Beginners setup/copedent on old Emmons 3X1

Frank Montmarquet · From: The North Coast, New York, USA

I have an old Emmons Student model, 3 X 1. Maybe someone can date it by how it is setup. It seems a little archaic so I would like some advice on what to change.

A and B pedals raise the B's and G#s as expected. The C pedal only raises the 5th string B to C#. Of what use is that? Should I change it to raise the 4th string E to F#. Is it worthwhile to add a bell crank and rod and have both 4th and 5th string raised to C# and F#. Doesn't seem like too much work.

The only knee lever is the RKR, it only lowers the 8th string E to D#. Would it be better if it lowered the 4th string E instead. Again, I would like to add a bell crank and have it as a normal 4th and 8th lower.

This is usually the LKR lever, should I move it so it is where it would be when I up grade to a better guitar? or is it easy to relearn a pedal change?

If I where to add more knee levers, which ones would be most important. What would the 2nd lever be? If there where only 2. And the 3rd if there are only 3.

Thanks.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Frank Montmarquet · From: The North Coast, New York, USA

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I've been working on one for a couple of months. It's a student model 8 string or maybe a step up, with 3 and 1. It had enough parts for the standard A, B and C pedals plus lowers for 2 strings.

At the price of parts, I have decided to fabricate the things I need myself. It doesn't seem practical to invest a lot of money in the guitar that I have.

You could easily spend 3-400 bucks for parts to update to 3 levers. This puts your student model guitar, depending on your initial investment, in the $1000 + range.

I'm adding a low G# raise [octave below the 6th string] to the B pedal and a B to D raise on a RKR that I'm building right now.

I think you could get by with the standard A, B, C pedals, raising and lowering both E's and maybe one that lowers 9 and 2 a half tone. 3 levers will cover most of what you want to do.

If your C pedal raises only the 4th string, you can get the equivalent of the normal BC change by using both feet on the A,B and C pedals. The C pedal alone, if it only raises 4, will give you the same note as lowering the D# string a whole tone. Raising only the 5th string on that pedal seems useless to me.

If you have 10 strings, it's all there. You just have to figure out how to get it. It's a valuable education figuring out where to get the changes I've been getting on a loaded up D10 guitar with 5 levers working on the E9th tuning.

At the dear prices for parts, you might be better off to ditch it or just live with what you have considering the cost. JMO.

I'll say this though, this little guitar of mine has just an incredible classic steel guitar tone.

Frank Montmarquet · From: The North Coast, New York, USA

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

The 3rd lever should raise both E's to F. Actually, in my personal opinion, I would say that the E to F lever would be more important to me that the 2nd string (if you could only have 2 levers). Others will disagree, but I believe most players would agree that they use the E to F changes more than the 2nd string changes.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Look at the copedent charts of the pros from the above link. Buddy Emmons tuning could be considered pretty standard.

Put another bellcrank on that C pedal sos you can raise the 4th string E to F#.

Lever wise, I would choose either:
lowering 2, D# to D and 9, D to C# on the 3rd lever, or

lower 6, G# to F# along with raise 2 D# to E.

I don't believe I would try raising the 1st string F# to G# on that student guitar. It can be done, but it's asking a lot of the changer. Maybe a half step to G, though.

The other two I would consider a must:

Lower both E's to Eb:

Raise both E's to F:

Either way, you'll have a lot to work with. When the time comes and you want more lever changes, I suppose you could add them too, but it might be worth considering upgrading to a Pro Economy or full blown Pro with 5 levers then.

Some people like to lower both the G#'s to G.
Others like to raise both F#'s to G. Many folks feel they need the B's to Bb change. These changes might be worth checking out for a 5th lever option behind the other choices suggested above.

It just depends what you think would work best for you. It may take some experimenting with changes to find that out though.

John McGuire · From: Swansea,Illinois, USA

Call Mike Cass for parts.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Out of curiosity, is the Emmons student model an all pull, push/pull or pull/release changer?

On the third lever, I would try Jerry's recommendation of lowering 6 to F# but I would lower 2 to D instead of raising it to E. That way you can have the benefit of the second string lower and the 6th string lower. Also, if you do use the 6th string lower to F#, it needs to be on the opposite knee as the E to D# lowers as they are used together at times.

First two levers should be the E to D# and E to F changes.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Frank Montmarquet · From: The North Coast, New York, USA

Bobby Snell · From: Austin, Texas

Emmons GS-10. I bought one new in 1974. It came with standard ABC changes, and the knee dropped both E's.

Notice the lack of raised neck; this means the pickup and the changer itself are shallower than a standard Emmons push pull. But they have a very similar sound, especially if that pickup is original.

There are other shortcuts, like the legs and pedalboard attachments, that result from the "student" designation.

These are good guitars, and IMHO are worth adding knees and parts to make perfectly light giggable guitars.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Is the changer the same push/pull changer that is in the pro guitars?
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Richard, I was told by a reliable source that there are 3 sizes of P/P changers. E9th, C6th and Student. All basically the same except for length of fingers.

This is the changer in my S-8. Similar to a student model body with a few upgrades. This photo is pre-disassembly, cleanup, etc.

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: