Stick for the pedal?

[Casio]

Hi! When I bought my Mark I, I was told that the stick for the pedal is missing. My friend made a stick that I´ve tried to use, but it´s not as good as the real one would be. Is it possible to get a stick anywhere? Thank you already!

[Mark II]

yap, check ebay, craiglist,the parts section of this site or hope for a forum user who has a second one lying around and is willing to sell to jump in.

good luck
Mark II

[sean]

Dear Gang,

The pedal rod is EASY to make yourself.  My home-made one is just as good as the two Rodgers rods I have.

** See my directions below from a few years ago on the yahoo group. **

I made a clutch out of machined aluminum.  You could also use any high-hat clutch (It does not really need to be mounted securely to the bottom part of the rod).  You could also use a simple and cheap 1/4" stop collar from the hardware store as the clutch.  You can easily replace the set-screw with a thumbscrew.  

See a stop collar:  http://www.microfence.com/Images/Stop1.jpg

Sean

----------------------- original post from Sep 2004 ------------------------
Hey Gang,

It sickens me that there are some folks that would be so careless as
to misplace the pedal rod for their Rhodes. (There should laws against
this type of neglect.) Anyway...

I am a bit thrifty, so here is an easy way to make a pedal rod
yourself: all you need is the inner rod, outer tubing, and a clutch
of some sort.

The inner quarter-inch rod is easy to find at Lowes or Home Depot.
You should be able to get a three-foot aluminum rod for less than $2.50.

You won't find anything at Home Depot for the outer tubing. This took
me a few months to figure out.... Go to any auto parts store, and ask
for a three foot piece of 3/8" brake line. Manny, Moe, and Jack
charge less than $5.50 for it! (It is steel, and comes with flared
ends and brass connectors.)

Get out your hacksaw and cut the 1/4" rod down to 15 or 18 inches
long, file and sand the ends smooth. Then cut the brake line in
half... about 18" long. You can leave the flared end on it, and file
and sand the other end smooth.

Now all you need is a clutch. I had a small block of aluminum handy,
so I used my drillpress to make a very nice one (email me if you
really want details). But, there are a few easier options:

- My local True Value hardware has a huge selection of small parts.
Get a "stop collar" with a 1/4" inner diameter. The ones I got have a
1/4"-20 threaded set screw, so replace it with a 1/4"-20tpi thumb
screw. Five bucks will get you a handfull of these parts.

When you put the stop collar around the rod, and adjust the pedal rod
length, the stop collar doesn't seem to need to be connected to the
outer tubing at all.

This works great, and fifteen bucks bought you enough parts to make
TWO rods.

- If you want something sturdier, and easier to crank tight, you can
go buy a hi-hat clutch at any music store. This might be hard to find
for less than ten bucks, and I don't think it is that much of an
improvement over the cheapie solution above. (And modifying the
chrome-plated clutch is almost guaranteed to give you metal splinters.)

Shoot me an email if you want the drawing (or photo) of the aluminum
clutch I made.

Best regards,

Sean Kilby
Rhodes Tech in Maryland
(September 2004)

[Mark II]

sound advice, thanks for sharing your experience, Sean.

kind regards

Mark II

[vortmaxx]

Just scored a 54 Mark II and it did not come with a pedal or rod. I bought a pedal from one of the reputable vintage suppliers, but decided to try and save a few bucks on the rod and try this out. WOW!!! You nailed it. The hardware store didn't have a thumb screw that matched the threading on the collar, so I used a regular screw, threaded it all of the way through a wing nut (backwards), and then used another nut to keep the wing nut tight. Came in just under $20 and now I have 2 rods for half the $ of 1. Thanks!

Matt