The Steel Guitar Forum

I've had a number of different steels over the last 30 years Sho- buds, Eamons, ZB.I never felt uncomfortable sitting at any of them. I acquired a Carter S10 a couple of years ago and have never felt completely at ease sitting at the guitar.It's never bothered me that much and the guitar sounds perfect. I couldn't put my finger on the exact reason why, until I spoke to another Carter owner who also played Sho -Bud for years.He pointed out that he had to sit too far under the guitar to feel comfortable with the knee levers and in so doing found his knee in line with the pedals and much harder to press down than the old guitars where you could bend the leg at an angle and sit back a little from the guitar.If I sit back from my guitar to bend my leg slightly I then find it impossible to operate the levers properly. He reckons that it has something to do with the distance between the front and back legs. Were the older guitar legs further apart? Anyone out there with a tape measure and an old guitar and modern guitar to compare? Is this a problem with other modern makes? James.

Hi James, I also had a "Comfort" problem for the first 20 years used to lug this old red club seat around with me (that thing did some mileage!) then I discovered Ray Walkers seat WOW! absoloutly cured! whatever steel I sit behind...... once again Ray my bum thanks you!!

I'm new to the pedal steel but in my search for an instrument it was mentioned that a smaller frame puts the knee levers on a closer to the pedals, forcing you to sit forward further. My instructor said that at one point he created small extensions on the knee levers to make them work better. However, he recommended a double frame, even if I got a single neck guitar and in the end I purchased an MSA D-10 from a forumite and I don't have a problem.

I also had this problem with my s-10 carter. I traded for a single 10 on a double and the problem was cured

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Hi All, I forgot to add that my Carter is a S10 on a Double body, yet I'm still not altogether comfortable with the sitting position. Hey John, nice to hear from you,I'll get some details from you regarding the seat you mentioned. Cheers all, James

James, make sure you sit as far to the right as possible.
You left leg should then be at the optimal position for operating the knee levers/pedals.
You may also find that sitting higher is easier on the left ankle.
I set my seat at 21 inches high, which is higher than you would expect for my height...5 foot 6".

A lot of times, the problem is the positioning or spacing of the left knee levers. A good steel tech can put them where you want them!

Don't suffer with a steel that "feels wrong". It takes all the fun outof playing.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 21 December 2005 at 11:25 AM.]</p></FONT>

i had the same problem with the carter that i had , i even had Bobby Bowman make longer Knee levers for it and still had problems with it ..ended up selling it and bought a zum that fit me

calvin

Hi Richard,Nice to hear from you. I've just measured my seat height and it's a little over 19ins, I'll give the 21ins a try as we are both the same height.No one has come up with the leg measurement yet, I'm still curious about that distance between the front and back legs. Not sure yet, but I might be passing your way over the Xmas holiday time!!Happy Xmas everybody.