The Steel Guitar Forum

Hello forum pros I am fairly new to playing but I am progressing fine but I would love some advice on setting the height on my pedals and most importantly if they are all supposed to be exactly the same height. I have a hard time rolling off the A pedal leaving B down and not hitting the D lever. Does anyone set pedals at different heights? Thanks Craig corry I play a desert rose vintage pro

As far as I know, there aren't any real set rules for pedal height. Adjust them to where they work the best for you so long as they don't bottom out on the floor or carpet or the connectors don't run out of threads. You need enough threads still engaged in the connector so they don't strip out. As long as you change the rod length down at the pedal quick connectors, it changes nothing about the other adjustments up under the body. My "A" and "C" pedals are both slightly higher than the "B".

Thanx Danny for responding about my pedal questions

The way my pedals are adjusted. I play the Day setup, and pedal 2 is my C pedal, pedal 3 is my B pedal, and pedal 4 is my A pedal

Danny Letz wrote: My "A" and "C" pedals are both slightly higher than the "B".

I have my A & C slightly higher than my B, as well, with my C pedal being the highest. Thanks for the tip about the threads, Danny.

Yeah, my A pedal rides a lot higher than my B or C, and the height difference does not seem optimal or foot-friendly.

Since I'm fairly new to PSG, making even little adjustments seems slightly intimidating. Thanks for the excellent tips, sometimes the best advice is what 'not to do'.

Craig Corry wrote:Hello forum pros I am fairly new to playing but I am progressing fine but I would love some advice on setting the height on my pedals and most importantly if they are all supposed to be exactly the same height. I have a hard time rolling off the A pedal leaving B down and not hitting the D lever. Does anyone set pedals at different heights? Thanks Craig corry I play a desert rose vintage pro

Though I've been playing non-pedal steel for quite a while, I'm an absolute beginner at pedal steel, and I've noticed from Day-1 that many of the steels in use out there have differing pedals heights. At first, I thought it was just an artifact - something that I was imagining or over-thinking, but now I know better. The pedals are being adjusted to different heights by different players, based upon the very criteria that you've mentioned here (ergonomics).

My suggestion? Set your pedal heights to what makes sense for you and your geometry, and don't worry about what everyone else says or does. If I've learned anything this past 4-6 months, its that everyone has their own deal (i.e., there's very little standardization or uniformity).