Add Knee Levers to Fender PSG 400 / 800 / 1000 /2000

[John Haspert]

Greetings Classic Fender Steelers!
Over the past 20- odd years there have been some posts regarding adding knees to these great guitars. Of Interest are all, but especially those that that DON’T need drilling. I am trying to keep it fairly original and clean.

If I recall, Bob Carlucci was testing or using one f these systems, I spoke with Jim Palenscar a while back and I think he was working on something. There was also a mention that Michael Yahl may have had something in the works. Dave Zirbel may also have had something too.

Does anyone have sources for these and better yet experience with these and is willing to share. I’m all ears! Thanks in advance. BTW, I am working with a PSG 400, I think 1963 or 64 vintage.

[Mark Perrodin]

Bob Carlucci was playing a knee lever set up developed by Michael Yahl. Michael Yahl's knee levers did not involve extensive modifications to the guitar. As far as I know Mr. Yahl has not moved forward with his design. It looked like a very well conceived idea. Dave Zirbel is a Fender fan with Fender 400's in his blood. Rick McNamara has a very impressive knee lever set up. All of these guys are members here. First pic is one of Rick's conversions. 2nd and 3rd pics are more of Rick's handy work. Darvin W added knees to a Fender as well. this is well tread upon ground. it can be done and has been done. it's a shame that Fender didn't do it themselves. Chris L added knees to his guitar using Emmons knee levers and phenolic pulleys that appear to be aircraft surplus. Dennis M added knees with hardware from a hardware store. if you want knees you can do it.

[Rick McNamara]

Hey Mark,

Thank you for sharing the info! I hope is well with you! I don’t post often but I read a lot. It’s good to read your name in the postings.

I still have parts and pieces for Fender kits. My experience has always been some folks have problems soldering up the cables.

I tried sending complete new cable sets with the knee lever kits. They were made on a LS 400 I put 4 knees on (that’s model they were requested for). Seems like that didn’t help much either?

Anyway, I’m doing a R&B Bud for Harry Bohay in England so I’m busy on that right now.

Stay well, Rick

[Dennis Montgomery]

Stay well, Rick

Hey Rick! Nice to see a post from you! Hope you're doing well

Dennis

And yes, as was mentioned I added a pair of knees to a Fender 400 with about 50$ worth of odds and ends from the Home Depot hardware aisle! I did have to drill into the body though as I used a pair of small hinges to secure the aluminum knee levers in place. It wasn't pretty, but it worked! Adding knees as the OP requested without drilling? Well...I couldn't work out how to do that

[Jerry Overstreet]

viewtopic.php?p=3246697#p3246697

Of course these do require a bit of drilling into the body, but they do look very nice.

[Bob Carlucci]

Sold that guitar long ago.. It was a great pedal steel guitar,, Mike Yahl's prototype system was a work of sheer genius.. If he sold it as a DIY kit, the 4 knee lever system he designed for my 800 could be installed ,tuned, and playing perfectly in I dunno, maybe a half hour if you're fast, or 45 minutes if you are nursing coffee and a donut . Here's the list of equipment required to do the job,,

1- Phillips Screwdriver.

2-Drill holes required-0


He might still have the plans, blueprints etc, and I dunno, maybe he could be talked into building one for someone, but he'll have to answer that question.. I do know that it was a FANTASTIC piece of engineering, elegant and simple, added at most maybe 3 pounds to the guitar, installed in minutes, and worked perfectly.. Someone has that one of a kind prototype somewhere, and I really wish I had never let it go,,, I hope he reconsiders his decision not to build those lever set ups for Fender cable guitars, and makes a few .. It DID look like there was a lot of time and effort put into it, so it might have been a money loser as they couldn't be built in a way that was cost effective. Maybe he'll let us know if he sees this thread. I'll always be thankful to him for that setup.. He;s a pretty talented guy! bob

[Donny Hinson]

Over the past 20- odd years there have been some posts regarding adding knees to these great guitars. Of Interest are all, but especially those that that DON’T need drilling. I am trying to keep it fairly original and clean.

I can understand that you want to keep it "original"; but personally, I'd only worry about that if the guitar was near "dead-mint" condition. Pedal steel models/brands that were made by the thousands have little real collector value, unless they're "minty", or they were associated with a famous player for a long time . My old Fender 1000 (picture below) had 2 left-moving levers, very simple affairs with just a hinged lever fastened to the body, and a cable affixed to the lever that pulled via cables on the changer fingers. Once the leverages (where to put the cable hole in the lever) were figured out, they performed flawlessly; no shafts, no rods, no big brackets, no stops, and no slack adjusters. The art of simplicity, like gate hinges on those old guitars. Right now, I have a Fender 400 with just the 4 pedals and no added levers. It's a "fun" guitar that I play once in awhile just to prove to myself how much music you can get out of a simple rig, and to remind me what I started with 60 years ago. When I got it, it was full of holes where someone had obviously done many experiments with added levers. I just filled the holes and repainted the bottom and it looks great!


(image copyright - Do not reproduce without permission)

Straker1.jpg

[Lee Rider]

Gene Parsons has been doing knees on Fender cable steels for about 50 years or so:

viewtopic.php?p=3246697#p3246697

[Mark Perrodin]

Rick M,
sent you a pm

[Rich Ertelt]

My old Fender 1000 (picture below)

I have a jacket just like that.