how important is a changable copendent

[Calvin Walley]

it seems a few people place great value on being able to change the pedals/knee from the standard Emmons /day set up
so if you were buying a new/used steel how important is this to you
i personally never felt the need to change the standard set up

[Lane Gray]

I've changed my Zum three times. Not much for 25 years. But I'm glad I could. My MSA Extended E9th is a continuing work in progress. I'm glad it's changeable.
I don't think I'll need to change the MonsterBud once it's done.
Fixed copedents are fine, until you hear a change you want.

[Tim Russell]

Very important to me.

I like the versatility of being able to experiment with different raises/lowers and trying out the copedents of my favorite pickers. Plus, it is helpful to be able to make changes if a person has a disability, etc., maybe their ankle only moves one way, like Weldon from that motorcycle spill he had early on.

[Pat Chong]

Change, to me, is important. I am still learning what to do on the steel, but altering a change has helped. If I were to get a Stage One, there are ways to change that, too!

Oh well,.....................Pat

[Larry Bressington]

Agreed...I like the "ease" of pulling a bellcrank without having to remove the apron fittings. I don't change often but I do experiment. Mullen has me captured with their wonderful system, I can pull a rod and bellcrank in a London minute. My old Msa and Sho-bud requires screwdrivers and crossrod pulling.

I have learnt on older guitars to leave the crosshafts loaded with Bell cranks, then all you have to do is shuffle them on the cross shaft and pull rods when you want to make a change. Nothing worse than having to tear it down every time!

[chris ivey]

the tradition, history and intent of the steel is changing, developing, experimenting with them. that's how you learn. that's how creativity comes about in the steel guitat world. otherwise we'd all still be dropping a knife on a dumb guitar tuning and playing with sand in our butts.
look out there , bones, there are unknown dimensions to discover and explore. what good, spock, would it do to play the same song over forever. destined to progress no further. fire up warp drive scotty....we need to get some distance between us and steel guitar rag. we must pursue the demolished chords.

[Jeff Mead]

Is there even such a thing as "standard" setup? Even if you consider "standard" to be Emmons, there is still the question of where the E raises and lowers go and whether the 1st string raises to G or G# (or both, or neither).

Someone once told me that the great thing about standards is that there are always so many to choose from!

Personally, I really like Day setup with E's on the left knee and would never buy a steel that couldn't be set up that way,

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

Chris is right about the need to explore new styles and get away from SG Rag and all the other old tunes that have been outdated for decades.

But that has nothing go do with the original question. Some people prefer the Emmons setup, and some prefer the Day. Some of us like our E string raises and lowers on the left knee, some on the right, and some on different knees. What we all should have is a guitar that can be set up the way we want.

Some of us like to experiment with different setups. Personally, I changed my copedant a dozen times before I settled on my present one.

[Dick Sexton]

If your the "average" bedroom or once a month weekend warrior kind of player, probably not all that important. Buy it, learn the set-up. If your a tinkerer, probably more so. If your a builder, very. If your a studio musician, it could be what keeps them coming back. I once heard that a few of the top session players, keep the ability to quickly change their set-up for an artist or for a song, one of the tools in their bag. Of course that could be an old wives tail.

But, have you ever found a phrase or lick you really liked and wanted to learn to play, but found it near impossible to do on a standard set-up? Hummmm!

[Jack Stoner]

My Franklin has the same setup it had when new 33+ years ago. I have no reason to change it, although it is changeable if one wanted to.

[Michael Maddex]

• I wouldn't want a flattop that I couldn't change the tuning and set-up on.
  
  I wouldn't want a lap steel that I couldn't change the tuning and set-up on.
  
  So I sure wouldn't want a PSG that I couldn't change the tuning and set-up on.
  
  YMMV.

[chris ivey]

I once heard that a few of the top session players, keep the ability to quickly change their set-up for an artist or for a song, one of the tools in their bag. Of course that could be an old wives tail.

this was definitely true of pete drake and probably hal, weldon and many others.
buddy, of course, changed his often because he was constantly creating new concepts in his mind.
this is how the steel developed to the point it is today. to me this is a necessary function of the pedal steel.
a stage one is good for a beginner to learn a limited amount on.
i started changing my first pedal steel around the first day i had it.
my second steel was an emmons p/p and when i looked at the linkage underneath it was the same response bruce zumsteg writes about in his book. wow...this is how a pedal steel is supposed to be designed!

[Calvin Walley]

the purpose of this poll is not why you want the changeable copendent ,

just simply what value you place on it
for your personnel expected need

[Lane Gray]

The reason impacts on the importance...

[Calvin Walley]

The reason impacts on the importance...

maybe so but what i'm interested in is pure numbers ,not why

[chris ivey]

sorry calvin if you couldn't read between the lines.
it's absolutely necessary for me.
i never played a 'factory setup'.
how's that, better?

[chris ivey]

and i think the term is 'copedent'.

[Lee Baucum]

Very important to me.

My reasons are top secret.

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

and i think the term is 'copedent'.

It's copedAnt.

[Calvin Walley]

and i think the term is 'copedent'.

pardon my spelling chris , being 3/4 blind i often misspell things

[chris ivey]

and i think the term is 'copedent'.

It's copedAnt.

i first thought it might be so i looked through my old steel guitarist and guitar player mags and they spelled it 'ent'.

[chris ivey]

mike seems extremely sure of himself....however:

http://dictionary.sensagent.com/copedent/en-en/

so i guess what i'm saying is, 'oops, sorry! i'm right again!'
annoying, isn't it?

[Bob Knight]

You right agin Chris.

[Lane Gray]

A copedant is someone who will argue over the spelling of copedent.

[Ian Rae]

This kind of rings a bell. Did I read it or imagine it? - that the publishers of Winnie Winston's book spelled it the other way to what he intended, and left us all confused ever since?

It's supposed to be a contraction of ChOrd-PEDal arrangemENT.

[I just checked, and the Winston book has it as "copedant" - a bit like having a bible with "God" misspelt]