Introducing The Southern Belle

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 11 Jun 2011 11:22 am

Here is a new one that is a little more traditional shaped than some of my other creations, SB-001.

Some basic specs
24" scale
Mahogany with zebrawood accents
Long tenon set neck
String through set bridge
Aluminum and black fiberboard inlay
Zebrawood knob set
4 way rotary pickup switching
BG-Pups Tele Neck Custom Blues and Hot P90
All wrapped up in a premium hand rubbed Tru Oil finish

.

Mitch Crane · Post by **Mitch Crane** » 11 Jun 2011 11:30 am

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 11 Jun 2011 12:13 pm

Beautiful, Tom!

Is the metal rod that serves as the bridge slotted or not? Is this important?

Alan Michael · Post by **Alan Michael** » 11 Jun 2011 12:44 pm

Beautiful as usual Tom. I love the frets and fretboard markers. Are they wood or some exotic, other-worldly material? I'm still digging that straight pull headstock design of yours.

Oops....I just reread your post which pretty much answers my question.

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 11 Jun 2011 1:13 pm

Thanks guys

Steve ... no grooves needed as the string through holes line up the centers and being a tight angle around the rod / saddle, the tension is high and there is no slippage or wandering. I've done this style of set bridge in a few different variations now and it makes for a great setup.

Alan ... that inlay is something I'd been thinking about doing for a while and it just seemed to be a good fit with the zebrawood. Its a pain in the butt to layup and make all the pieces, but I'm very happy how it came out.
Wait till you see the next one with all the gold mother of pearl

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 11 Jun 2011 1:18 pm

Here is a better look at the bridge.

.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 11 Jun 2011 9:18 pm

That's really some excellent work Tom, and never ceases to amaze me!

Steve Cunningham · Post by **Steve Cunningham** » 11 Jun 2011 10:42 pm

I think I'm in love...or is it lust? Great job Tom!

You need to get some audio clips of your instruments. We'd all love to hear them.

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 12 Jun 2011 8:01 am

Thanks Bill and Steve

Steve ... maybe one of these days I can get one of my steels to you and have you put it through the paces. I'd love to see what you could do with one.

Something I'd note, for Steel Guitar Forum members, I offer a satisfaction guarantee. If your new steel does not put a huge grin on your face, send it back and I'll either fix it, change it, or build you a new one .. simple as that.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 12 Jun 2011 8:41 am

Any time you'd like to send one my way, I'd be more than happy to take her for a spin!

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 13 Jun 2011 6:43 am

Hey Mike, your another one of our great formites I'd love to see play one of my steels!

I have thought / considered building a traveling demo steel for players to try out, but there just never seems to be enough time.
Besides figuring out the logistics, what would I build to send out? Pretty much everything I build is custom ordered and built to suit that individual player.
I mean, its not like I have a cookie cutter one size fits all model.

William Craven · Post by **William Craven** » 13 Jun 2011 10:08 am

That is a sweet looking slide, very nice job!

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 13 Jun 2011 11:45 pm

Everything you do Tom is a Showpeice!!
I wish we lived closer.

Roy

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 14 Jun 2011 7:44 am

Thanks William and Roy

As with all of my babies its sad to see them leave home, but I had some fun playing around with her the last couple days.

The somewhat unconventional pickup selection was a request from her owner and it worked out great.
The P90 does angelic cleans and goes to rude with an attitude at the drop of a hat.
The Custom Blues Tele neck is sweet and smooth just like it should be and combined they compliment each other and bring the best of both to the foreground in a perfect blend.
I wired the 4 way pretty much like a standard 4 way Tele scheme. The first 3 are typical with the 4th being the mod where both pickups are tied together in series like one big humbucker. Its a big fat setting and a ton of fun.
Here how the switching is setup.
1) P90
2) P90 + Tele neck in parallel (humbucking)
3) Tele neck
4) P90 + Tele neck in series (humbucking)

Ron Yarboro · Post by **Ron Yarboro** » 15 Jun 2011 4:19 am

Hi Tom,
Nice choice of woods. Well thought out and executed. Your guitars are classic.

Ron

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 15 Jun 2011 3:51 pm

Thank you Ron

Gary Stevenson · Post by **Gary Stevenson** » 15 Jun 2011 5:09 pm

Beautiful guitar and the headstock is dropdead gorgeous. I like the way the strings go straight to the tuners.This one gives me GAS.

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 17 Jun 2011 9:00 am

Thanks Gary

I too like that headstock, though it, the whole steel actually, almost never got built.

I started this one a little over 2 years ago, did my concept drawing, roughed in the body and neck, then put it on the shelf.
Its not that I did not like it, far from it, I love it, just that all the other projects I had going got priority.

Chris Walke · Post by **Chris Walke** » 23 Jun 2011 10:37 am

Wow! Beautiful.

....and if I could add...Wow!!

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 23 Jun 2011 8:50 pm

Thanks Chris

The Steel Guitar Forum

Introducing The Southern Belle

Introducing The Southern Belle

Very nice