The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi everyone,
Just wondered how many of you like your pedals on maximum travel and least pedall effort .I have set my Mullen up to this way.It is effortless to play now.The knees I have lightened up too but not as much .I have one knee lever that actuates 4 strings and feels now as though it only pulls 2 .Well pleased.

Long and slow.

I must be spoilt. My pedals are light and don't move far.

I don't like too much either side, it wears the ankles out on long jobs, i set mine up in between, firmish with low travel, soft pedals are addictive though...Also pedals down i like them where the ankles are fairly straight, not tip toed up or down too much.

I'm mostly playing a Madison permanent any more--I'm lucky in that the pedal action is pretty much perfect.

Even though it's a "permanent," there's still a certain amount of control I have over the action of the guitar. The welded bellcranks still have several holes to choose from as do the fingers. I've made a few tweaks...

There's something really solid about the action on a pull release guitar when it's set up right.

Dave

I don't like it when the pedal feel is too light, it makes me feel "unconnected" with what's going on. I also like to sometimes rest my foot on the A&B pedals, or wear heavier shoes, and that means I want some firmness and "pushback" in the mechanism.

Me too, word for word.

I think the long throw has some advantages. On slow songs I seem to have better control over a half pedal. I also can hear the pull longer and it makes more of that steel guitar swell sound. On the other hand, playing fast you really have to move those knees in order to get them to the stops in time. The shorter throw puts you on the note in a hurry. I have a Mullen that is very short throw and effortless to play. I do enjoy playing it. I have a Show Pro with long throws/pulls and it is a little harder to maneuver. With all that said, I like the sounds from the Show Pro better because I like to hear the longer/slower change. Just my opinion.

Hi guys ,
Yes long easy throws give a more organic feel to the strings and gives a better control .It is possible to " trill" the note especially the A pedal ...think JD Calls steel on Same old country song.Not possible on a heavy feel.

I'm with Donny on this - firm but not too firm action. I want to feel some pushback. Not so much that it inhibits playing, but enough that I feel connected to the guitar, as he says. I've had to firm up the action a bit on a couple of guitars I got.

Firm pedals for me too.....for the reasons stated by Donny & Dave.

I’ve noticed that when pedals are to easy to push, I have to actively use the “ shin muscles” (ankle dorsiflexors) to keep my foot perched above the pedals, which can be exhausting. If I don’t, I may be inadvertently pressing pedals enough to affect tuning.

Hello!

How do I change the travel on a pedal?

And how do I change the tension felt on the pedal?

Best regards,

Al