1960's Fender 2000 needs Knee levers...Help

Fred Glave · Post by **Fred Glave** » 28 Jan 2004 1:19 pm

This plea for help is probably tailor made for Jody Carver, or Donnie Hinson. I have 2 knee levers now, but what advise would you have for adding 2 more? I've heard guys say steak knife handles with a homemade fulcrom, or fence hinges. There's got to be something better than that out there.........isn't there? This guitar sounds so sweet, it's in great shape, & stays in tune. I really want to keep it for a long time.

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 29 Jan 2004 11:45 am

The following is a suggestion.

Since the Fender 2000 PSG uses a single cable from the pedals; and then splits into a second cable with hooks and pulley; it seems to me that if you were to try and procure an Emmons' P/P knee lever assy, (IE, lever, cross rod and brackets), OR and old MSA round crossrod, lever and brackets; you could affix and wrap a number of turns of the standard Fender cable around the round crossrod.

(Note: A call to either Ed Naylor or Bobbe Seymour would probably bring satisfactroy results when trying to obtain either of these parts.)

From that point on, it would be just like the pedal cables you have now; for all pratical purposes. And make it easier to do IMO.

This would also solve the problem of having to "time" the pulls; as would be the case, if you used metal rods (and bellcranks) to do the pulling. Remember that on your guitar, the stops are NOT at the pedal or knee levers; rather they are at the changer.

Good luck, and may Jesus bless you in your quests,

carl

Fred Glave · Post by **Fred Glave** » 29 Jan 2004 1:13 pm

I went to the Emmons website, and they seem to have some nice knee levers, for $45.00 each. The pictures they have are sort of grainy. I don't know if I'll also need seperate mounting brackets for $10.00 each. That'll be $110.00 total. I need to correspond with someone there to determine what it will all take to make this work, or if it will work. Next time I'm in St. Louis, I'll stop by Scotty's and see if he has anything laying around.
Does anyone from Chicagoland out there know of a music shop that works on PSGs? Thanks for the lead Carl.

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 29 Jan 2004 1:34 pm

YW Fred,

Very respecfully I would caution you about using the knee levers that Emmons presently sells. These in all likelyhood, will use a square crossrod. In this case, you will need several bellcranks (9 bucks each) and machined pull rods to accomadate the Fender changer. Along with the "timing" problem I mentioned.

This is why I recommended using the older P/P knee levers with round pull rods So you could use the regular Fender cable assy's. I feel you can probably buy some used P/P levers from either of the two people I spoke of; and not have to spend too much money. The brackets are very easy to make. They can be made out of 1/8" aluminum angle available at Home Depot.

In any case, much good luck,

carl

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 29 Jan 2004 5:39 pm

Since you already have 2 levers, I'd try to make the ones you add match those, both for looks and for "feel". Are the ones you already have mounted on rods, or are they just a lever affair with cable attached?

Fred Glave · Post by **Fred Glave** » 29 Jan 2004 6:43 pm

The two levers that I have look very similar to each other. They're just levers swinging from angle brackets. However, they look like this is what they're meant to do. And they look fine. There are pins that run through the levers and the cables hook into a hole in the pin. The cables just run from the lever pins to the changers. RKR runs through a pully and then back to the changer, and LKL goes straight to the changer. It's not very complicated. I don't understand why I would need the bellcranks and rods, but heck. Thanks for your help guys.[This message was edited by Fred Glave on 29 January 2004 at 06:51 PM.]

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 31 Jan 2004 9:17 am

You don't need expensive bellcranks, rods, and such. If what you have works okay, then just duplicate those! Make sure when you're done, though, that the cables are pulling fairly straight. If they are pulling from too severe an angle, they will probably wear out the fingers eventually, and you may have problems breaking the "loops" that connect to them.

Fred Glave · Post by **Fred Glave** » 2 Feb 2004 11:11 am

Thanks Donny, I'll do a little more hunting around for levers and mounting brackets, I guess they don't have to be any specific brand. I'll also check Carl's resources. due to the cost, I'll keep the Emmons levers my last resort.[This message was edited by Fred Glave on 02 February 2004 at 11:12 AM.]

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 2 Feb 2004 11:35 am

Hey Fred,
I did a couple on an old Fender 400 I had years ago by using those door stops that fold up on the door. You've already got the bracket which screws to the guitar and a lever which moves on a pin. What you can do is get a couple of pieces of 3/4 or 1" wide aluminum angle stock and attach to them if you need the extra length. I also used these to make floor pedals for a Multi-Kord steel once.......have a good 'un, JH

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.