Endplates/casting

Wayne Cox · Post by **Wayne Cox** » 3 Oct 2002 11:16 am

One more important aspect of pedal steel tone is that the over-all tone comes from the sum-total of all the parts! Even though I favor cast endplates,it is definitely possible to have a great sounding pedal steel without cast endplates. I believe Bobbe will agree with me on this! Sometimes people build things wrong and the end product turns out good anyway.
W.C.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 4 Oct 2002 7:58 am

Though I haven't done any studies, I've lately come to the conclusion that the resonance of the steel's body (that part between the endplates) plays a significant part in the sound of the steel. The reason I have come to this conclusion is that nothing sounds quite like an old Fender pedal steel, and their bodies had wood twice as thick as the old Sho~Buds', Emmons', etc..

Now, there ain't much you can do to remove mass from the old Fenders, but you might be able to add some mass (in the form of weights) to the center of an old 'Bud if you wanted a sharper tone.

Food for thought, anyway.

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 4 Oct 2002 9:51 am

Red Rhodes had a mahogany Fender that had a lot of 'sound'. I have a 6 string non-pedal bass machined from 1 1/2 x 4, 7075 aluminum billet. It has the "all aluminum" sound.

Andy Alford · Post by **Andy Alford** » 12 Oct 2002 7:45 pm

Bob Simmons,

Man its great having you on the forum.If any one knows how to build them,fix them or do any thing a steel player needs you are the one to call..I enjoyed visiting your store today and seeing the new steels you are building.Its always fun to look at the guitars and meet the different players who seem to drop by on Saturdays.Thanks for all the advice and the picking lesson.[This message was edited by Andy Alford on 12 October 2002 at 08:46 PM.]

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 13 Oct 2002 3:46 pm

Yes Wayne Cox, you are right, Dek-ley sounded great and broke ALL the rules. Most other companys broke the rules and the tone they have proves it. Emmons and Sho-bud did a lot of research and expermenting to get what they have. Lot of great thought here!
Bobbe

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 13 Oct 2002 5:19 pm

Bobbe! I thought you'd been kidnapped.

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 13 Oct 2002 7:49 pm

Dek-ley sounded great and broke ALL the rules.

I have a D-12 Dekley that didn't sound great. Now, after a lot of mods, it sounds good.

Wayne Brown · Post by **Wayne Brown** » 14 Oct 2002 5:08 am

mullen uses steel end plates..not cast and there sound is great too

Andy Alford · Post by **Andy Alford** » 10 Nov 2002 6:35 am

Any more insights into this?Do castings sound better to you?

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 10 Nov 2002 7:42 am

Wayne Cox...I would have to agree with you...
The tone coming from a pedal steel is from the sum of it's parts, and how it's put together..
You can have 2 pickups that are single coils, that are the same power, and because they are wound differently, they will sound different..
You can have 2 steels made out of the same maple..The wood from one guitar may be drier than the other, and give a different tone..No 2 guitars made by the same company will have the same tone...One owner lives in Florida where it's humid, the other lives in Arizona where it's dry..Humidity plays a HUGE difference in guitars, why not steels ??...
Keeping tight control on the style of the hardware, and the wood, and the tolerances of the craftsmanship, and you will have somewhat consistant tone from the start...This is a starting point...Then you add the musician that has a certain style of playing, and he/she will sound different on the same guitar than you will !!.. The steel is the starting point, and the player completes the mission ... THat's why Buddy sounds like Buddy !!... and Bobbe sounds like Bobbe...and so on and so forth....Jim