How To Change A Pull On Your Pedal Steel Guitar
If you're looking to change one of the rods that came on your pedal steel so that it raises or lowers a different string than it currently does, this is the post you want to be reading. I decided to write this after having struggled with it myself, and having been helped out by the very generous Jonathan Candler who's been playing steel professionally for many years. I'm just getting started though, so I need all the help I can get. Anyway, let's go ahead and look at the underside of our steel.
What we're Looking At
It may help you to turn your pedal steel upside down, but I found I rather liked working with it all put together and upright. So if you're sitting on the floor in front of the guitar, with the pedals to your left, you'll see a variety of rods hanging horizontally underneath. These are called pull rods and are hooked to your changer at one end and what are known as bell cranks at the other. Bell cranks look like thin rectangular strips of metal with holes. Into these holes, the rods are inserted and fastened.
Now, the bell cranks are attached to the what are called cross shafts, which, as the name implies, run crossways across the guitar the same way fretts would. Also attached to these cross bars are your pedals and knee levers. When you engage one of these, it turns the cross shaft, which in turn moves the bell crank, which is hooked to the pull rods, which then move the changer, which then moves a finger, which then moves your strings.
What The Process looks Like
So, most changers out there have a number of holes which the pull rods are going through. If you've ever tuned your pedals, you've probably used a hex wrench. What you're doing is loosening and tightening a nut that moves a washer closer or further from the changer. The tighter the nut, the closer the washer and the more change you'll get. The further it is, the less. All you need to do to change a pull is to find the right hole in the changer in which to put your rod.
My guitar has a tripple raise/lower changer, and what this means is that there are six holes available, on each string, for you to put a rod through. The top three will raise the string and the bottom three will lower it. For me, I wanted to change the lowering of my sixth string a whole tone, on my right knee lever left, to raise my seventh string a whole tone. My guitar currently had no pulls on the seventh string, so the whole row of holes was open in the changer. So I put the rod through one of those, moved my bell crank over to line up with that hole, and hooked the rod back to the bell crank. And there you go, I now had a pull on my seventh string, which I then tuned to a whole step like normal.
Step By Step: How To Change or Add A Pull
- Obtain the rod you'll be using for the new pull.
If you're removing an existing rod, first locate it by engaging your pedal or knee lever, then figuring out which rod you need from the ones you see moving. Then, loosen the nut off of that rod at the changer end until it comes free. DO NOT LOOSE THIS!!! Take it, and the washer, and put them somewhere you can find them later. Next, detach the rod at the bell crank end. My guitar has small metal pieces holding the pull rods in the cranks, so I just had to remove these by sliding them off and then I could pull the pull rod free. - Insert The Rod Into the Correct Hole
Depending on whether you want to raise or lower a string, you'll need to insert the rod into the correct hole in the changer. A good way to find the correct hole is to look for rods around where it would be. For example, I have a knee lever that raises my E strings to F notes. Well, my low E is my eightth string, and I wanted to raise my seventh. So I knew I'd be pushing the pull rod through right next to that one. If you can see the vertical rows of holes, good. You can probably spot right where you need to put the rod. But if you can't, then feel very carefully across the changer. Each row of holes in my changer was separated by a thin groove. You may be able to feel this. If there are other rods that change the string, that can also help, since you know you just need to generally aim for above or below those.
On the underside of the changer end, you'll see some springs. It is between these which you will insert the pull rod. Move the rods by engaging the nearest pedal or knee lever to help you figure out where to go under here if you need to, and insert the rod. Getting it into one of the small holes in the changer can be quite challenging. Try to go in as horizontally as you can. Don't aim the end of the rod upwards at an angle, try to hit it straight on if possible. It may take some time, but you'll get it through. Once the rod has been inserted into the changer, put the washer and nut back on. - Line Up The Bell Crank
Finally, you're ready to attach the pull rod back to a bell crank, but first you must add a new one or move the existing bell crank on the cross shaft to line straight up with the rod you just inserted. The reason being that you don't want your pull rod being pulled diagonally across the underside of your guitar. The bell cranks on my guitar are secured to the cross shafts with hex screws. When I bought it from Justice Steel Guitars, Ron included a set of hex keys that fit every hex nut on the steel. So I found the one that fit the bell crank hex bolts and loosened them. However, your bell cranks may be secured entirely differently. Either way, unclamp them from the cross shaft and move them over.
Now, when you do this, be careful to move other pull rods out of the way. If they're slack enough, you might be able to pull them over the crank as you move it, but if not, remove their crank ends for now and put them back on when you're done. Once your bell crank is aligned with your new pull rod, attach them together and secure the rod. - Tune up
Finally, resecure the bell crank to the cross shaft and then tune your pedal or knee lever as normal until your string has the correct pitch. And you're all done!