The Steel Guitar Forum

If the rods are actually too long and if they also have rolled threads, I would recommend rebending the hook. If they are standard rolled threads, the threads are actually fatter than the rod and you can't get the right spec of thread on a rod that's too narrow without rerolling new threads. It woul...

Hi David, I can tell by your playing in the video link that you posted, you won't have any problem at all getting up to speed within several years for sure and maybe faster. The process will also be outrageously fun. I recommend that you make a selection of three or four great recordings by the arti...

I purchased a set of beautiful legs from http://steelguitarparts.net They are an apparently standard size from outside collet surface to shoulder at the start of the thread at 23-1/4" They seem long for my instrument and my size. I am 5'-10". The top of the PSG end castings lie at 29-5/16 ...

The instrument is now ready for the smoke test and play-ability adjustments. I wish now that I had mitered the body so that the joint was right on the corner. That would have looked a lot nicer. I'll remake one or two parts as time goes by. I'll add another stop for the vertical knee lever. I may ad...

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix2020-03/19833_DSC04139__Copy_1.jpg OK, I'll call it done after a few more pics although I'll still have a bunch of adjustments to make. Here is rodding the instrument. I mark the rod where I want the pin then put the rod in the drill fixture till the mark show...

Just got the cross shafts on for a first fit. I'm almost ready to start with the pull rods. I also may have ordered the pedal rods a little long. I may have to re-bend the ends or exchange them. I also have to finish off and polish the pedal rail and attach the pedals and drill the pedals for the ro...

Finally putting the business together. This is not without it's problems. I have noticed several little items that I wish I had done differently. I neglected to drill several holes that would have been much easier to include in the programming. I just overlooked them they were in the cad model but n...

I noticed a couple of the changers were a little sticky and so I took it apart and loosened them up a little. The rivets were juust a little snug. I loosened them up by tapping on the formed recess and thereby pushing the rivet into a hole in a temporary anvil that I had drilled into a piece of alum...

Oh yea, starting to take shape now. No underneath parts are installed yet.

Making a fingerboard. I decided to co-opt this banjo fingerboard pattern. I cut the pattern in maple then filled with black and sanded down. I lacquered the fingerboard before machining so that I wouldn't stain the maple with the fill color. It still darkened down somewhat. I was becoming a little i...

A little smooth and polish on the peghead.

Here it is with a few coats of lacquer before buffing and, oh yea, after turning over the edges on the aluminum and buffing that. I didn't bring the aluminum up to class A mirror surface finish because I'm just too lazy and don't quite have the proper equipment to do the job right. And besides that ...

Here's the first coat of finish. I like the look of oil in the wood, but it kinda kills the liveliness so I am going to destroy this piece by starting with 90% rosin and 10% linseed oil with a touch of cobalt drier mixed in. I like the way that oil makes the wood look richer and then improve with ti...

Now that I have finished all of my parts I am putting together the steel. The end plates are on temporarily so that I can make the edges meet correctly. It shouldn't be too long till I can play it. Now I'm prepping for the finish process. I don't like varnishing and varnishing doesn't like me. But h...

When thinking about efficiency of sound production and response in the pedal steel and other stringed instruments, there is an analogy in the energy efficiency of battery operated devices. The maximum efficiency of energy usage for a battery operated device is when the internal impedance of the devi...

JD: That's for left handed players, right? That's almost as good as me yesterday. I was spraying the cabinet with lacquer. I thought the screws were a little non-snug when i screwed it to the holding fixture but ignored it cause I really wanted to get on with it. Took it outside, I was turning it ov...

Hi Ross, Yep, we're definitely talkin' bout the same place. That's real interesting. It was probably the same old gent. I'm pretty sure I was working there at a later time than you. Working at Benji's was a good experience for me. I don't remember how long I worked there, but it wasn't longer than a...

Bobby, I think your project probably took more determination than mine. You did both necks and had to scrounge materials. The resources for collecting information, gathering supplies, machining them, and so many other things were much more difficult and expensive back then. I'm sure it was very sati...

Jim, I agree on the sum total view of the playability. I think that those who have the good fortune to have a coherent elasticity spread uniformly throughout their instruments will probably have the best playing most responsive instruments. That would be difficult to plan for though, I would think. ...

Jim, Interesting about the 303 stainless. What was the diameter? The Franklin that I am copying as you know has a very large 5/8 shaft. In the business of making functional structures, the proof of the pudding is definitely in the eating. You can't argue with success. A friend tells me that a classi...

It's finally starting to take shape. I only have one more miner part to make which is the end cap behind the bridge. Everything left is fit and finish which is itself a big job. The area by the inlaid epoxy logo looks kinda dirty now with some rough sanding but will tidy up with finish work. I like ...

The shaft material for the bridge that I am using is linear rail shafting. It is tremendously hard and the only way to cut it is with something hard like diamond or grinding wheel. I mounted a dremel style grinder into a collet in the lathe and slowly ground my way in. The surface is beautiful almos...

I decided to make em in pairs. I knew there would be one or two rejects (and there are) and so I just made 10 in 5 pairs. Maybe I'll make a C6 neck later. The material I'm using for a spoil board here and in other pictures is called Trespa. It's a very hard durable phenolic mineral filled composite ...

I was able to get two pedals out of the peghead billet center recess.

On to the neck. I'm putting a recess into the top of the neck and will install a wooden or composite faux fretboard instead of a decal. I still don't know what I want to put on the fretboard for a pattern. I'm thinking about either a background train motif or a non matching pattern based on the banj...