The British Steelies Society

So what is the correct seat height for lap or pedal playing? I have just made a seat for me and it has made an unbelievable difference to not only my comfort...getting old you know, but for you Tony it has stopped my wings sticking out. Why? The seat height has made my legs be at right angles, if I sit on any other chair or stool I find my legs slope down-wards which becomes uncomfortable. Am I doing the right thing or am I wrong again? Please feel free to shoot me down in flames, but do it gently...age and all that!!!

WineRider (AKA Maurice)

Hi Maurice, as you say, comfort is a main consideration. Against all advice from the wealthier members, I picked up on John Roche's suggestion for a cheap seat, and bought what was basically a fishing box with a backrest. I have it adjusted so that my thighs are level and are at approximately 90 degrees. I find this very comfortable for both PSG and Lap and have money left to buy such things as new strings from Becky whenever I want.

Regards, H.

I find I'm constantly adjusting the height of my back legs and my seat.
I use a drum stool for a seat.

The things I aim for are:

having my feet at a height where I can easily lift my foot with my heel on the ground (i.e. not too low) and not too high, when it feels like I have too much weight on the front of my foot.

having my knees at a sensible height compared to my levers. if my knees are too high then I'm pressing hte lever from the top which is hard.

having the neck of the steel at a suitable height in relation to my elbows. I find bar control hard if the neck is too high, same but to a lesser extent if it's too low

What is nice guys is that you are all singing from the same hymn sheet and for me that is good. My attempts to get the seat height right were by trial and error, mostly error, but from what you have said it looks like I've got something right for a change. Tony R D gave me quite a few pointers and it was his observations about my wings sticking out too far, and a few other little things made me sit down and pay attention. (if you read this Tony I'm still fighting with finger picks). Now all I've got to do is get better at playing.

WineRider

The seat you use is an important factor, get comfy and you can play easier/better.
I made my own seat. A box with a padded top, compartments inside to fit "stuff" and a door in one side. I got the height by measuring from the floor to underside of my leg behind knee when sat down - the padded seat is bolted on top of that but, in use, it squashes down anyway so it doesn't add any height. That tallies exactly with keeping the knee joint bent at 90 degrees (as above) although I didn't think of it that way at the time. If you make one, don't use chipboard, I did and it's heavy! Ply on a frame is better - box in a wooden bar stool, cut to height!
My old Fender has 24in legs and the underside is at good height for my size and the box-seat. The KLs don't dig in, I can reach the vertical, and work the pedals with my heel on the deck. But my Mullen has 26in legs and my box-seat is short for the job, so the KLs meet me almost on their points - ouch! I had to get a keyboard bench to make the extra inches and my thighs now slope down from the seat, like somebody mentioned above, and the KLs are not so convenient. I can cope with this because I have "flags" on some of the KLs, so they have more "area" to catch with my knee without discomfort, but not ideal. The further the KLs are away from where you sit, the more important it is to have them comfy as those ones contact a more boney bit of leg.
Flags help a lot. On the Fender I have a couple of the outside KLs with bars (like flags) attached. The bars are fixed at 90 degrees to the KL and engage with my leg just below the knee. I'll try to picture that. OK, there's one - on the far KL, the photo's taken from the left end. It's quite comfortable in use.
here's a better one,
Good luck, Tony.
PS - Henry, I found drum seats (why do they call them "Thrones"; pretentious beggars) have a swiveling top and engaging KLs can send you spinning around, or at least losing some stabilizing effect and/or control?

Hi Tony,
I made the seat out of pine shelving (pic to follow) now it is soaking up some linseed and turps to give it a bit of something. The padding is 24km foam and it's nice because although it does compress it doesn't do it too much and also when you get off it has some sort of memory and goes back to it's original density. How about that for a bit of tech!! The LS has adjustable legs made from a laser tripod...they work fine. It's those pesky finger picks...I keep using them, but the sound 'ain't what it used to be, but I promise I'll keep trying. The seat top is on a piano hinge and there is a tidy compartment inside, which is ample big enough for -gubbings'.

regards to all

WineRider

Proud of you Maurice.

Harry, Billy, Henry, Tony, Peter and James,

Thank you all for responding to what like a simple sort of question. All of you have given me many scenarios, based on all your experiences. Thank you all.

Harry your fishing seat idea has been mentioned before, but here in France they start at about 40 Euros and to be honest these are full of all bits and pieces that make it look like the typical French sportsman's gear...all gear and no end product. Now if we had Trago Mills that would be great.

Billy the seat you advocate is too high for me I could be described as a legless pilot...short but not too fat around.

Henry Drum Thrones are fine if you don't suffer from vertigo...all that spinning might actually help my playing but I would definitely suffer for a couple of days. But as long as you don't play drums they are quite comfy...I know too many drummers with fusions.

Tony as always you give me advice that is always welcome with lots of info.

James we have never conversed before, so thank you for your input as well. I know I have a lap steel but I have had to put it on legs, the damage I have suffered over the years is now catching up on me and the knees don't take kindly to being sort of locked in place with something resting on them...poor old devil I know.

I have taken all of your input and fed it into my computer like brain, and have with the amalgam of all the input got a seat height which to this novice feels right, and to add to the comfort of the padding also have a store for odds and ends.

Cost of the job was less two hours of work, the wood was left overs from a finished job, a few screws, seat foam that was off cuts from making the Lap Steel case and the seat covering was made out of double thickness curtain material, that had adorned one of my lorries.

So once again to all this forum is one of the best if not 'the' best.

WineRider (AKA Maurice)