Derby pedal rod replacements? Need shorter rods

[Jeremy Glasgow]

Hey folks,

I just bought a Derby D10 that was recently posted here on the forum. The guitar ended up being a little too tall for me (I'm 5'11", so this was a surprise) and the legs do not adjust any shorter. Luckily, the legs from my Mullen Discovery fit the Derby perfectly, but now my issue is that the Derby's pedal rods are far too long.

Unluckily, the curvature at the end of the Derby rods is completely different from my Mullen rod, so they do not fit the Derby. I'll probably end up purchasing another set of legs from Mullen, but what do I do about the rods? I don't know where to start looking for matching Derby rods that are the appropriate length.

Thanks in advance for any help y'all can provide.

[Jerry Overstreet]

There's always somebody here looking to raise their guitar one or two inches. If you post the lengths of the legs and rods, probably you can trade them out for standard sizes to another Derby owner.

Guys sometimes hack off a length of the pedal rod and rethread it, but that supposes one has the place and tools to do that.

[Bobby D. Jones]

If you get the notion to shorten the Derby rods. Check the threads diameter on the rods very careful.
Many guitar pedal rods are roll threaded and are larger in diameter than threads cut with a die.
This will make a very loose fit in the pedal connector threads.

On rods with rolled threads. The best way to shorten the rod.
Make a bending die for the hook, Out of a block of heavy metal,
That can be placed in a vise, To make bends uniform.
Then cut the hook end, Smooth the rod end,
And bend a new hook on the rods.

Good luck on this project.

[Kevin Raymer]

Jeremy T Young here on the forum may have several pedal rods bent on one end and ready to cut threads on the other..

Look him up and ask..

[Kevin Raymer]

Jeremy JT Young

[Jeremy Glasgow]

Thanks for the help, y'all! I'm located a few hours away from Billy Knowles at Steel Guitar East, and he's going to help me out next week.

[Joseph Carlson]

I had the same issue a year or so ago.

You can see the Derby on the left and the replacement I sourced on the right:

IMG_1176.jpg

I ended up having to slightly enlarge the hole in the cross rod to accommodate the different pedal rod shape

IMG_1177.jpg