Rerodding a Kline

[Ken Pippus]

I’m no pedal steel mechanic, but I have successfully rerodded other people’s nasty work on a GFI and a Mullen. How much trouble would I get into trying to convert a Kline S-12 from E9 to C6?

[Bobby D. Jones]

If you get on Face Book, There is a Kline Steel Guitar Page you may find a rodding chart, Or post a request for a C6th 12 string rodding chart. If no luck on face book.

You may want to E-mail or send a private message to Mike Dialesandro, A member here on the forum. He runs a music store/steel guitar shop in northern Ohio. There is videos of him playing a Kline on You tube. He may have a C6th 12 ext. rodding chart for a Kline.
Good Luck in your search.

[Ken Pippus]

Thanks Bobby. Extremely helpful.

Are they mechanically straightforward? I see yokes and worry about ZB like balancing issues.

[Richard Sinkler]

As long as you have the right parts, the undercarriage is a piece of cake. Similar to the ZB, it uses a "yoke" system, similar to a horse and buggy setup. But unlike the ZB, the yokes have a fitting that the rod goes through and is secured by a set screw. I doubt there is anything close to a rodding chart for a Kline. The yokes only have a couple holes for the fittings that secure the rods (often having a 2nd yoke attached to the main yoke if more than 2 changes on a pedal or lever), and one hook in the changer for the rod to connect to. The half tone raises, and maybe half stops (can't remember), require another rod welded to the rod that attaches to the yoke and the changer that goes through one of the middle holes on the end plate and has a socket head cap screw for tuning.

I worked on the Kline I had and found it really easy to work on. But, I didn't do a conversion like you are asking about.

The system kind of balances itself because of the yokes, Pull start and stop at the same time. Any need to increase or decrease slack is handled by loosening the set screw holding the rod to the yoke and sliding the rod forward or backward as needed.

Lots of good photos online if you google Kline steel guitars.