Vertical Knee Lever

Bill Duncan · From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA

I have never found a way to use my vertical knee lever that looked good. Raising my leg to work the lever is not a good look but it works.
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You can observe a lot just by looking

Ron Funk · From: Ballwin, Missouri

Bill -

Do a search on the Forum regarding this same subject.

Many folks have posted installed options to 'extend' the bottom of the vertical lever so that you won't have to lift your foot off the ground.

The important thing to remember is that whatever option you use, make sure that your PSG case will close when your steel is put back into its case.

"Removable" extensions are great......see prior posts.

Hope this helps -

Ron

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I have just had my LeGrande overhauled by my old friend, Junior Mercer.

When he received the guitar via FedEx, his response was: 'What's all that black gaffer tape residue on the VKLs?' I told him that, as the Emmons VKLs aren't really adjustable, I had resorted to taping pieces of wood to them.

'I'll take care of that...'

And he did; it's quick and easy to install and it has a really solid feel. So much so, that I'm rethinking what I had on there (I did raise the 6th a whole step: not an every-day pull); I may put the B to D raise on the 5th string. I had that for a while but using it was tricky with my Heath-Robinson wooded extender.

Here's Junior's solution. Out of sight on the reverse are two small wing-nuts.

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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

When I played in a gospel band, They leader wanted me facing the pews. I thought about a vinyl curtain with band name, Attached to the front legs. So the crowd could not see my legs flopping around under the guitar. Working the knee levers.

Here is a picture of a knee lever height and length extension I made for a VKL. It locks on to play, And can be removed to case the guitar.

Bill Duncan · From: Lenoir, North Carolina, USA

Maybe you should adopt Speedy's idea! Cool

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Donnie, I like the look of the early guitars with the front screen. However, I have enough paraphernalia to lug around and connect.

Lifting a leg to work a lkv while seated may not look good, but it is what it is.
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You can observe a lot just by looking

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

The trick is to have it just barely graze the top of your knee at rest. If it's shaped wrong or too short, go out in your shop and fabricate a new one that sits just right. If the case won't close, find a way to hinge it to fold sideways or something. You only have to figure that out once. Also - put a change on it that goes with your pedals down position like F#s to Gs. Pedals down>knee up = 6th>Dom7. Everyone puts B-Bb on the vert and that makes no operational sense to me unless you were gonna split the B>C# raise but you can just half pedal the B instead and save that lever for something else. The "it's not a good look" thing doesn't resonate. Does it advance the intervallic vocabulary of the instrument ergonomically is really the issue.

Bengt Erlandsen · From: Brekstad, NORWAY

If you press both A+B pedals and keep em pressed, your heel should not need to lift more than maybe 1,5" to fully engage the vertical knee lever. If you need to lift your heel more then your vertical knee lever is not adjusted properly to your playing position.

btw, what changes/strings/pulls are on that LKV?

B.Erlandsen
Zumsteel S12extE9 7+7

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Bengt:

I agree. There is, however, very little downward adjustment on the Emmons LeGrande VKL and certainly not sufficient to bring it within easy reach - even with pedals-down.

The 'mod' on my guitar (above) has changed all that. I have already swapped that pull - from raising the 6th (G# to A#) to raising the 5th from B to D. Even with my short legs (I'm 5'9" with my hands in the air!), it's an easy reach and not uncomfortable at all. It's also a very effective pull: I can get that D note on the 5th rather than reaching for the 2nd with RKR. Getting that half-scale all on strings 6,5,4 - pedals-down (at zero: A,B,C#,D,E) - is most useful to me.

My MKL(V), being centrally placed, has no mod but is accessible. That raises the C6 10th to D and the 6th to F. I'd like to add the 3rd-lower (E to Eb) but I'm hesitant to stiffen that lever up.

I'm a big fan of the all-pull Emmons, but this is one tiny area that could have been improved.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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