The Steel Guitar Forum

Over the years ,I have seen many post on pedal height adjustments,,A pedal higher than the B pedal,,C pedal higher than the B pedal Etc.

This post looks at it from the pedal down position,,thats right,,the height or clearance from the floor at pedal down.

My logic over the years is this,, when one plants the heel on the floor and presses down on any pedal one of three things happen,,

1. As the pedal goes down the heel through friction on the floor moves to the rear adding pressure to the downward motion.

2.The heel stays put & through friction the pedal slides slightly to the rear under the sole
adding more pressure needed to press the pedal down.

3.The heel stays put the pedal does not slide slightly to the rear under foot and the steel ,,you got it,,, moves slightly foreward

I set my pedals as low as possible and work in reverse,, in other words, Ill adjust the A pedal down as far as possible and start working my way up until the pedal is just slightly off the floor when pressed all the way down. I have seen a lot of pedal set ups 3/4 to 1" off the floor at the full down position Mine almost touch the floor at the down position ,,Why ????

The higher the pedals are from the floor the greater the upward angle of the foot must be from heel to toe when pressing down thus creating more friction on the pedals or foreward push on the steel.

So my logic is ,,Keep the pedal to the Metal & lower the pedals as far as possible

I have my Carter & Emmons both set up this way.
So get down on all 4s grab one of your favorite playing shoes put your hand in it & press down on one of your pedals,,, either 1 2 or 3 above will happen or ,someone will see ya,, if they do just say ya dropped a screw




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I'm 6'4".
It probably took me a year to finish all the tweaks for pedals and levers (after trial and error). I extended the pedal rods on my Dekley as far as allowed considering the A B C placement as you mentioned (higher, lower, highest), bottoming out in the same, but less exaggerated configuration.
I then would fold up my Session 500 vinyl cover and a small towel and put them under my left heel.
This raised my left foot so that it would be parallel to the floor at about half pedal travel. The arc of motion is minimal AND the towel absorbs what little lateral motion is induced.
I've always wondered why I've never seen anyone else do this...

What contortions we have to go through. Just last Saturday, there was a heavy rain, so I didn't wear my typical soft canvass playing shoes, but wore sneakers. When I got to my gig, I realized I forgot my playing shoes!! Panic time. No way I could play in my heavy fat sneakers, or in my bare socks. Fortuneately, there was a small store opened late near by with swimming type gear, and I picked up a pair of beach walking shoes which had a soft canvas material. They did the trick. But the whole situtation with playing this instrument is so preposterous as to make things like which shoes you wear, how tall you are, and other seemingly unrelated things important.

I like to play with leather soled shoes. The leather soles allow for some slippage on the pedals as opposed to rubber soles. The problem with having the pedals set so close to the floor is if you ever have to set up on carpet. The legs settle into the carpet and you can't get full travel on the pedals. However, you can always set the legs on ash trays to take care of the problem.
Uff-Da!

If I had a chance to do it all over again, I'd take up steel again. At times a gig calls for boots. About 3 years ago we were the band for the Phoenix 4th of July bash, As I was getting dressed in the shades down bedroom,because I dident want to wake my gal up,I put my boots on,grabed my gear and went to the gig,set up and was drinking a coke. One of the musicians walked up and said you allright? I said sure,why. He said Linda sure dressed you funny, you got one black boot and one brown. I was forced to use the old line, I got another pair just like it at home. the band got a big charge out of that and I still here about it. It doe'nt help being 63 and living in Sun City OH WELL

Kinda what Erv said. It's one thing if you're setup on a hardwood floor and quiet another if you're on a soft carpet like so many Oprys have. I've found I have to raise all my pedals or put the front legs in casters (like Gaterade lids or ashtrays).

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Mullen D10-8/5
Sho-Bud S10-3/4
Evans Amps
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