Moving knee levers on a "Professional"

Dave Manion · From: Boise, Idaho, USA

I have a Sho Bud D10"The Professional" with 5 knees which sounds wonderful. The knees are non-adjustable as you all know. I've seen some guitars on here where it looks like where the knee bracket mounts have been moved closer together. Of course that would make it much easier to play. I have to shove my whole leg over and shift my weight a bit just to get to both e's (both of which are on my left knee). After a couple hours of playing, when I get up the next day my hip joint can be a little sore. I know nothing comes without a price, any thoughts on trying to make this guitar more comfortable?

My prediction for dominating thought is; Leave em be, you bought it for the tone, not the ease of playability. If you want something to play easily, get a modern steel. But man, I played a friends 70's era RusSler and he's knees were SOOO close together and easy to play. They had a good solid action, yet moved when you wanted em to.
OPinions?

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

I believe you must either find a way to move those knee levers, or find a new steel to play. It will definitely slow your progress and lessen your enjoyment of playing if you can't get comfortable at your steel. Ergonomics cannot be ignored with paying a price.

I haven't played a Sho-Bud in more than 30 years so I can't comment on moving the levers, but I have a hard time believe that it can't be done.

John Groover McDuffie · From: LA California, USA

Posting some detailed photos of the undercarriage would be helpful. Some Bud KLs are connected to the respective bell cranks with connecting rods, in those cases it would be easy to move the KL pivot/bracket and then install a longer or shorter connecting rod as needed. In the case of direct-connected KLs you must find a new location for the bell crank, which on a d-10 may be challenging.

You can also adjust the angle of the KLs either by drilling and installing a small machine screw or set screw, or by inserting a small piece of soft metal, ie aluminum foil or copper, in the slot of the KL where it contacts the load bearing surface of the bracket. I did this on mine and it worked very well to bring the KLs closer together.

I'll try and post a pic or drawing later.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

You can buy ADJUSTABLE Sho-Bud style knee levers from John Coop for that Professional. If I was you I would send/take the guitar to a pro Sho-Bud mechanic, spend the money on new adjustable and positioned knee levers and a setup also. The fingers on those old Professionals are mostly worn out. The difference in the playability/stability of the guitar will be night and day.It would play better than new.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

My friend Boogie modified one or more Professional KL's with the procedure suggested by JG Mc. If you have a drill press and a tap set, you can probably sink a small hole to accept an allen head screw at either the hub base or the KL to adjust the tilt of the lever. That's what nearly all modern steel guitar builders do.

I shouldn't be a major project and would be a welcome addition even to the next owner should you ever decide to sell.

Dave Manion · From: Boise, Idaho, USA

Thanks you guys, that seems to explore most of the options. John, I see exactly what you are talking about, definitely an option. Kevin and Jerry your suggestions make sense too. I need to look at some pics of modern knee assemblies to get alittle more familiar, but I get the basic idea of limiting its travel.

I think Coop has had a hand in this guitar already, the underside is beautiful! I am heading out of town for about ten days and don't know if I'll have internet available, but sooner, or later if need be, I will post detailed pics of the underside. I'm not in a huge hurry to make a decision seeing as I mostly have it set up at home to work on C6 stuff. I gig with an MSA s10 on E9.

But man, does this thing sound great! Every once in a while I let myself drift over to the E9 neck, (where I kind of know what I'm doing, a little) and the tone and string separation is UNBELEIVEABLE! I will post pics soon hopefully....

Thanks again for your time, I don't take all this knowledge for granted.
Dave

Dave Manion · From: Boise, Idaho, USA

Here is one pic....

Not the best views, but what I have right now....

gotta get some sleep before heading to the hills...that'll do for now.

John Groover McDuffie · From: LA California, USA

Those looks like Coop parts, alright.

From the looks of the pics posted, it appears that you have a LKL and a LK^ mounted fairly far to the left, and that the LKR is spaced very far to the right, almost as if you were supposed to use while using the C6 pedals. It also appears that there is plenty of room to move the LKR and associated cross rod assembly to the left, and it would be easy to move LKL to the right and get the connecting rod shortened and re-threaded. The LK^ appears to have a connecting rod with a bend at each end, but that might be just the photo, I can't be sure. If you want to move that one maybe Coop can make you a new connecting rod of the desired length.

CAUTION: If drilling new holes to re-mount components, take care to not drill too deep for fear of drilling through the top of the guitar. If you are not familiar with this technique: use a small piece of masking or similar tape on the drill bit as a guide, to drill no deeper than the length of the screw minus the thickness of the aluminum part the screw goes through.

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