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Topic: Barn hinge knee levers |
Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 12:59 pm |
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Does anyone have a picture of the oft-mentioned barn-door hinge knee levers folks have put on Fender pedal steels? I'm really curious how they went about it.
I'm trying to figure out how to put 4 KL's on my 1000, and I'll look at ANY option - but I have limited mechanical equipment (like...none except a small drill press) and skills and amd trying to figure out a simple system...or one using available parts. |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 1:34 pm
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Gary Brandin has door hinge levers on his 400. He's in Newport Beach. Do a search and email him. I'm sure he'll respond. He loves his Fender! 
DZ |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 3:54 pm
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Jim,
I suggest you visit M&K Metals -- they are on Rosecrans and Western (North of Rosecrans, East side of street). Look at all the pieces of extrusion and bar stock they have there. You will able to make some nice knees if you have an idea of what you want to make, hacksaw,a drill press and some new mill bastard files, and a vise. I use a mill, but you don't need one if you have time. McMaster Carr can provide rivets if you want a fancy hinge.
Chris Lucker |
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John Bresler R.I.P.
From:
Thornton, Colorado
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David Wren
From:
Placerville, California, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 4:06 pm
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wow.... thoses are really hinges (I once made a "pedal dobro" using a barn hinge and motorcycle cable)... but I thought you guys were talking about the moulded metal (not stock removal or cast) knee levers I have seen on some Fender PSGs. cool pictures fur sure! Thanks John.
------------------
Dave Wren
'95Carter S12-E9/B6,7X7; Twin Session 500s; Hilton Pedal; Black Box
www.ameechapman.com
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Brandin
From:
Newport Beach CA. USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 5:41 pm
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I use gate hinges, because they sound
better.
GB |
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Russ Wever
From:
Kansas City
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 6:08 pm
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. . . and an ole chrome curved shoe-horn mounted on the swingin' end of the barn-door hinges makes for deluxe visuals . . . 
that's what was on an ole Gibson ElectraHarp I once had.
~Russ[This message was edited by Russ Wever on 31 January 2006 at 06:08 PM.] |
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Skip Edwards
From:
LA,CA
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Posted 31 Jan 2006 10:50 pm
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On one of his gtrs Red used Fender pedals as knee levers. They were the newer black pedals, as opposed to the older chrome, stamped style. But I seem to remember that he had 4 of them hanging down under there on his sunburst single neck with the Eflat 6th diatonic tuning.
I think I've also seen the older style chrome ones used as levers, too.[This message was edited by Skip Edwards on 31 January 2006 at 10:52 PM.] |
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Jay Fagerlie
From:
Lotus, California, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 5:59 am
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Be afraid, be very afraid.....
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Larry Phleger
From:
DuBois, PA
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 6:15 am
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| Several years ago Winnie Winston wrote a couple articles for the PSGA newsletter showing how to make your own Knee levers. I believe they were geared toward Sho Buds and Emmons PPs, but they may have some ideas you can use. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 6:37 am
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| Larry - where would one find those? |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 8:56 am
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| Jay, which one of them parts are the cutting blades? |
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Larry Phleger
From:
DuBois, PA
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 9:12 am
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Jim
You may be able to get a copy of the newsletters through their website http://www.psga.org/. There is a link there to contact them. If you ask for the issues with these articles, they may be able to help you. BTW, they are a good organization to belong to, |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 12:45 pm
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Jim,
I didn't spend a lot of money installing 4 knees on a Fender 1000 years ago. I used 5/16 steel round stock bent in the shape of "L", and downsized aluminum channel. Drill 2- 5/16 holes in the alum. chan. to receive the knee lever. The chan. need not be more 2" w. x 2" long x 1.5 " high. 5/16 shaft collars make possible holding any adjustment from shifting position. You may have some ideas of your own to proceed with the project. I'd abandon the barn hinges concept. Too much of not a good thing, I'd say.
[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 01 February 2006 at 12:49 PM.] |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2006 8:54 pm
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Bill - thanks, but you lost me at the "shaft collar" line. I'm simply not a machinist. Never had any experience with metalworking, nor the tools.
I'll just have to find someone who can make some simple, inexpensive ones for me. Honestly, Red's setup was cool but more complicated than I want to attempt. |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 5:13 am
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Jim,
Thanks for the response. If you haven't considered advancing on a fully equipped 10 string steel guitar, it may be worth some thought. The Fender will have more value, if left in its original condition. It's just a matter of dollars and cents.
Bill |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 5:57 am
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| It seem to me like the precision of the parts and their consequent "shiftiness" would be important in controlling tuning - I would maybe look towards bicycle brake and shifter parts rather than farm hardware. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 6:10 am
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| Billl - No, I'm not going to switch to a 10-string. Several issues - string spacing, tone, tuning, playing style, influences - make the 8-string Fenders perfect for me. The knee levers have been a common mod and are already being added to my 400, I was just looking for a way to add them to the 1000, which would require different construction than the ones I have due to the two-neck design. |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 6:43 am
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Jim,
It would be interesting to read about your tuning on the Fender 400, and what the newly installed knee levers will do. Thanks...
Bill |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 10:33 am
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I have been thinking about making my 4x0 Fender 400 into a 2x2.
I was thinking I would get some nice kitchen cabinet hinges (there a 100's of styles to choose from), and then make the knee levers out of a nice piece of wood, custom shaped for playability (like some knee levers are "L" shaped, these might be "flag" shaped).
The E>F lever on LKL would pull directly from the cable to the changer without going around the turnstyle.
The E>Eb (on either LKR or RKR) would go around the turnstyle and to the lever.
The cable attaches directly to the knee lever
by going through a hole in the wood knee lever with probably a washer and a lock collar on the other side (placement for correct pull leverage to be determined during the prototype stage).
The KL stops are basically the enguaged changer finger limits (maybe I'll need a small spring between the washer and the lock collar).
That would give me A and B pedals, and E>F's and E>Eb's on levers (E9th o'plenty!).
With the E>Eb's enguaged it's an open B6th, A+B down is open A6th, for swingin'!
P5 and P6 action are only one fret bar slants away.
I'm thinking... Fender 400 Universal.
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 12:00 pm
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Jim,
Thanks for sharing some of your plans. It seems to be a feasible approach, depending on the wood selected. It would be difficult to excel the beauty of select wood grains. Should you choose to integrate metal to lessen the stress upon the wood, it would be worth a trial run.
Bill |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 2:14 pm
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Bill - I never said anything about wood parts.
The tuning has been extensively discussed in a thread a month or two ago. It's Sneaky Pete's B6 Copedent. On my 1000 I want to combine that with Al Perkin's E7...they each have completely different approaches. |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 2:29 pm
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Jim,
I apologize for the error. I guess that I'm slipping a bit. Good luck with your plans and music.
Bill |
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Russ Wever
From:
Kansas City
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 2:49 pm
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Pete,
Not sure which pedal type you have on your Fender, but I've seen some guys actually use a floor pedal 're-mounted' as a knee lever - only in the case of the chromed, stamped kind, and generally not the cast type.
Since you mention going from '4+0' to '2+2' and not actually 'adding' hardware, this might be an option to consider.
~Russ[This message was edited by Russ Wever on 02 February 2006 at 07:16 PM.] |
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