The Steel Guitar Forum

I've had the steel for a year or so and it's coming along nicely. In all my searches I've yet to find a copedent set up the same as mine. ABC pedals are standard but knee levers seem odd. I'm used to it and it works for me, but if I buy another PSG and I will, I'll need to re-learn or make some changes. LKL raises E's +, LKV lowers B's-, LKR raises both F#'s ++ RKL lowers E's -, RKR lowers D#- & D-
Anyone else have this set up? Should I change it?

The split E-raise and lower is perfectly acceptable to many players. I think it was standard, or a standard, back in the day. I have one guitar with both Es on the left and one with them split. My Carter Universal had the Es on the right, E-raise RKL and lower RKR.

It takes a few minutes, or hours, to adjust to new locations of the levers. The longer you play and the more setups you try the easier it gets. Your copedant looks normal to me. One of my friends has a Sho bud Super Pro set up exactly as yours is.

Thanks Rick. Good to know I have some company out there.

Of the "fundamental" pedals and levers, after the Emmons/Day ABC--CBA pedal choice (Emmons/Day the players), there is the Emmons/Sho-Bud lever choice re: the E raise/lower same-leg or split-leg set up (Emmons/Sho-Bud the guitar companies).
All of these choices are quite mainstream.

There is considerable variation in the choices for your the function of your LKR. Some people have a feeler stop on the 1st string to allow a half-step G. Some people lower the 6th string instead of raising the 7th.
And a lot of people have a feeler stop on the 2nd string change, giving you D#>D>C# which is a nice thing but I believe that a solid D is important and advocate ditching the feeler stop unless you can really feel it.

But these are all personal preferences that evolve over time.

I have Emmons ABC, and basically the same knee lever config as yours on my Carter. Vertical is an F#>G raise. It took a little getting used to, but it seems normal now and I think I could go back to Emmons levers, np.

That's pretty close to what I have (but I choose to do some personalized things on LKR and LKV).

Rick: wondering if it's my old Professional that splits them (that's how I had it). MAN! do I miss that steel!

Tom Hodges wrote:I've had the steel for a year or so and it's coming along nicely. In all my searches I've yet to find a copedent set up the same as mine.

Your copedent looks pretty standard. The only slightly unusual change is the lever that raises the Es to F# but even then there are some players that use it.

The changes on my guitar are the same as yours except both Es are on the left knee and instead of the F# raise, my lever raises string 1 to G#, string 2 to E (same as strings 3&4) and also lowers my 6th to F#.

Hi Tom,

My current copedent is very similar to your’s, just backwards since I play a left-handed guitar. My E raises are on RKR, B lowers on RKV, E lowers on LKR. I have experimented with just about every change on levers but have always kept my E raises and lowers as they are. Because of this, I have had so many compromises with each change I have tried. Here are some conclusions I have discovered:

Lowering of string 2 and 9 is better on opposite knee of lowering Bs. When you use these two together, you’ll have easy access to augmented/whole tone runs when you lower D# to D and raise or not raise A pedal. And if you lower Ds to C#, you’ll get a complete 9th cord scale. Also, by lowering Bs along with B pedal and lowering string 9, you get a very useful Dominant7#9 chord two frets below open position.

Lowering of string 2 and 9 is nice when on opposite knee of raising Es. When you are in E to F position, lowering 2 and 9 to C# makes a full usable scale across all 10 strings.

Lowering Bs on opposite knee of lowering Es is a plus as well. That way you can easily form diminished chords from your minor chord with Bs lowered together with A and B pedals. You can also lower Es, lower Bs, and hit your A pedal for a great 7th chord one fret up from pedals down position. This is what I do to get that string 1 and 7 raised sound.

You always want to be able to lower Bs while raising Es as well. When playing these along with A pedal, you get a 6 minor chord up one fret from pedals down position. Nice not having to lift foot from AB to BC to get same sound. It is smoother.

That all being said, I have recently changed two of my levers a bit unorthodox to expand on some jazzier sounding options. On my RKL, I raise string 1 a whole step, string 2 a half step, and lower string 7 a half then whole step. On LKR, I lower Es a half step and lower 9 a half step. I have a zero pedal raising string 6 a whole step. I really love these C6 type sounding changes and how they all work together harmoniously with little conflict.

Have fun!
Stephen

Tom; that is the EXACT Sho~bud E9 set up, that they put on every Sho~bud that came off the floor as standard 3ped 4knee(no V unless custom ordered)
Ricky