Knee lever kits

John Poston · From: Albuquerque, NM, USA

I want to add a knee lever or 2 to my Fender 400. I'm wondering if there are existing parts that would get me close to what I needed. Maybe something from Coop? I figure if I can get a lever, bracket and all that jazz I would just need to rig up a cable of some sort.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I got mine from Fred Shannon, who got them from someone else - just simple brackets with holes drilled for crosshafts; levers made from a pice cut from aluminum channel; hommeade bellcranks. Then I added hardware store turnbuckles, 1/16" cable from Home Depot, and a couyple loops I had already...but you can make them from thin brass tubing and #16 galvanized wire.

They work great - you can spend $200 or so on a kit for fancy stuff with bearings made from unobtanium and .0001-tolerance parts, or you can do something like this (or draw what you need and take it to a local machine shop - it's not complicated). Red Rhodes had ones made from barn door hinges!

The rectangular doodad in the last picture was replaced by a Shobud barrel tuner; and despite all the comments I got telling me the "L" brackets were not strong enough for stops for either the knee levers or the barrel tuners (for creating double raises and double lowers) they work perfectly - nothing heavier is needed at all, and the holes in the brackets line up perfectly with the cables as well..

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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

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