor or stiff carpet (if a luxurious pile, just kissing the top of the carpet).
Oddly enough, this will usually end up with the same pedal height 'indexing' as most people prefer, because the A and C pedals have a greater throw than the B pedal.

Lane Gray wrote:I answered a different question than was actually asked, but I think it's the question you meant.
Once you have the pedal bar secured, you can adjust the pedal height. I recommend disregarding the height of the pedals at rest, because the best ergonomics is keeping the flexion of the ankle to a minimum.
Set the APPLIED height to a quarter inch or so (5-7mm in the civilized world) above the floor or stiff carpet (if a luxurious pile, just kissing the top of the carpet).
Oddly enough, this will usually end up with the same pedal height 'indexing' as most people prefer, because the A and C pedals have a greater throw than the B pedal.

Thanks for the embellishment. Good to know the throw issue on the A and C pedal. I now noticed the C pedal on my rig is higher than the A and B, with the A looking slightly higher than the B.

Your first post after looking at the crutch tip on my Shobud, the pedal bar is at the height of the crutch tips. This then begs the question that not just any tip will work if they are not the same height as the originals?

I wouldn't sweat that brand of small stuff.
If the new tips move the height, they won't move it much.

One of my rear legs on one steel would come loose and creep. Since my pedal rack rested on the rubber feet on the front legs, I swapped out the rear leg to the front. Seems to be OK so far.

One of my rear legs on one steel would come loose and creep. Since my pedal rack rested on the rubber feet on the front legs, I swapped out the rear leg to the front. Seems to be OK so far.