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M55 Shakiness

goldwing 8 June 2010

I have a situation with my Musser M55 vibe that's becoming anonying - the instrument doesn’t hold very steady during playing. From what I can tell, the problem is in the assembly where the wheels are allowed to swivel. That section of each wheel has a wooble in it. In other words, it’s not the actual wheels themselves that are shakey, it’s the assembly above the wheels that has bearings in it that's causing the problem as far as I can tell. When I pedal, this location (the point between the part of the wheel assembly where it can turn around)has a lot of play in it. This makes the vibe easily shaken. It’s becoming a nuisance. I’d also like to raise the vibe to help avoid some of the neck and back pain I’ve been having. I'm attaching a picture so you can see where wooble is occuring.

How do I fix the wooble problem?

How do I raise the vibe?

Where can I get the work done and/or the parts to do these things?

I'll appreciate any advise I can get.

Ed De Gennaro

Comments

gilbranimo Tue, 06/08/2010 - 23:57

Hi Ed,
A few months ago I looked into converting an older m55 to adjustable height legs but it was too expensive. All the parts together from musser retailed at around $900. So I bought some bigger casters and a pack of washers to raise the vibes even more. I got the casters from mcmaster.com . I bought 2 of these http://www.mcmaster.com/#casters/=7g8sz4 and two non locking ones the same size. If i could do it over, I would have bought 4 of the locking kind. The casters aren't perfect but they work pretty well with the expandable stem assembly from the old ones. I then stacked a bunch of washers (1/2 inch inner diameter 2 inch outer) to raise the casters even more. I also used a short length of parachute cord to attach the dampening pedal. I will try and get some pictures up once I find my camera.
G

goldwing Sat, 06/19/2010 - 09:14

G:

Sorry for the delayed reply.

The bigger, better casters sould like a good approach. Nico apparently has the right ones for the job. How did you handle the steeper angle of the pedal?

Ed D

gilbranimo Mon, 06/21/2010 - 12:23

I used a short piece of rope to attach the pedal to the damper. the pedal angle is steep but thanks to the rope the action is smooth.

Randy_Sutin Wed, 06/09/2010 - 06:26

I had both issues with mine, shakiness and shortiness. Mine is the model from 1976. It is fine with this solution.

I built a set of blocks. Nothing fancy. Caster cups on a small section of 2X4. I put adhesive rubber tread on the bottom.

When I set up to play, I shift the wheels outward in four directions at 45 degree angles and pull the blocks tight under them. That pulling tight in four directions will get rid of the wobble.

There is enough slack in the pedal to allow it to come down to a playable level with only one such block (I tried it with two thicknesses of 2X4 and the angle of the pedal was too acute... I know there is a way to shim that to work because I have seen it done, but I compromised because it was fine and easy since I had begun playing with my shoes off anyway.)

Peace
randy

goldwing Sat, 06/19/2010 - 09:10

Randy:

Sorry for the delayed reponse. This is an interesing approach. I can see how the caster cups can help and will try that first. I'm trying to come up with a solution for the pedal angle - there's got to be some way to handle that.

Thanks for your help!

Ed D

nico Thu, 06/10/2010 - 02:29

A good set of casters can solve all your issues, including raising the vibe. The right type of brake is important. We offer the proper casters for these models.

Disadvantage of raising the vibe thru larger casters is that the angle of the pedal changes.

Nico
vanderPlas Baileo Percussion Instruments
www.vanderplasbaileo.com
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