The British Steelies Society

Hello all. One week in and still very much working my way around this wonderful instrument so I'm not sure if this is actually an issue or not. My C pedal only raises a semi tone/half step (bringing strings 4 and 5 up to an F and C). Lots of things I can find suggest they should go up further to make F# and C# (and therefore opening up some nice minor chord options when paired with the B pedal to get the minor 3rd).

Is the way it's currently set up just an alternate set up that has some benefit for other things, or is this something I need to adjust? If it needs adjusting, can I adjust it on the hexagonal twisty bits at the end (sorry - no idea what they're called!) or is it a bigger job than that? One of them is already screwed out quite a way and I don't know what happens if I twist too far, otherwise I'd have just had a play around without asking here!

Hi Laura.
Your assumption of the raises on the C pedal are correct.You should have F# and C# when the pedal is depressed.If You observe the hex(twisty bits) at the end You will determine which one to tighten to raise the particular string to the desired pitch. then, as You say You will have a minor chord if You add the B pedal.
The twisty bits are the end tuners, by the way.
I have no idea why the previous owner had the C pedal set as You described. they possibly found "the lost chord"

If it is standard E9 tuning the C pedal should raise string 4 up to F# and string 5 up to C#

Take a look at the changer end of your steel, if it is like most steels it will have an 'All Pull' changer and there will be lots of nylon tuners sticking out. Press and release the 'C' pedal and see which nylon tuners move. These are the tuners to screw in (a bit at a time) to bring the 4th and 5th strings up to the correct pitch when the 'C' pedal is pressed.
It's important that you only adjust the tuner that is attached to the 'C' pedal, as the other 2 tuners (on the 4th string) are attached to the levers that raise and lower the 4th a semitone
Likewise, the 5th string also (usually) has 2 raise nylon tuners, one attached to the 'A' pedal, and the other (the one you need to adjust) attached to the 'C' pedal

Thanks both! One of the nylon hex thingys seems pretty stuck, but weirdly the one I have managed to adjust seems to have fixed it. Hello, minor chords!