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Another Leg Question.
Posted: 30 Nov 2011 7:15 am
by John Broughten
I just purchased my first dual neck console which is a 1976 Carvin D6. The guitar is in fantastic condition but the legs are not. They were stored in the original plastic bags which have caused them to tarnish and rust over the years and they just don't seem that sturdy so I want to replace them. I know the leg socket is a 3/8 16 thread size so it may not be standard. I would like to try and make my own if possible but am having trouble locating the materials I need, mainly the leg tube insert with the stud size I need. Were does one go to find the materials? My second option is the have BSG Steel Guitars make a set for me but I am trying to save money on the project.
Posted: 30 Nov 2011 7:50 am
by Brad Bechtel
Have you tried contacting Carvin? There's a slight chance that they might know where to obtain the parts you need. Otherwise I'd check with Bobbe Seymour at
Steel Guitar Nashville.
Good luck!
Posted: 30 Nov 2011 8:54 am
by John Broughten
Tried both. Carvin no longer carries parts for this guitar since it's 1976 model. Checked with Nashville Guitar. Was told the 3/8 inch stud is the problem since the standard is 1/2 inch.
Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:55 am
by Don McGregor
Since the new legs won't be original anyway, would it be possible to take the leg sockets out, and have them drilled and tapped to the standard 1/2" and corresponding threads? Any local machine shop, or even a good auto mechanic could do the work, if the socket material is thick enough to safely enlarge the hole. Shouldn't cost much. Then you could just buy regular, easy to find legs. I've bought both sockets and new legs from Sill Music.
Posted: 30 Nov 2011 12:48 pm
by Steve Ahola
My 1961 Supro needed 3 legs with 3/8-16NC thread and I adapted the ones from the Rogue EA-3. (Last August they were selling the EA-3's for $79.99 but they are back up to $99.99.)
Here is my post about that:
I received 2 more EA-3's on Thursday- one metallic red and the other metallic blue (both colors look sharp). They both sounded pretty good right out of the box- the pickup is better than I remember- and they even came with proper strings for C6 tuning!
The main reason for ordering them was to get more of those cheap Chinese legs and leg sockets. In particular I wanted to adapt one set of Rogue legs to use on my 1961 Supro which has sockets for 3/8"-16NC thread legs. The Rogue legs and sockets use a metric M8-1.25 thread.
After browsing around Ace Hardware for about a half hour I figured how to do it. In their brass fitting section there are 3/8" flare x 1/4" MPT adaptors (also called unions) The 1/4" MPT (male pipe thread) end can be threaded with a 3/8-16 tap and the 3/8" flare end can be threaded with a M8-1.25 tap. You can now thread the 3/8" flare end onto the Rogue legs and for the 1/4" MPT end I screwed in a 3/8"-16NC x 2.5" hex bolt and cut it off leaving 6 threads to go into the Supro sockets (I checked).
A similar game plan could be used for whatever lap steel you might have that has sockets but no legs. I like using brass fittings because they are fairly easy to tap. I took two bolts corresponding to the threads needed and looked through the brass fittings until I found something slightly undersized. Better yet bring along the taps you will be using as they are tapered at the end- if the end goes in a little ways it should work.
Steve Ahola