Fender volume/tone pedal

[Chris Tulloch]

Just received today, a pretty-immaculate 70’s Fender Volume/tone pedal. Many thanks to a member (original post gone unfortunately) who suggested you need “Full volume on the instrument” which solved my initial disappointment. I really only need the pedal for that “boo-wah” effect, as (still learning) I just play along with Wayne Hancock sort-of stuff. It sounds great with full volume on the lap-steel & a little MojoMojo overdrive.

I made the lap-steel & put a 1meg tone-pot which works a treat - but being a complete newbie, I didn't think - it's in the wrong place while playing! Which is why I bought the pedal ...

Here’s the nub; I find the sideways movement on the Fender pedal really stiff .. have to take my shoes off & even in stocking’d feet it’s hard to move. Any ideas for making it move easier? I haven’t yet looked inside but I’ve seen photos & it looks kinda scary!

Many thanks
Chris

[Chris Tulloch]

[Larry Dering]

Cool looking lapsteel. I can't answer the volume pedal question. I just know the pedal is tricky inside.

[Brett Lanier]

There are little ball bearings in a track within the pedal, but a lot of times they get hung up and even fall out. It’s fine if they fall out, and if they are causing binding its better to pull them out. Drop some 3 in 1 oil under the foot plate and move it back and forth a few times, that usually does the trick.

[Chris Tulloch]

Cool looking lapsteel. I can't answer the volume pedal question. I just know the pedal is tricky inside.

Thanks Larry. I’m contemplating turning it into a 7-string and tuning it A6. The neck & the nut are just wide enough .. I just need to find some L-angled metal to replace the ebay-bought “hard tail" 6-string bridge. The pickups are 12-string pickups anyway so the extra string will have a home!

[Chris Tulloch]

There are little ball bearings in a track within the pedal, but a lot of times they get hung up and even fall out. It’s fine if they fall out, and if they are causing binding its better to pull them out. Drop some 3 in 1 oil under the foot plate and move it back and forth a few times, that usually does the trick.

Thanks Brett. I’ll try it out.

[Tim Whitlock]

The reissue vol/tone pedals are very stiff, side to side. Inside there is a nut in the center that holds the swivel on. Loosening the nut will make the action easier. Careful not to loosen it too much or you will lose the little bee-bee ball bearing.

[Steve Waltz]

Old thread but thought this might help some people. There should be three ball bearings not one and with all three in place there is a huge difference in how easy it is to go side to side. Ace hardware has 1/4 individual ball bearing for about $.50 a piece. Remove the rubber foot pad to get at the Philips head screw and hold the nut on the inside of the pedal in order to loosen the side to side flat sheet of metal just enough to push the bearings in to the correct place. There are indentations visible in the sheet metal under the rubber pad. One on the toe side and two on the heel side. Use a screwdriver to direct the ball to fall into the indentation channel. Then tighten the screw back up just enough to keep the bearings in place. Learn to not pick the pedal up by this top plate as it seems that is what allows the bearings to fall out. After doing this repair the side to side motion plate is only touching the pedal while riding on the bearings.

If you think the pedal is fine without bearings I would suggest to spend $1.50 and ten minutes of work and see what you think. I find the best part is how easy it is to use the side to side tone when not at full volume because you don't have to press down as hard. If you have to press down hard then you are limited to using the tone function at only full volume.

[Noah Walker]

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this post! I don't think I would have figured this out without it. I used 3/16 bearings that I bought on Amazon. They were exactly the same size as the one that fell out. A pack of 100 bearings was less than ten bucks so I have LOTS of spares now

I managed to do the job without taking off the rubber foot pad. I loosened the nut inside the pedal just enough to force the bearings in between the plate and the deck of the pedal.

The hardest part was not knowing where the bearings sit because you cant see where the channels are from from outside the pedal. If anyone else is doing this repair drop me a line and I can draw you a diagram so you have an idea where they go.

This thing works like a dream now!

PS I noticed my wireless cable doesn't work on this pedal. I saw in another post that someone said it doesn't work with other types of cable. I can confirm this, only use a normal 1/4 inch cable.