The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey everyone,

As some of you know, I bought my Franklin about a month ago brand new. Been having some problems with it lately and I'm not sure if these are standard. When I ever I hit down 2 pedals together, the amp starts to short it out. This only happens with 2 pedals and not as much when I do just one. Any ideas what this could be? Thanks!

Evan

Sounds to me like one of the rods or pullers from one of those two pedals is catching on a wire to your pickup; check the clearance and maybe tape the wires up to the body? If that doesn't help, wait here for somebody smarter.

here i am! but i have to agree with jim. i've had steels that the mechanism would rub a wire or something in the switching area. just look underneath, see what might be touching and maybe tape up the offending wire.

i know it's not kosher to badmouth anything about a franklin, but come on....a brand new one?

It has nothing to do with the brand. Just the problem! Obviously, it's an amazing guitar! Looks like its a rubbing problem, but I readjusted it and it went away. I see what was causing it and it wasn't anything crazy. May need to just tape that up. Thanks for your help!

no, of course not. it's merely a brand new steel with a problem.

glad you found the problem. lots of times it's just dumb little things that can happen to any guitar (!).

chris,
I'm glad you realize it !

....i'm not as dumb as i act!

i'd love to have a franklin.

Evan, rather than tape, I'd use a little drop of Shoe Goo, since over time tape can dry out.
Or call Paul Sr and ask him for suggestion. I bet he'd have one.
Congrats on the new axe

Well by any chance was it caused by the undercarriage mechanism contacting the longer contact on the input jack? I ask because I had that problem on my Carter once after swapping pickups. I just had to loosen the jack, rotate it slightly on the endplate and re-tighten it.

Hit the strings with your amp on while reaching under the changer and tugging on the wires leading to your input jack. If there's a connection problem it should make itself known. You may need to re-solder the wires to the input jack. Not sure why else there would be an interrupted signal - even if your rods were touch the wires. A bit of solder could have become loose or cracked off during routine transport. I wouldn't be able to relax, though, until the origin of the problem was confirmed - especially if I were gigging with it.