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Topic: LeGrande Bell Crank Setup |
William Seeders Mosheim
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2022 3:13 pm |
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I have a new to me 1983 Emmons LeGrande SKH that came to me with a bit of an oddball setup and copedent. I'm a long time professional luthier and machinist but I'm fairly new to working on my own steels. This Emmons has been the perfect place for me to start to familiarize myself with the proper way to approach learning a deeper understanding of the mechanics, copedent changes, and proper setup for an all-pull guitar.
I'm currently working on changing it over to the copedent I'm used to on my other steels with a couple fun additions to try out. I'm curious about a few things I've found as the only other LeGrandes I've looked under are later Lashley II and III's so I'm a bit unfamiliar with the "out of the factory" setups for the first LeGrande. I've found a few of the rods pass through swivels on cranks that are not set with set screws and only pass through on their way to the swivel and crank that it's setup to activate it. A couple of these I can tell are previous changes that were made to the copedent and de-activated for whatever reason but the bell crank was never changed. These I'm swapping for other changes. A couple others I'm wondering if they were originally designed to pass through as a guide for the rod. The ones in question I have a feeling were originally setup that way by the looks of things. Just want to make sure I'm assuming this correctly. None of these in question are ones I want to or need to change but just curious to get a deeper understanding of the original setup and if my assumptions are correct.
Here's a couple photos of the ones in question. The changes are the LKL who's rods pass through de-activated swivels on the LKR cranks and the B pedal 3rd string change which passes through a de-activated swivel on the RKR crank.
I found an original rod chart here on the forum which has been a great help in making sure I'm approaching things correctly and things are where they're supposed to be but understanding some of the finer points would be fun for me as I dig deeper and educate myself on the finer points of these great guitars. If someone has a photo of how their LeGrande is setup on these changes that would be fun for me to see.
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Dave Meis
From:
Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2022 5:13 pm
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| Passing through swivels is common on the lowers to prevent flexing of the rods on PP's, but I'm not sure why they would be needed on an all pull setup.. not much help I know, but maybe some one knows. I have a lot of all-pulls, and none of them have it, but both of my PPs have it on the lowers.. |
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William Seeders Mosheim
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2022 6:00 pm
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| Thanks, Dave! I noticed this on my push-pull as well and figured it might be a hold over when they made the switch to the first all-pull they made. Being the first LeGrande I wouldn't be too surprised if they had the same thinking as the push-pull pass through. I know the later LeGrande II and III didn't do this at all. Would love to know for sure though mainly out of curiosity. |
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Kelcey ONeil
From:
Sevierville, TN
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Posted 18 Jun 2022 7:33 pm
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Not sure why it was done that way, but it would affect the tuning if those levers were engaged at the same time the rods passing through them were. It would be advisable to to remove those swivels.
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Co-owner and operator: Emmons Guitar Co. |
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William Seeders Mosheim
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 19 Jun 2022 10:42 am
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| Kelcey ONeil wrote: |
| Not sure why it was done that way, but it would affect the tuning if those levers were engaged at the same time the rods passing through them were. It would be advisable to to remove those swivels. |
Thanks, Kelcey! I had a feeling they may not be helping anything, exactly what I wanted to know. No reason to keep them if they may only cause issues and not help prevent any.
On another note, the new Emmons Push-Pulls are a thing of beauty! Hoping to have the chance to see one in person someday. I love my old Emmons guitars and it's great to see the legacy being continued. |
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Ron Pruter
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 19 Jun 2022 4:16 pm
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I would think that those set screws in the swivels just fell out; maybe. I've never seen that either. 
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Emmons SKH Le Grande, '73 Fender P/J bass, Tick tack bass, Regal high strung, USA Nashville 112. |
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Bobby D. Jones
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 7:05 pm
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It looks like someone worked on the guitar sometime before that just took the set screws out, And used them as guides for the pull rods. They may had problems with pull rods rattle and that was their cure.
If there had been tight set screws holding the rods the guitar would change other strings when a pedal or lever was activated.
There is a lot of valuable parts tied up under there just being guides.
Good Luck on this project. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 21 Jun 2022 7:50 pm
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| Passing rods through the swivels or pins is done on some all-pull guitars to keep the rod from vibrating when the pedal is activated and released quickly. This vibration can cause a slight "boing" or rattle sound which telegraphs through the body to the pickup. At least one builder I know of does this on the longest pull rods, and some just use foam rubber (which requires occasional replacement or adjustment). |
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