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Topic: price/availability of "universal" knee kits.? |
Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2004 6:56 pm |
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| I may buy an old Fender or other old steel..[when I can find something I like and NOT pay way too much,I'm in no hurry}.. anyway, I wonder what is out there in universal knees,rods etc. I had an MSA that had a "one size fits all KL on it" .. it worked ok if I remember,but the quality was not up to the standards of the factory MSA parts... Are these things even available any more??? .. are they ridiculously over priced?? Easily adaptable to fit most guitars?? .. No I am NOT going to ruin some rare old mint steel,.. YET.. but if I find some old 6 pedal E9 steel with no knees, I will start thinking about knees... any thoughts? bob |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 2:55 pm
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| Nobody ever put knees on ???? bob |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 5:25 pm
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Bob,
I am not aware of a "universal knee lever kit". I can't imagine a knee lever kit that would work for all brands since there are soooo many different configurations of undercarriage. But maybe.
carl |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 6:07 pm
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Left-moving knee levers are easily added to a Fender cable guitar. (I fabricated several, myself.) Right-moving levers are a little more challenging, but not terribly difficult. If you're capable of drilling a hole in a piece of metal, and putting in a couple of screws, it's not that big a deal. Many Fender owners made knee levers out of gate-hinges, and bicycle brake cable!
Rod-actuated guitars are more complex, and require more precision. Due to the vast differences in cross-rods and pull rods, "universal" kits aren't really feasible. If you're just starting out, and buying a used rod-actuated steel, I'd recommend getting one with 4 or 5 knee levers to start with. That way, you won't have to add any for many years, if ever!
If you're buying an old Fender cable job, just resign yourself to the fact that it will never do everything, and be content with 1 to 3 levers. |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 6:23 pm
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| Guys.. I am not a beginner.. I have been playing 28 years,many of those professionally/semi professionally. I have SEEN univeral knee kits. I think I have one sitting on a table upstairs! I took it of an MSA I sold several years ago. It does not use the guitars cross shafts.. It has its own and the entire assembly bolts to any guitars undercarriage. It had MSA rods with it that I took off,but it was definately not an MSA part. If it was homemade it was VERY well done!!! VERY precise machining... Like a big dope I lost the odd rod pulling mechanism it used. {Not a bellcrank} Maybe I AM wrong but I seem to remember universal KL assemblies being available... Maybe one of our resident experts in rebuiling/repairing/manufacturing steel guitars can weigh in on this one. I'm almost positive on this but,hey I'm really not very bright... I'm a pedal steel player after all!!!!!!! bob [This message was edited by Bob Carlucci on 13 January 2004 at 06:25 PM.] |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 8:46 pm
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| You're quite right, Bob. They were offered at one time (Tom Bradshaw may have been involved with their manufacture). I have not seen them in many years, therefore I gather they weren't really that successful. Where I said they weren't "feasible", I probably should have said "not always practical", or "undesirable". To maintain the sound, reliability, and resale value of your guitar, I'd recommend using original parts, or at least newly manufactured parts using the original design. |
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