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The First Knee Lever (Page 2)
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The Steel Guitar Forum
Pedal Steel Archive
The First Knee Lever (Page 2)
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| This topic is 2 pages long: 1 2 This topic was originally posted in this forum: Pedal Steel |
| Author | Topic: The First Knee Lever |
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Chris DeBarge Member Posts: 811 |
posted 01 January 2001 08:54 AM
A funny thing occured to me the other day, I'm sure many of you know but I never did but...I was wondering who first added a knee lever to the pedal steel(and when). Would assume it was Buddy Emmons, but who knows? Any enlightenment on this subject would be very interesting. |
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Mike Perlowin Member Posts: 6731 |
posted 01 January 2001 09:33 AM
I could be wrong, but I believe knee levers were invented by Zane Beck, around 1963. |
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Tim Rowley Member Posts: 957 |
posted 01 January 2001 11:28 AM
Legend definitely credits the late Zane Beck for having the first knee lever(s). Zane also developed his own tuning which was quite versatile. Beginning with the first string, he tuned G#, F#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, D, B, G#, E, B. This is an "E" tuning which incorporates aspects of the tuning that Speedy West used on his back neck. Zane lowered and raised his E's with knee levers, lowered his B's with another knee lever, and moved his C# and D strings with knee levers. He used 4 floor pedals, 3 of which bore some similarity to the familiar E9 pedal setup but moved 3 or 4 strings apiece. Tim R. |
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C Dixon Member Posts: 5912 |
posted 01 January 2001 04:30 PM
I have no idea who invented and/or put the first knee lever on a PSG. But I do know the one that many of us remember as the first. It lowered the 2nd string from a D# to D and lowered the 8th string from an E to an Eb. Because the A, B and C pedals already existed at that time, it was labeled the "D" lever by many. NOT because it lowered the 2nd string to a D (as some now think), but because the letters A, B and C were already used. So D was just the next letter in the alphabet. The next lever to be installed, as I recall, was lowering of the two E's to Eb. Because some did not do this, (Lloyd Green notably and a few others), there has forever been some confusion as to the labeling of this lever. To this day some call it the D lever and some call it it the E lever. But many tend to agree that the F lever (the third lever to be installed on most PSG's), which is credited to Lloyd, raised the two E's to F. But, there are also some that call this the E lever. Oh well, what else is new? God bless you all, carl |
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Vern Kendrick Member Posts: 442 |
posted 03 January 2001 07:16 AM
I know of one knee lever that was in use in 1954,made of the finest quality hardware store parts,....Mine,I'm sure there were many before that |
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C Dixon Member Posts: 5912 |
posted 04 January 2001 05:35 PM
Vern, you tear me up man  carl |
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Tim Rowley Member Posts: 957 |
posted 04 January 2001 09:39 PM
All right, I knew that someone would come up with the correct answer. There you have it, a "successful" knee lever (as we know it) was designed and installed in 1954 by the notorious Vern Kendrick with the assistance of his hardware man, although this may or may not have been on a factory pedal steel guitar! Whether Vern ever offered this attachment for sale on a commercial basis is also in question. There are stories circulating about guys (like Vern) who would go so far as to "drill holes" in their non-pedal Fender steels and rig up coat hangers, old Ford accelerator pedals, gate hinges, etc. to "pull a few strings" in this business. Although most of us do not believe these far-fetched tales, more than a few old Stringmasters and Professionals have survived to this day with mysterious plugged holes in them! But hey Chris, the answer could be Vern Kendrick just the same. |
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Bill Stafford Member Posts: 1347 |
posted 05 January 2001 07:09 AM
Those "far-fetched" stories are very true. Mine was a double eight Rickenbacker but I had to use a Studebaker Gas Pedal. Strange but true. And my first knee lever was in the late fifties-E string to F#. (No C pedal yet). Just one pedal making the A and B current pedal pulls. Not split yet. BS and that's no bs |
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Vern Kendrick Member Posts: 442 |
posted 05 January 2001 08:33 PM
As a matter of fact I used a lot of coathangers,that was pretty much standard equipment in the early days,I started when I was 7 yr.s old on a lap model (I had some time on piano)I think anybody who played realised the limitations of the instrument,Thus began the renaissance period when a lot of great people came together to contribute to the evoloution of the pedal steel guitar.The knee pedal was just a logical addition,I feel very fortunate to have been around when it was happening.If I made any small contribution it was entirely by accident. |
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Vern Kendrick Member Posts: 442 |
posted 05 January 2001 08:51 PM
By the way Tim,I never saw a factory pedal steel until I bought a Multi-kord in 1955.....And I would have sold knee pedal kits,but I could'nt get around the patent on the angle brackets. |
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Jim Smith Member Posts: 6399 |
posted 05 January 2001 09:31 PM
FWIW, a good friend of mine told me recently that he uses coat hangers for some of the pulls on his new guitar, and says they work great! Apparently they're the same diameter as the pull rods on modern guitars (3/32"?). |
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