The Steel Guitar Forum

Just picked up a used Mullen SD10 and am enjoying a great "honeymoon", I must say. My first serious horn! I'm having a very minor problem, and wanted to get some input before I start tinkering...

Pedal 1/pedal A seems to be causing some instability on string 10. I'm tuning to pitch with the pedal up, then tuning the pedal, then the open/pedal up pitch comes back a little flat. String 5 seems to be more or less OK...

I noticed that pedal 1 has almost no slack/play. It engages almost immediately, which some people might favor..? I guess I could get used to it if the tuning weren't affected...

Appreciate any input....

First check that the 10th string lower spring isn't allowing the lower lever to pull away from it's stop. If it is, tighten the spring a turn or two and retune the pull.

If that's not it, loosen the tuning nut on the 10th string and see if that gets your free play back. If it does, tune the string open, then tune up the pedal. If your free play disappears again or you didn't get more free play, you'll have to either increase the overall pedal travel, or move the 10th string pull one or two holes away from the cross shaft to shorten the stroke.

Also, you might put a drop of oil on the 10th string roller, and then spin it a few times. Sometimes the nut rollers, if they're not moving smoothly, can also cause that "return flat" problem.

on My Mullen the 10th string raise first pedal A is in the 2nd hole on the bell crank the 2nd nearest hole to the bottom of the guitar . but it sounds like a loose return spring or sticky roller or changer. i have used barrymen carburater cleaner to clean a sticky changer but do it out side its a mess after you do that blow it out good with a air nozzle and then oil it up real good. i use fishing reel oil you can get it a wal mart and it doesnt attract dust and lint some guys use sewing machine oil as well but dont use W-D 40 or 3in1 oil cause in 3 months it will be gummed up again
hope we helped you out
BOO

Nathan
Bring the guitar over to my house.
Herb

Thanks for all the input, everyone. One clarification - string 5 has fine slack/play before the pedal engages the pull, but string 10 engages immediately and raises about a quarter step in the "slack zone" for string 5...

OK Herb, I'll bring it over within the next couple of days. I'll be in contact via email to set up a time. Thanks!

Let Herb check it out for you.But in the mean time just raise the string 10 rod up ^ 1 hole on the bell-crank.Up of course being further away from the cross bar.

Thanks again, everyone. Between Herb's kind response and an email response I just got from Del himself, I will get this resolved very soon.

Jeff Newman has a video on how to clean a pedal steel. He suggests using lighter fluid on the changer. Air dry the changer, then re-oil. I did it on a lacquer body and it worked great. The lighter fluid disipates quickly and is easy on the finish, but I'll say this as a disclaimer, always check on a non-conspicuous part of the lacquer before trying it with any cleaner.
Carburetor cleaner?????????????????????Not!

Moving the string 10 pull rod down one hole on the bell crank worked like a charm... (Bobby, you and Del said exactly the same thing right off the bat!)... And thanks to Herb for stepping in with an offer to look at the axe. Mission accomplished for now!

Umm, that was one of my suggestions in the first reply to your post.

Sorry, Jim - I didn't give you your "PROPS", as they say. It's one of the pitfalls of getting so much good advice - a few thank you's get left out! For what it's worth, I can promise you a lot more "newbie blunders" and mechanical problems I'm not smart enough to fix!