Wrist levers

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 11 Aug 2007 11:29 am

I've had one now (B to Bb) for just about 10 years. It took a while for me to get used to it, but it's really a cool thing.

The one real disadvantage is that it's impossible to chime while using it. A second relatively minor problem is that things get very cramped when you're playing way up the neck. You can still do it, but it's not real comfortable.

But the advantage more than compensates for this. On a Universal, the B to Bb change is useful in so many places on both sides of the tuning, that there really is no one place to put it where it can be utilized to it's fullest musical advantage. By putting it on a wrist lever, you can always use it, regardless of what your feet and knees are doing.

I was skeptical myself until I tried one out. But once I did, I immediately saw the advantages of having such a lever. Recently I was surprised and pleased to learn that my long time friend and occasional mentor Blackie Taylor had one of these levers installed on his guitar. He tried mine out and liked it so much he got one for himself.

I'm not sure whether or not there is any advantage to having one of these levers on a single or double 10, but they work really well on a U-12.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 11 Aug 2007 1:02 pm

Mike - Were you able to get a wrist-lever on your new guitar?

Lee

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 11 Aug 2007 2:09 pm

Yes Lee. In fact it's actually a better one. Johnny Cox studied the one in the picture, (I sent him the guitar so he could examine it up close) and improved on the design. I just don't have a picture of it.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 11 Aug 2007 3:01 pm

I thought you had said that. You need to show us a picture, when you have a chance.

Bob Simmons · Post by **Bob Simmons** » 12 Aug 2007 5:38 pm

I put one on on D10 - G# to F# , love it only thing, had to make a wider case!

Ben Godard · Post by **Ben Godard** » 12 Aug 2007 6:15 pm

How about a head lever or maybe a shoulder lever too?

Colin Mclean · Post by **Colin Mclean** » 12 Aug 2007 7:19 pm

How about two levers on your chair, one for each ass cheek?

Just kidding. That actually looks like a good idea Mike. Nice guitar too.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 12 Aug 2007 8:47 pm

Ben Godard wrote:How about a head lever or maybe a shoulder lever too?

Whenever I see more than four knee levers I ask myself which item of the anatomy is used to work the others. Prudence prevents me from offering a suggestion, but let's just say a woman would be at a disadvantage...

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 12 Aug 2007 10:10 pm

Tom Bradshaw built the lever in the picture. There is a picture of an MSA with one in his original 70s catalog, so chances are either he or Bud Carter invented it. As far as I know though, (and I could be wrong) Carter does not offer a wrist lever as an option on their guitars.

Besides MSA, the only company that I know of that offers wrist levers as an option is GFI, but it’s reasonable to assume that most builders will build a guitar with one if somebody asks, and many repair guys could retrofit an existing guitar (as Tom did mine) with one.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 13 Aug 2007 1:55 pm

I'm in the process of building a lap steel with palm levers. I never thought of it before, but there really isn't any reason you can't have both palm levers and pedals on a pedal steel, as long as you can build them into the mechanism.

Ron Turner · Post by **Ron Turner** » 13 Aug 2007 2:12 pm

Where do you get these and are they easy enough to install my self?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 13 Aug 2007 7:27 pm

Ron Turner wrote:Where do you get these and are they easy enough to install my self?

Ron, since you have a millennium, you would have to send the guitar back to MSA and have Johnny build and install the lever. In an older MSAs, the shaft goes through the hole that previously housed the jack, but on a Milly, they have to drill a hole on the guitar.

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 13 Aug 2007 7:59 pm

I know a girl that put a knee lever on herself,

She sure looked funny,

Whip Lashaway · Post by **Whip Lashaway** » 14 Aug 2007 1:11 pm

Question Mike, Would it overcome the disadvantages any if the "wrist" lever were somehow extended out and became an "elbow" lever. That would keep things from getting "crowded" and might also allow you to hit the chimes. I would consider putting something like that on. What do you think? Whip

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 14 Aug 2007 1:43 pm

Whip. On the guitar in the picture (And on the one shown in my avatar) the cross shaft for the lever goes through the hole in the guitar that was originally used for the jack. I'm not sure whether or not the hole in the Milly was drilled in the same place, but the wrist lever Johnny designed for it is more of a Z shape, and the spot where you hit it with your wrist is a little further out toward the edge of the guitar.

I have not tried to chime and use the lever at the same time on the Milly. I can't do it on the older guitars, and I believe it can't be done on any guitar. The problem is that when you activate the wrist lever your right hand position is determined by the use of the lever, and you lose the freedom to place your hand wherever you want, and cannot accurately put it in the right place to get a chime.

Ronny Line · Post by **Ronny Line** » 14 Aug 2007 2:26 pm

What did the knee lever do Bobbie?

Jeremy Threlfall · Post by **Jeremy Threlfall** » 15 Aug 2007 12:45 am

Have you seen the wrist lever pictures on the GFI website? - heres one of them ...

sort of on the subject, why are knees levers called knee levers when you move them with your legs - were the early ones right up the front of the guitar?

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 15 Aug 2007 1:23 pm

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 16 Aug 2007 8:07 am

Here's a vertical(down)wrist lever of my own devising I put on my Sierra U-12.It raises my 2nd string from C# to D and then on to D# by way of a half-stop. BTW the little box with the momentary button on it is for changing the Leslie speed and is activated by the palm of the right hand - right in the middle of a lick if desired.That guitar has an IVL midi rig on it.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 16 Aug 2007 11:41 am

Is it just me, or are some of our instruments beginning to look like orthopedic braces and torture devices?

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 18 Aug 2007 6:21 am

I once saw Mike Perlowin on the Santa Monica Freeway doing 75 mph on his MSA.....his wrist lever was in 6th gear.....

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 18 Aug 2007 6:45 am

Has anyone ever put a half stop on a wrist lever? Just curious...

The idea of a wrist lever always seemed too confining to me. I change the position of my right hand a lot to get different tones and to play harmonics. I think it would "cramp my style".

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 18 Aug 2007 11:34 am

BobbeSeymour wrote:I know a girl that put a knee lever on herself,
She sure looked funny,

Do I understand that to be she herself put a knee lever on the guitar or she put a knee lever on herself ? If the latter is the case I would sure like to see what happens to her when you activate the lever...

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 18 Aug 2007 11:41 am

b0b wrote:Has anyone ever put a half stop on a wrist lever? Just curious...

The idea of a wrist lever always seemed too confining to me. I change the position of my right hand a lot to get different tones and to play harmonics. I think it would "cramp my style".

It probably would to a certain extant Bobby, but not as much as you think.

If you're coming to Mesa next January you're welcome to sit down at my steel and try it out.

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haere are some pics if the wrist lever on the Millennium