Blanton 4S10 Cleanup

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 5 May 2014 7:29 am

I picked up an old Blanton 4S10 recently and am going to fix it up. I stripped the old strings off yesterday afternoon and removed the keyhead to be able to clean a couple of decades of gunk off. Got the keyhead cleaned up nicely and the body underneath. Going to do a little polishing tonight and put it back together, then work on the changer end a bit. Anyone know of somebody who could do a professional job of polishing this out at some point? It has a good many scratches, more than I will be able to take out by hand. Anyway, have so before closeups I'll post later, but here are a few overall shots of the condition I acquired it in. I couldn't resist plugging it up and tuning the partial set of strings (quite old and dead)...sounded fantastic even with the bad strings. (I didn't however have nerve enough to try and tune that 3rd up to G#!

(The areas under the tuning screws are not rust as I originally thought from the photos, they are actually plastic bushings.)

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 6 May 2014 10:56 am

Interesting way that the bellcranks can be adjusted for timing the pulls. Bet it would get real crowded under a loaded up guitar!

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 6 May 2014 11:33 am

Yes, possibly, but the body is a bit wider than some of your S10's nowadays are. Also the fact that the bellcranks are completely ajustable across the shaft is helpful. If it were 3/4 instead of 4/0 there would only be 6 more rods / bellcranks. The guitar is amazingly easy to tune the pulls on. The adjustments have knurled screws so you can just reach under the guitar and twist them...actually easier and more convenient to me than dealing with the nylon nuts / wrench on the end adjustments, and they stay where you put them.

Mel Bergman · Post by **Mel Bergman** » 6 May 2014 1:24 pm

Splendid looking instrument. If I may, what are those tuners? It is hard to make out if there is a mark on them. Looking at them, it almost looks like they are Klusons with custom housings. Pics appreciated. Good score!

Mel

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 6 May 2014 1:40 pm

I should be able to answer that being as I sat on my couch about an hour last night cleaning the crud off of them one by one, but I can't. They are either Klusons or Grovers. Interesting thing too is that the tuner on the top string has a longer shaft than the 9 others. Don't know if this was by design, or if it was replaced somewhere along the way, but otherwise it is exactly the same tuner as the others. If you look at the first photo you can see the slight difference.
I'll look tonight at the name on them.

Ken Campbell · Post by **Ken Campbell** » 6 May 2014 4:31 pm

Id sure love to see a picture of that changer Jim,

Kc

Bill Flores · Post by **Bill Flores** » 6 May 2014 8:25 pm

Those are Grover tuners, I tried to find a couple of replacements for my Blanton years ago,they are not made anymore. They were also on Martin slot head guitars of that era. If I recall one of my shafts at top of head had a longer shaft too.This was my first good guitar(still own it, Tom Wolverton !) and I still think the tuning mechanism is pretty ingenious....built to last and heavy.

Russell Adkins · Post by **Russell Adkins** » 6 May 2014 9:09 pm

Hi Jim , i like that guitar, it looks very well built , heavy? Are there many of these around?

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 6 May 2014 9:17 pm

Yep, Grovers. Thay appear to be possibly a six string strip cut into singles! Got the topside pretty clean, restrung it and set pedals A B and C up to Emmons setup. Removed cranks and rods from the fourth pedal until I decide what to set it up to do. Only thing I see so far that I don't particulary like is the fact that due to the design of the keyhead and length of the tuner shafts, most of the strings don't have a straight pull over the rollers. Guitar has a nice sound and the tone control allows a wide range of sounds.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 6 May 2014 9:22 pm

Russell Adkins wrote:Hi Jim , i like that guitar, it looks very well built , heavy? Are there many of these around?

It weighs around fifty pounds...similar to my BMI S10. According to what I read here on the forum, there were between 200 and 300 built by Mr Blanton in San Antonio.

I have seen more doubles around the net than singles, so I'm guessing there was probably a relatively small number of the S10s.

They seem to be pretty popular in Texas.

Here are a few more photos including the changer and current rod setup.

I'm a bit puzzled why one of the bellcranks on the A pedal has to be back so far...possibly a longer rod than needed for the pull I'm doing I suppose.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 7 May 2014 8:36 am

neat guitar. looks to be in good shape. great solid, simple single neck with the intriguing blanton pull train. might end up being collectible. don't screw it up. i'd set it up standard minimalist e9....or possibly experiment with other 10 string concepts...but keep it simple. looks like it would last forever.

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 7 May 2014 9:03 am

The changer appears to be a single raise, single lower? How would the 2 C# raises be set up...A and C pedals?

