The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi, I am new to pedal steel guitar but I´ve been a musician for mre than 30 years. I have bought an old Sho bud Maverick and I really want to learn to play it but the problem is that it doesn´t stay in tune no matter how many ways I try. And trying to adjust it I have broken two fingers. Right now I have not any possibility to buy another guitar because with this Covid situation I can not spend money on that. I live in a small island in Spain and I don´t know any luthier nearby that could fix it. Could someone give me some advice how to set it up?. One of my doubts is: The coat hanger wires have a measures.

Wow, that has been to war and back (....maybe not back).
I'm not competent on this sort of steel so I'll leave suggestions and tuning procedures to people who are.

But a question arises: are the repairs to broken parts -- on the changer and at the pedal rod hook up -- stable? Do these attached parts move or are they well connected and stay firm and solid?

Can't offer any specific tips to that type of guitar.

The one thing that comes tom mind first when I hear someone can't tune a guitar is actually two things. LOL!

Make sure there are fresh strings on it. Once strings get old and stretched, they just can't function properly anymore.

Then, the main thing, all steels need some slack in the pulls. First make sure there is no pressure on any pulls when the guitar sits idle. As you move a lever or pedal, there should be some slack movement before things engage at the changer.

If you have things bound up, it will never work right.

The parts are moving freely . I think one of the problems is that it came with very old string and some of them broke and I change them with guitar string of approximately the same gauge. Now I know that is not possible I have ordered new strings. The guitar is torn apart because I broke a finger ( second one) and I need to get them or fix them. My problem is mainly with the 4 string , if I tune the rise Is impossible to tune it open. Another thing that I try now that I know it is to tune it by cents, some notes up ,some under the pitch. I was tuning like I tune my guitars but now I know that the pedal steel is tune different.

Something looks wrong to me - different from my Maverick anyway. Experts: are those nylon parts on the changer stock on later model Mavericks? Mine doesn't have them.

How to tune? Here's a good starting point for tempering. It's not exact but it sounds better than equal temperament. You might want to tweak it once you get the hang of tuning the guitar.



First tune strings 1 2 7 8 and 9 at the keyhead.

Tune strings 3 5 6 and 10 with the "A" and "B" pedals both down, to notes A and C# at the keyhead. Then release the pedals and tune the open strings with the tuning nut in the changer to notes G# and B.

Tune string 4 with "B" and "C" pedals down to F# at the keyhead. Then release the pedals and the open E note using the tuning nut in the changer.

Tune the "D" lever lowers using the changer tuning nuts for strings 2 and 9.

I asked a friend to help me making the fingers that were broken and I received them today. He made them from stainless steel, wich is not the best material but at least I know that I can not break them again. I will try again to tune the guitar following the advices from you all and I let you know how it goes. Thank you

How did you break the fingers by trying to tune it? The Maverick (pull - release) changer is very confusing without prior knowledge of the proper method. I hope the information given here will prevent that from happening again. If you are unable to buy pedal steel strings just note the right gauges (012, 015, 011, 014, 022wound, 026w, 030w, 034w, 036w) and use nickel electric guitar strings. For a Maverick I’d use 022 wound instead of plain.

Just one very basic step here... when you are tuning the open string (No pedals or levers engaged) be sure that all other adjustments are not pulling on the string or affecting the pitch. check each stop or rod length (nylon nut) to be sure all are loose enough to allow the open string to rest at a stable pitch.

Then work on one string pull at a time and tune that to pitch (1/2 or 1 whole step etc.) and then be sure when released it returns to the open pitch... If the instrument has been messed with this may take some time!

Boris, you have the best help there is, here now. I hope they can stay with you on it. I promise you, I will help as much as I can, but I never had a Maverick.

Hi Boris, I will offer my bit of advice here. Pull-release changer mechanisms like the Maverick are not complex in their function, but they're much easier to understand than to explain succinctly. Hopefully this is a "teach a man to fish" explanation. Once you understand the basics you'll see that what they do and how they do it is very simple.

