Mod my Maverick?

Aaron Clark · From: Kentucky, USA

Hi everyone, I finally got my first pedal steel. Its an old maple Sho-Bud Maverick with 3 pedals and no levers. My question is, is it possible to mount a knee lever on one of these? I think I read somewhere that people do this. I'd like to add an "E" to drop my E's to D#'s. If this IS possible what all am I going to need to do the mod?

One more question: I think I need a couple different size rods to make my "C" pedal work. Is it common place to just bend and cut a clothes hanger for this? They seem to be about the same size width.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

It is possible to add levers to a Maverick, and most of them had a lever to lower 2 and 8.
Lowering 4 becomes more challenging because of the C pedal. The return spring has to attach to the rod that lowers.
I'm not sure who makes parts for them.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I wouldn't spend a nickel on the guitar.
Trade it for something decent. Whoa!

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Brilliant, Erv.
Newbie: I just got my first pedal steel, can I improve it?
Other guy: Don't bother, it's rubbish. Welcome to the pedal steel.

Aaron, it would have been wiser to get other guitars.
Erv is right, though, in that upgrades to your Maverick aren't financially sensible.
I'm not sure how much your Maverick cost, but a Stage One has 4 knees and is right around a grand. It might have been wiser to join the forum first and sought the advice before buying the first steel, but barn doors and horses. Now that you have it, go ahead and make it better.

The upside to the Maverick is that many (but not all) are tone monsters, albeit with insufficient machinery.
I don't see why coat hanger wire wouldn't work, although the cheesy coating puts me off. On the plus side, it's cheaper than â…›" welding rod.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I've looked at Mavericks and I don't think there is a way to improve them. Whoa!

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

They're pull-release. Pull-release doesn't have to be Mickey Mouse and baling wire, and pull-release can do almost everything my Zum can do except splits.
It can be hot-rodded, but it's financially unworthwhile.
A forum search can find fully fledged Mavericks (and one that had its changer removed and replaced with an Encore changer.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Lane,
Please don't mention Zum and Maverick in the same sentence. Whoa!

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

There are, out there, Perms with 8&8, and Bob Simmons makes well loaded universals.
There are zero roadblocks in the way of putting 4 & 5 on a Mav which is just a pull-release guitar with a cheaply made pull train.

True, it's like putting Recaro seats, Alpine stereo and Corinthian leather dashboards in a Yugo.

True, neither of us would have ever suggested that Aaron buy that Yugo, but it's not a bad thing to try to make that Yugo drivable and help teach him to drive it.
It doesn't make us look good to slam the Yugo he's got.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I just hate to see him throwing good money after bad. Very Happy

Sometimes a guy just needs to cut his loses. Whoa!

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Back in the 1970s I purchased my first pedal steel guitar. It was a pretty blonde Maverick with three pedals and no knee-levers. Using a "whammy bar" from a cheap import guitar, a spring, and a couple of brackets I fashioned a well-functioning knee-lever that lowered strings 2 and 8 a half step. I played lots of gigs with that guitar.
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Lee, from South Texas - Down On The Rio Grande

There are only two options as I see it.
Either I'm right, or there is a sinister conspiracy to conceal the fact that I'm right.

Williams Keyless S-10, BMI S-10, Evans FET-500LV, Fender Steel King, 2 Roland Cube 80XL's,
Sarno FreeLoader, Goodrich Passive Volume Pedals, Vintage ACE Pack-A-Seat

Marco Schouten · From: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I had 3 knee levers on my Maverick. It's possible.
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JCH SD-10 with BL XR-16 pickup, Sho-Bud Volume Pedal, Evidence Audio Lyric HG cables, Quilter Steelaire combo

Rick Abbott · From: Indiana, USA

Aaron,

Contact http://simmonspedalsteel.com/ to talk about this. Bob Simmons is the shizzle when it comes to pull-release guitars. I have an 8-4 Miller Custom (pull-release) that he set up...it's tremendous!

If you got your guitar cheap enough it's a fine thing to do, if not, well, decide how much you are willing to spend.

Most people on here are cool and helpful. Glad you joined. Post a few pictures? Maybe one of us can help you with parts etc.
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RICK ABBOTT
Sho~Bud D-10 Professional #7962
Remington T-8, Sehy #112
1975 Peavey Pacer

K Maul · From: Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL

Erv is right. Erv is blunt. However if you are bold,creative and handy you can rig a couple knee levers and learn to play lots of the classic stuff. Tom Brumley did his first Buck Owens sessions using only 2 pedals,Lloyd Green doesnt even drop his 4th string to Eb. You can play 90% of the licks on modern brocountry tunes that have steel there just for color. You can do it without spending much money.
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KEVIN MAUL: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Donner, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, GFI, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Indeed. Aaron, if you want to add knee levers that look like they were put in by a competent craftsman, you can spend a hundred and fifty per knee in parts. But the stock parts in a Mav don't look that good.
With simple tools you can turn stuff from a hardware store into knee levers for a lot less.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Storm Rosson · From: Silver City, NM. USA

