The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm hoping someone can help me with a problem i'm having with my Emmons 75' S10.
I can't get the high E to lower to Eb on my
knee lever pull. I turn the upper screw but the changer only travels so far. Is there anything I can do to increase the travel distance on the knee lever?

Thanks in advance,
Bob

------------------
Bob Grado, Williams D10 (lefty), Peavey 1000,
Profex ll.

Bob,
There are several things that could cause this. May I ask if it was doing it before you last changed strings? Or maybe a string has broken and the ball end is caught up in there blocking the lower finger on 4? Or maybe you have changed to a heavier guaged string? It could also be the eight string lowering to Eb too soon and keeping the forth string from reaching its' destination.
If not, then the lower is being inhibited by the raise of either the C pedal or the F lever or both,,,,assuming there is no other changes on that lever.
Loosen the collars on the raise rod on the C pedal and F lever. Now engage the knee lever that lowers the 4'th and 8'th string and see if it goes enough. If it does, then while holding that lever in, bring the collar/s on the raise rod back to just barely touching the bell crank and tighten the set screw. You may now have to open the stop screw on the C pedal a little. I could tell right away if I could see all this, so some of what I say is a "maybe" or a guess.
Email me or call me at 281-856-9453 if you need to.
BB



------------------
If you play 'em, play 'em good!
If you build 'em, build 'em good!

Bob, In addition to what Bobby suggested, You need to study John Lacey's Wilderness Guide to the P/P. Check the post titled "Wilderness Guide", from earlier today. There is a link there for the guide. I will email you a copy in Word format. I also have a copy of the original Emmons instructions for setting up the guitarIt takes a bit of trial and error, but it's not that hard to fix. Good luck.

------------------
<small>Bill Moore...
my steel guitar web page</font>




<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bill Moore on 11 March 2003 at 03:54 PM.]</p></FONT>

Bobby, Thanks for the suggestion.. I know exactly what your talking about... I'll try it as soon as I get home.

Bill, I'm printing the Wilderness Guide as I type this.. loos like a terrific resource.

Again, as always "Thankyou very much for the help".. This Forum is the "ultimate resource" in my opinion.

------------------
Bob Grado, Williams D10 (lefty), Peavey 1000,
Profex ll.

I've heard about the manual/book/instructions that Emmons used to print. I wonder if they still have it, or where a source to find this would be, although, I find it hard to believe that it would be any easier to follow than John's guide...

Gino,
Bobbe Seymour has the book you refer to.
It's called "Methodology and Practice in Pedal Steel Guitar" (which I've always thought a curious title). He also has an excellent video on push-pull maintenance I highly recommend. I learned everything I almost know about them from his book and video.

------------------
<small>Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

I agree with Bobby Bowman. In working on P/P's, one must always keep in mind that raises overide lowers.

Putting it another way, IF there is not enough slack in the raise rods and collars, the raise will prevent the lower from going all the way to its stop. What exacerbates this problem; and the reason I am sure Bobby asked you if you changed gauges recently; is P/P's are usually setup to have JUST enough slack in the raise collars to allow for the full lower on any string that is raised and lowered.

Failure to realize this, can drive a non suspecting person up the wall.

God bless you in your quests,

carl