For strings with changes, the most fundamental concept is the range of motion for each finger between the highest and lowest possible notes that any given string can attain. This range is determined by the "body stop" on the highest possible note, and by the screw stop at the endplate for the lowest possible note.

On a stock Maverick you can either raise a string or lower it, but not both. Because of this the interval between the highest and lowest possible notes is (usually) either a half step or a whole step. It's actually quite easily doable to modify a Maverick to get both a raise and a lower on the same string, but that's a topic for another day.

Like most early pull-release guitars, the highest note on a Maverick for any given string is always tuned at the keyhead with the changer finger pulled tight against the stop created by the hole in the body. Call this the "body stop". Misunderstanding this is where and why most people break fingers on the later model Mavericks like yours with pot metal fingers. For any string with a raise (strings 3, 4, 5, 6 & 10 on a standard Maverick setup) the pedal or lever stop must be set to stop any further motion of that pedal or lever once the finger hits the body stop. The finger can't physically move any farther, so applying more pressure to it because the pedal itself still has some potential range of motion before it hits its stop screw will eventually cause the finger to break.

The other end of the raised string's range, the lowest (open) note is set with the screw in the end plate window after you release the pedal. For example, the highest note on string 5, C#, is tuned with the finger pulled against the body stop, the open B note is tuned with the screw stop, the finger's entire possible range motion between these two stops is just that whole step interval, B-C#, nothing more. The tension of the tuned string is always pulling the finger in this direction, the screw stop sets a firm lower limit. This general concept applies to any string with a raise or lower.

For the strings with a lower only (usually strings 2 and 8, RKR on a standard Maverick setup) it's sort of the same thing in reverse. The default position is for the finger to be held against the body stop, the high end of its possible range. The torsion spring on the knee lever cross shaft resists the string tension and holds the fingers snug against the body stop until you release that tension by actuating the knee lever. In this case you tune those open strings normally at the keyhead, and tune the lowered notes with the screw stop in the endplate window.

For strings with no raises or lowers it's super simple, you just tune the open note at the keyhead. It's not really necessary but can be a good idea on those strings (typically string 1, 7 and 9 on a standard Maverick) to tighten the lower stop screw in the endplate window just enough to push the finger against the body stop so it doesn't have any opportunity to flop around.

If you haven't fallen asleep yet and this makes sense then you'll probably see that what I mean about how simple the system actually is, despite my long-winded explanation. If so you're well on your way to getting your guitar tuned up and working properly again.

I did notice in your pics that there are some parts missing on your guitar, the "yokes" and pull rods for the A and C pedal. I assume that is probably a result of the broken fingers. Do you have those other missing parts?

Boris, you’ll never get it better that what has just been given to you. Best of luck.

THANK YOU Ian , for the explanation I really appreciate the help. As you say is a very simple mechanism and I was getting some understanding of it , but now I really know how it works. A few days ago I was trying to hold the finger against the stop with my hand to tune the raise but I was not too successful, I will try that again. I am also thinking in two other reason for my problem. When I got this guitar it was for years in a basement, and when I bought it I put similar gauges guitar string which were what I had at hand. Another thing is that the quick lock in the rods that attach to the pedals, I can not adjust them , because they are "solder" with oxide.SoI can not compensate the movement of the changer. I will solve these two problems and I let you know.
I have all the parts but the pedals that I have to make my self. I will upload pictures of the guitar. Thank you again.

This picture from Donald Mcknight's recent ad shows the changer and knee lever linkage on a Fender/Sho-Bud Maverick. Notice the spring wire on the knee lever crossrod (axle). It pulls string 2 and 8 to the body stop as the resting position.


This picture from Ron Ackles' ad shows factory linkage of the pedals on a first generation Sho-Bud Maverick:

This is the guitar assembled. I broke the last 3 string, I will have to wait till I get new strings to try again.