3 changes on a fender cable guitar

[Paul Strojan]

On a fender cable guitar, could you just put in another pulley to get three pulls on one pedal?

[Mark Perrodin]

this is what i did on an 800. worked well with only slightly more pressure required to depress the pedal.

[Bob Carlucci]

very cool!.. I have played rodded guitars where 3 pulls made it next to impossible to press the pedal or lever.. Fender 2 raise and lower guitars[800 and 2000] had very good action when properly set up.. Yet the guitars got a reputation as hard players . i think that was because no one knew how to set them up the right way.. My 800 guitars played as soft smooth and accurate as any modern rodded guitar I have ever owned, and actually a lot better than some well known and respected brands I have owned... bob

[Donny Hinson]

Cool idea, Mark! Another way to do it would be to have the third pull on a spring hooked to the back of the pulley. Of course, you'd have to juggle the spring length and tension to get the pull right, and use a link (a piece of welding rod or coat-hanger) to connect it to the changer. But once you had it set properly, no further adjustments would be necessary. The timing might be uneven, but the way the fender pulley system is designed, the easiest pull always happens first. The timing of the individual pulls are never even anyway.

[Mark Perrodin]

this worked for me really well. i'm an idiot and because the balance pulley design naturally evens itself out it was a no-brainer once i decided to do it. if i remember correctly ( the guitar is gone ) the two pulls that are together raised strings 1 & 2 for a modern change. it was cool. the 800 was a factory custom black with gold flake as a base. it had the best lacquer checking i've ever seen. millions of little parallel cracks. it was beautiful. and i sold it cheap. all of a sudden i feel sad.

[Jim Palenscar]

The primary problem w the Fender cable guitars is that, IMHO, the lower return springs are waaaaay stiffer than they need to be requiring way too much pressure to activate the lowers. I go thru my "box-o-springs" and cut some to work and it becomes a playable guitar.

[Mark Perrodin]

that is too true Jim. all my fenders have had their springs changed out. it is the first thing a fender needs.

[Bob Carlucci]

I had no issues with hard pulls on lowers at all.. I lowered both E;s a half tone, on RKR, and I lowered the 2nd string E [yes E] to Eb and then D on LKR , lowered string 6 a full tone on pedal 4, string 5 and 10 a full tone on pedal 5, and strings 3 and 6 a half tone on 6...Lots of lowers going on.. I do remember I had to adjust the large screw for the lower springs out a lot, but that always softened them up substantially, and as stated the action was always comparable to any modern steel. This was on 3 different 800 guitars I had over the years.. If there was one small issue with the lowers , it was that the throw was longer than many other steels on the E-Eb change on 4 and 8,, and I had to go to an 015 on string 2 for it to behave normally.. However after adjustments, getting string gauges where the guitar wanted them etc, a lot of heavy lube, those 800's really played good, and I miss them -particularly the one with Mike Yahl's genius 4 knee lever clamp on system that installed in minutes, and worked unbelievable well.. WHY I ever sold that great guitar I'll never know, and I would do anything to have it back today.. Its a one of a kind.... bob