Allen pedalboard

[Johnallen]

Hi I have a question regarding tension on pedalboard. Is there a way to make thevpedals bit heavier to push down on? My touch on pedalboard to light.

[jbird604]

Remove the five screws and take off the cover from the rear of the pedalboard (the curved board under the bench). Then use a big heavy-duty Philips screwdriver to tighten the screw at the back end of each key's spring. Don't over do this, as you don't want to have to stomp the pedals to make them play, and you don't want to risk splitting the maple block that these springs are screwed to. A very small turn of the screw will make quite a difference.

I usually find that any organ more than 20 years old will have too little tension on the pedals, since they naturally work loose over time, and I begin by tightening up one of them until I feel moderate resistance to pushing down with my hand in the area where your feet would normally rest on a pedal. Then adjust the rest of the pedals for the same feel.

there are actual specs for the touch weight that you can google, but in general just set the tension so that they feel right to you. Not too heavy, but tight enough to keep them from bouncing or playing by accident.

[Johnallen]

Thanx I did it now touch is better. Is all Allen pedalboards built with shor pedals for the harps?t

[myorgan]

Thanx I did it now touch is better. Is all Allen pedalboards built with shor pedals for the harps?t

John,

I'm not really sure why you're asking about short pedals for the harpist, but the method John has described previously is true of all digital pedalboards from the beginning of the digital era to (I believe) the present. Meanwhile, I'll continue scratching my head, trying to figure out your post.:-P

Michael

[AllenAnalog]

Michael, I think you are the victim of a smart phone with auto-complete bot. I think he meant "sharps."

[toodles]

Johnallen:

If you mean short sharps, all pedal sharp keys are short compared to the pedal white keys regardless of who makes the organ.

If you mean the sharp keys on Allen's compact pedal board (often called Princess pedals) those sharps are shorter than standard AGO pedal boards. Most of Allen's pedal boards are AGO and the sharps are longer than those on the Princess pedals--the Princess pedals are the exception, not the rule.

[AllenAnalog]

Johnallen doesn't indicate what country he is from but there is another variable on pedalboard sharps - single length or multiple length. I was rather surprised when I got my Britson/Johannus organ to see that along with the radiating and concave design, there was an arc of sharps pedal length. The longest sharps are at the ends of the pedalboard and the shortest ones are in the center. A bit of research educated me that this is more common in European organs and presumably not an option in the AGO spec.

[Johnallen]

Thanks for reply. I'm in South Africa.

By the info posted I have a princes prdalboard although the pedals in the middel is lower than the ends.

[toodles]

The lower pedals in the middle compared to the ends is referred to as a "concave" design.

Using sharps of variable lengths to create the radiating pattern on the front of the sharps is useful to keep a flat front surface of the pedalboard. AGO doesn't cover that design, but then AGO really is just a list of preferences. Some US builders have used the variable sharp length design though it does seem more common in Eurpoe.