I like the idea you had Lane, as I'm fairly(kinda) sure it's almost (but not quite) an easy in for a +1-1 or +2-2 Bud all pull changer. LOL love yer pig Erv... nice shade of lipstick too. Wink

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Bill Moore · From: Manchester, Michigan

Here is a picture of the stock Maverick knee lever, lowering 2 and 8. It wouldn't be hard to make something like this. Notice the spring on the cross shaft, which puts tension on the lever? Moving the lever releases the spring tension, thereby lowering the stings.

Doug Earnest · From: Branson, MO USA

There is a whole bunch of stuff you can learn on a Maverick. Hundreds and hundreds of people did just that before they got something with more hardware.

I'm not sure it isn't better to explore one pedal at a time anyway and really learn it.

They are fine if you don't have to spend a big price for them.

John Bresler R.I.P. · From: Thornton, Colorado

I'd get hold of Michael Yahl at www.psgparts.com and tell him what you need. He has the Maverick 5 hole pull listed as stock - Probably could get you all the other parts for at least one knee lever, maybe set you up with everything you need. Very knowledgeable Sho-bud machinist.

Cool

Aaron Clark · From: Kentucky, USA

Hey guys thanks for all of the info. I kinda got this Maverick on a whim. I've been a guitarist and bassist for 15 or so years, collecting, buying and selling and like anything, you get what you pay for. Most of the steels I saw, were in the 1500-2,000+ category, and I wan't to start with something pretty bare bones before I committed to something REALLY nice.

As far as steel stuff goes, I like mostly classic stuff, Buck, Commander Cody, Hank, santo & johnny. 50's, 60's and 70's country stuff.

Again I am still learning the ropes of what I NEED to sound good and get by to play in a "1,4,5" and "traditional country" band, and then explore from there.

Kevin Fix · From: Michigan, USA

I preferred the lipstick on the Pig!!! I started with a Maverick in 1980. I played it in a group for about 2 years. It had 1 knee that lowered the "Es". It did the job. Was a good beginning. Moved up to a Lloyd Green Sho Bud. Night and day!!!!! It was a great starter back then. Good Luck!!!

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Aaron, if you can rig or buy something like the lever pictured above, any experienced player could play the catalog you have in mind.
Sure, we'd miss the stuff provided by the other knees, but I could play that all night with a smile on my face.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Herb Steiner · From: Spicewood TX 78669

I can, and have, played an entire evening on a 3 pedal/no knee lever Maverick. It sounded great. The great majority of steel guitar music recorded in the mid-60s can be performed on a Maverick, which is functionally identical to a Marlen or a Sho~Bud Permanent or any PR guitar from the 60s.

Matter of fact, I played an entire evening of traditional country music without a hitch on a 2-pedal/no knee lever 8-string Bigsby. Which certainly wasn't a piece of junk.

The first gig I saw Bobbe Seymour at, playing with Connie Smith in 1969, he was playing a Maverick.

Is a Maverick limited as a guitar? Certainly, compared to a modern pro-level steel guitar and the increased number of options it offers. No doubt a modern steel is "better."

But using the Maverick as a mirror, it also reflects the limitations of the steel player; one who can't recognize and find alternative positions, or utilize bar slants effectively, or simply move the bar correctly.

Less versatile, perhaps; junk... definitely not.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Thank you, Herb!

All too often, we hear "Oh sure, just get another guitar".

Geeze, guys, you can play an awful lot without levers, and you can also add knee levers to practically anything! Of course, if you buy fancy kits of stuff, it can be expensive. And, it's even more expensive to have someone do first-class work and install the fancy stuff for you.

But you really don't need "first class and fancy".

Let me elaborate:

You don't need "pretty". You don't need matchy-matchy, shiny-hiney crap. Your guitar will never adorn the walls of the Hirshhorn or Metropolitan Museum or Art. Get over it. All you need is something that's solid and works reliably. (Let's not forget that steelers of some repute started out with pedals and levers made out of coat hangers and gate hinges.)

Telling someone that a Maverick, Red Baron (or any other guitar) is un-modifiable and that you can't add pedals or levers is like telling your neighbor to sell his car if the bumper gets dented.

It ain't rocket science. Read a book on basic mechanics. Watch some "Tool Time" reruns. Browse the local Lowes' or Home Depot. Learn a little bit about making simple parts and using simple tools. It will make your time behind the instrument far more enjoyable...and it won't cost you hundreds of dollars to add a couple of levers. Laughing

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