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Topic: The UltraP .. A 40's Ultratone Inspired Steel |
Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Mar 2011 10:34 pm |
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Here is a fun one I just finished up, the UltraP. The goal was not to be an exact Ultratone reproduction, but rather a modern player with a nod to the past. I'm very happy how she turned out and the Lollar string through gives her a nice voice.
25" scale
Honduran mahogany and flame maple
Lollar Supro / Valco string through pickup
Grover tuners
string through set bridge
hand rubbed Tru Oil finish
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Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
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Stephen Abruzzo
From:
Philly, PA
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 4:41 am
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Sweet!! Another beauty and fine addition to your stable of lap steel styles. Is there anything style-wise that you won't try? I've got GAS. lol
I really like the headstock and how you carried the fretboard onto the headstock.
I bet she can get low down and dirty with the Supro/Valco pup.
What tuning is she set-up for? |
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Geoff Cline
From:
Southwest France
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 5:51 am
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| Home run Tom. Jason has told me that the "Supro" pickup is the best pickup he winds (and that's saying something). LOVE the straight string pulls and the wood working is, as always, stellar. Congrats on a killer piece! |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 9:41 am
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It's so satisfying to see the product of an artist such as yourself. You've taken the Barnes and Reinecke designed Gibson as an inspiration and made it your own. Thanks for sharing!
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Russ Cudney
From:
Sonoma, California, USA
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 10:06 am
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Sweet. I likey the pickup/bridge arrangment!
_________________
1958 D8 Stringmaster, 1958 T8 Stringmaster, 1955 Q8 Stringmaster (in basket), 1949 Gibson BR9, 1953 Silvertone, 1957 Harmony H4 (yeah the cool black pearloid one), 1947 National Princess, 1969 Shobud S10 3X1 |
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Steve Cunningham
From:
Atlanta, GA
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 11:55 am
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Thanks all, your kind words are much appreciated 
Stephen ... That pickup is very true to the original, but maybe a bit nicer / sweeter on the cleans.
Could be the steel its bolted to though as its a really nice chunk of mahogany. In any event, Jason definitely did a great job reproducing it.
As per the owner, its in a open G
1. D
2. B
3. G
4. D
5. B
6. G
Geoff ... I can see why its one of Jasons favorites for sure. I really like his Console Grand reproduction too.
Brad ... Thanks ... steel guitar has such a rich history to draw from and is a great creative outlet for me.
Russ ... It took some head scratching before I came up with how I wanted to do the whole bridge plate assembly.
One of the requests and design goals was to keep the look and feel of the originals huge bridge / pickup cover, but actually make it functional. In a fleeting moment of clarity, I incorporated it all in a version of my string through set bridge design. It was a pain to carve out, but I'm happy with how it came out.
Steve ... Wish you were somewhere close, I'd love to hear you put her through the paces. I'll never be better than a hack player, but she sure does have a nice voice.
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 12:25 pm
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Tom, that is very slick. I really like the craftsmanship.
Seriously, with all the great independent builders making steels today, I don't see why anyone would want to buy a factory made steel. Support these great craftsman!
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 1:35 pm
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Beautiful work Tom, as always!
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"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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Alan Michael
From:
Winston-Salem North Carolina U.S.A.
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 4:32 pm
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Stunning! I don't know where you find the time keep turning out these masterpieces...I can only imagine the manhours involved.
I'm getting real fond of those straight pull headstocks and the two tone knobs are awesome. Just beautiful work!!! |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 19 Mar 2011 10:45 pm
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Tom, apart from the above superlatives, two things strike me about this guitar. The first is the unsymmetrical placement of the tuners. I love it! Secondly, given the miniscule allowance on the threaded part of most volume pots, what is the thickness of the top at that location?
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Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 20 Mar 2011 10:11 am
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Thanks Mike, Steinar, Alan, and David
| David Matzenik wrote: |
| ... Secondly, given the miniscule allowance on the threaded part of most volume pots, what is the thickness of the top at that location? |
The wood is around 5/16" overall with a 1/16" recess for the knobs. The pots are some premium sealed Bourns units with a longer shaft so the 1/4" net thickness was no problem.
These are the model of Bourns pots in it. http://www.allparts.com/Bourns-250K-Audio-Pot-p/ep-5085-000.htm
Being that you can't solder to the back of those, I had to make a brass grounding buss plate to tie it all together. I'll try and get a pic taken of the guts later on.
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 20 Mar 2011 11:51 am
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Your work never ceases to amaze us Tom !!  |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 21 Mar 2011 10:33 am
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Gorgeous work, as always, Tom. I have just one quibble. Several years ago I thought it would be really nice to have some blond wood fretboards like you have on this guitar, so I had some made for my Fessenden. Alas, I had not foreseen the fact that the light would throw shadows of the strings onto the fretboard (as I see in your photos, too) and how often that would trick my eye-hand coordination. I ended up missing a lot of notes! Sadly, I finally had to take the fretboards off and go back to the original ones. I wonder if you've experienced this at all, or perhaps it was a problem unique to my nervous system?
Congratulations on another beautiful work of art.
Jim
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www.RonstadtRevue.com
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 22 Mar 2011 8:31 am
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Thanks Jim!
I'm certainly not an accomplished player, but I've not had any trouble with shadows and have not had any such feedback from other Pettingill owners with maple boards.
About the only fretboard that I could never get on with was the mirror finished board on Fenders FS-52 ... what were they thinking ....
That said I can see where a light colored fretboard might be an issue for some and there are certainly other great options for fretboard woods including dyeing the maple to a darker shade.
For that matter a total mixup of woods would be nice too, something like ash, alder, or a solid flame maple body with rosewood trim would look stunning too ... lots of great possibilities.
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
Follow me on Facebook here |
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Barney Roach
From:
Del Mar, California, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2011 7:55 pm
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WOW TOM!!
For my tastes, this is the nicest modern steel
I have seen from you. Yes- it is both stunning
and classy to boot!
Thank you for sharing it!
Barney |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Posted 23 Mar 2011 6:12 am
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I KNEW I shouldn't have opened this thread. dang, man.
I've come to hear your name as synonymous with beautifully crafted steel guitars.
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***WARNING: the above commentary is probably Chris' OPINION, and therefore, he thinks he's right. |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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