I love the adjustablilty of the bellcranks. Pull timing would be perfect.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 7 May 2014 9:24 am

Mike, I'm fairly new to this and not exactly sure what you are asking but I think I am on the same page. Unlike modern changers which have a hole for each pull rod, this changer has a rectangular hole that the end of the rods "hook" into. This opening is big enough to accomodate at least two rods on the same finger allowing two pedals to make pulls. It is currently set up with pedal A raising strings 5 and 10, pedal B raising 3 and 6 and Pedal C raising 4 and 5. The two rods affecting string 5 hook into the same rectangular slot on the finger. Because of the J shape hook, one rod can pull without disturbing the other one. Is that what you were asking? And yes, timing is great.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 7 May 2014 10:59 am

i don't know the bellcrank screw necessarily adjusts timing...it adjusts the main pull distance on that string. there is no changer end adjustment.

Russell Adkins · Post by **Russell Adkins** » 7 May 2014 12:33 pm

If you ever decide that you might want to sell it let me know .

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 7 May 2014 4:38 pm

That answers my question, Jim. I'd call it a double raise, double lower changer, in that case.

The adjustable bellcranks do indeed allow the pulls on a given pedal to be timed...to start and stop at the same time. Of course, rod length would have to be very close to the same to get it perfect...at least from what I can determine from the pics.

Looks like a nice ax, Jim. Have fun fixin' her up.

Justin Griffith · Post by **Justin Griffith** » 14 Jun 2014 9:01 pm

That guitar looks great! Im sure it will sound great too.

A lot of us Blanton guys move the 10th string raise bell crank up like that so it pulls a little slower and they end up moving somewhat together.

I have three rods in one of the raise fingers on my 6th neck. Four might be able to be crammed in there, but I'd be worried about them binding/moving around causing pedal tuning issues.

You may find you will like a wound 6th string on there. Jerry recommends a .24. Until I started lowering my 6th string, I liked a wound sting better. (I'm guessing without knee levers this is a non issue)

If you end up needing an oddball part, holler. I have a few things hoarded up.

Good Luck!

Storm Rosson · Post by **Storm Rosson** » 16 Jun 2014 4:49 pm

Interesting for sure looks pretty cool, I just noticed that the changer is on knife-edge fulcrum instead of the normal axle-thru finger design more common these days.

Nick Reed · Post by **Nick Reed** » 16 Jun 2014 8:43 pm

It's funny to me why you rarely see a front view picture of a Blanton . . . I've noticed this not just once, but several times, even on ebay. It's kinda like you Blanton guys are trying to hide something. I happen to like the way Blanton's look. Just sayin

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 16 Jun 2014 9:30 pm

Jim Eaton wrote:Interesting way that the bellcranks
can be adjusted for timing the pulls.

That's not for TIMING the pulls -
that is how ya TUNE the pulls !
Ya reach underneath and adjust
(tune) each pull at the bellcrank !
~Rw

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 16 Jun 2014 10:34 pm

I'm Not Totally Sure, But I Believe The Blanton Guitars Were Only Built During The 1960s & Early 1970s. ??
That Makes Them Sort of Antiquey.

Roger

Will Cowell · Post by **Will Cowell** » 17 Jun 2014 1:24 am

I Agree, Roger. Nice Looking Guitar.

Hugh Roche · Post by **Hugh Roche** » 15 Apr 2015 3:33 pm

is this guitar for sale?

David Laveau · Post by **David Laveau** » 3 Feb 2023 10:22 am

Hope the OP doesn't mind me jumping on the thread, figure it's ok as this one also needs some love.

Don't worry it's in progress

Nick Reed wrote:It's funny to me why you rarely see a front view picture of a Blanton . . .

I happen to like the way Blanton's look. Just sayin

Here's the front of one I picked up very recently.

I need to straighten a few things out and get to learning!

Think I got a decent deal on it though, so not a bad entry pedal guitar for me to progress on after she's back to functional...

Came with some extra bell cranks and rods!

Neal Sanford · Post by **Neal Sanford** » 13 Feb 2023 11:32 am

New to the forum. Got a Blanton from my niece for my 60th birthday. Played guitar from way back but always wanted to learn the pedal steel. Practiced for a couple months then got to sit in with my niece's boyfriends' band at my party. Only a couple songs. just played a few cords and some easy slides. Was bought from a local player that is really great. Gave me a few lessons. U-Tube and just experimenting. This is one of his personal guitars I am told. It probably needs some care. Who is in the Waco, TX area that can help?

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