The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi all
The pot metal levers and brackets on my Sho bud LDG pro series are failing. I just broke a knee lever bracket. I spoken with Michael Yahl at PSG Parts, but he doesn't have any made yet. Any help would be appreciated.

The piece is a knee lever bracket, the vertical (taller) version that looks like a llama :>
Thank you!
Andy Santospago

Michael Yahl... I'll buy one of those too if you make a run of them.
Who else is in?

Check with Al Brisco at Steel Guitars Canada. He may have something. I saw these on his site, and it looks close but not exactly like the one you have pictured.

http://www.steelguitarscanada.com/onlin ... r-bracket/

Jeff Surratt? at Show Pro had them at one time. Worth a call.

I'll buy one from Michael. Heck, I'll take two!!

But to be clear: it looks more like a duck.

Thanks all for your help. Michael said it would be at least a month til he can start, sounds like he'll have plenty of customers. I'll follow up when I get the word. I swapped out the broken hardware from the LKL bracket and replaced with my RKR hardware, which I don't use as much - not ideal but it works. Such a drag that these pot metal parts, but I guess it's one way to learn how everything works!

Andrew, I sent you an email. Thanks

Pot metal parts. The reason I dumped the Super~Pro I had. Guitar sounded great , and played pretty good, but after breaking 3 knee lever brackets, it was time to get rid of it. But now that I know there are good parts available, I wouldn't mind having it back.

Richard Sinkler wrote:Pot metal parts. The reason I dumped the Super~Pro I had. Guitar sounded great , and played pretty good, but after breaking 3 knee lever brackets, it was time to get rid of it.

Me as well. I loved my late 70's Sho Bud Pro I- S10 , 3+4. But when it broke a knee lever bracket DURING a paid session, the E lower bracket, that was the end. I acquired the parts from Michael, fixed it then sold it.

Its a shame is all I can say.

I have a new set of rules :

#1- no more pot metal Sho Buds, as good as they look in the photo's.

there is no #2 #3, #4 etc...

From what I understand the knee lever brackets are the only part prone to breaking. $29 each from Michael. I wouldn't let that scare me off of a later Sho-Bud. I rebuilt my LDG with Michael's parts and couldn't be much happier. It's way more guitar than I'll likely ever need. I do want a vertical though. Got a crazy idea I want to try out...

Brian Hollands wrote:From what I understand the knee lever brackets are the only part prone to breaking.

uhhh, unfortunately not the case, the bell cranks will crack right at the cross shaft from the pull stress.

Go ahead, ask me how I know this !

Michael's parts are the real solution.

I had never heard of the bell-cranks breaking; one more thing to look forward to on my beloved Super Pro. To me, the biggest pot-metal issue with these Sho Buds are the fingers. They will eventually develop the "notch," as the steel scissor plates wear a groove into the under side of the softer pot metal finger over time (fixable). And any grooves worn by strings on the top of the fingers can't be sanded out as it would on harder aluminum (not fixable). I know these joys await me. If I were a little wiser and wealthier, I'd snag a set of those NOS fingers being sold on Ebay.

My issues happened in the early to mid 80's. No Michael Yahl at that point. No internet. No hope. All 3 of the brackets broke at a gig. The only thing that saved me was, when I wanted to gig the Bud, the knee levers on my Kline would work on the Bud, and were very easy to switch. Both had hex cross shafts, but they were oriented differently. Luckily I preferred my Kline way more than the Bud, and was my most used guitar.

And I also had a bell crank break.

Richard Sinkler wrote: No internet. No hope. All 3 of the brackets broke at a gig. The only thing that saved me...

I think there's a song in there Richard.
"The pot metal let me down"

I'm glad we can get the aluminum parts now.

When I broke a knee bracket on my "85" Pro I thirty years ago, I changed all of them and never looked back. I have yet too break a bell crank as Tony says he has. My beef is the pulling finger. I want an aluminum pulling finger!! But I did have a fourteen hole bell crank break on my Emmons LaGrande II.

Dan Beller-McKenna wrote:I had never heard of the bell-cranks breaking; one more thing to look forward to on my beloved Super Pro.

The TWO that I had started with hairline cracks which was causing very slight lever tuning issues, that was the symptom. I didn't even notice the cracks until I started hunting down the issue. Then it was..WOW..whats that ! I replaced them Michael's parts, all was well.

Good to know, Tony.

FWIW: Fessenden bell-cranks work in a Super Pro. I have a few in there.

Dan Beller-McKenna wrote:But to be clear: it looks more like a duck.

A 🦆 by any other name is still a 🦆

Michael just rolled these out! I just picked up 3. Get em if you need em!
https://www.psgparts.com/Bracket-Lever- ... 100-02.htm

Thanks for the info guys. Been waiting for the vertical bracket for over a year. I replaced all my straights already. I added some extra pulls on my Super Pro. Michaels parts are a excellent match. Jeff Surratt had the parts also. The only draw back was that he would only sell me the parts if he was going to install them. To far of a drive for me.