Bill & Tim Rudolph: Williams Guitars

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 17 Sep 2023 6:31 am

I can't say enough about my experience with this company. My new guitar arrived early last week and it's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

Bill was endlessly patient with my thinking-and-rethinking what I wanted (12-string D13th is new to me) in terms of pedals, KLs and splits. He kept me informed about the unavoidable supply-chain difficulties and went out of his way to accommodate me on several issues.

There is so much to admire in the current Williams' specs: 4-up/3-down changer, ball-end-proof changer-fingers, the ease of shifting changes (yes, I've already moved a couple of pulls!) and its compactness - mine's a keyless.

Open-string tuning is a breeze; I tend to leave the wrench located on one of the tuning-bars. The lacquer body is gorgeous.

Many thanks to them both. You couldn't ask for better customer-relations!

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 17 Sep 2023 8:22 am

Congratulations, Roger. It is a work of art.
Now get busy!

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 17 Sep 2023 8:39 am

Thanks, Fred - I AM busy!

It's quite a challenge. I find that, in this first week, I'm more comfortable with the (D)6th side of the setup (pedals 5-8 and all KLs).

I altered a couple of JC's changes: I wanted certain things that he doesn't subscribe to. One example is the 1,2,8, raise (my LKL1) that is so effective on E9 (1,2,7).

I insisted upon having my A pedal ('Day" - P4) adjacent to the 'old C6 P5 (it replicates the E9's B to Bb lower), but I now find that it's unnecessary. It's fine where it is, though.

Johnny raises 1, 3, and 5 on his LKV; I flouted that and raised 1,3, 7, only to discover that not raising 5 was preventing me getting the sus4 with pedal 6. I have now corrected that blunder.

I will post my setup very soon (in case someone's interested

) but I still have a change or two to make. My RKL is proving ineffective.

Marshall Woodall · Post by **Marshall Woodall** » 17 Sep 2023 9:29 am

Beautiful Guitar. I notice that the alumitone is closer to the strings on the Bass side. Did they set it up like that? Do you find it makes a difference? Enjoy!

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 17 Sep 2023 9:34 am

Having received mine a few days before you I can agree 100%. Great company to deal with and my D10 is fantastic sounding and looking.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 17 Sep 2023 10:39 am

Marshall:

No, and, to be honest, I was less than diligent when Bill asked what pickup I wanted. He simply said: 'The Alumitone works well...' (or words to that effect) and I, who was immersed in the tuning and pulls, casually agreed.

I hate humbuckers! It's hardly a criticism of the guitar, just that slight dullness that they seem to have.

I should have asked for a single-coil so it's my fault entirely. As for it's adjustment, I confess
I haven't yet looked closely at that.

What I'd like is either a pickup like the factory ones in my Emmons or a Wallace Truetone (which aren't made any more). It's not pressing, but I'm keeping an eye out.

(Edited to add: Bill has since suggested Steeltronics as a sourse.)

Jerry Van Hoose · Post by **Jerry Van Hoose** » 17 Sep 2023 12:59 pm

Roger, congratulations. Beautiful guitar!

Anthony Campbell · Post by **Anthony Campbell** » 17 Sep 2023 4:28 pm

Looks great!

Where did you get that big wheel tuning wrench? Are they even made anymore?

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 17 Sep 2023 6:35 pm

Beautiful guitar Roger, that ought to keep you busy for a while

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 19 Sep 2023 10:45 am

Anthony:

Sorry - missed your post. I'm afraid I've forgotten now but it's the most ergonomic tuning-wrench ever.

Paddy:
I may have bitten off more than I can chew here! Everything is new - grips, spacing, it's pitch, and on and on.

It's a brilliant tuning concept but it's taking me a while to even get what I 'knew backwards' on the D-10. The familiar C6th progression (Maj7, 2m, 3m, 4maj7) that's 9,6 and 4, then 8,5 and 3 (and so-on) is now 11,7, 5 with RKR held over. It's a bit like returning to playing after an illness and having to relearn it all!

The Emmons is sitting there tempting me to retreat to familiar ground, but I dare not or I'll never slay the beast.

Stew Crookes · Post by **Stew Crookes** » 19 Sep 2023 11:27 am

hoo boy that guitar is a looker - nice one!

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 19 Sep 2023 3:48 pm

Roger Rettig wrote:.....It's a bit like returning to playing after an illness and having to relearn it all!

The Emmons is sitting there tempting me to retreat to familiar ground, but I dare not or I'll never slay the beast.

I know how you feel Roger. I went the whole hog and bought a D12 guitar years ago, with the sole intention of extending my E9 tuning and doing the same on my C6 tuning. It was nice having a high G on the C neck along with the D on the first string plus a low D on the 11th string. I took the guitar out on a gig after a month and it was a complete and utter disaster!! My grips were wrong, I played 10 thousand bum notes and it was my worst gig ever. I sold the D12 which was so heavy to carry around and went back to the tried and trusted D10s that I knew and love.

You a far better musician than I am and you'll probably master your new tuning in time. My foray into trying a different setup convinced me never to try it again.

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 19 Sep 2023 3:54 pm

One beautiful guitar. Great finish work.
Have a great time with your new toy.
Happy Steelin.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 20 Sep 2023 2:37 am

Ken

I'm not sure about our comparative musicianship: I'd venture to suggest, thought, that you're a more accomplished steel player. But that's of no consequence.

I have always wanted low strings on E9: this tuning gives me that, albeit in D.

Oh, the grips!! Old string 9 is now 10 and there's that awkward extra string at #5. It's that, and JC' very clever RKR, that facilitates the 6th repertoire. I have never enjoyed (on E9) lowering the 2nd and reaching for that string for that 6th scale-tone. Now? It's right there.

However, you know all this. If there was the slightest chance of me accepting a show contract, I certainly wouldn't be entertaining such a leap. Hemodialysis leaves me wiped out for the rest of the day (MWF) and music is now strictly a hobby.

Were I to take this new guitar out in public I have no doubt my experience would parallel yours: disaster!!

Right now, I'm trying to find all the stuff I know on a D10. It's only been 8 days and I just found both my 'Nightlife' intros (9th tuning and the original) so mist days there's a little progress. The aim is to reach a point where the location of the pulls and grips are second nature: then I can actually get on with just playing it.

Just now, it feels as though I've been given a #10 Meccano Set only to make that tiny wheelbarrow.

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 20 Sep 2023 4:59 am

I have a Honey Amber keyless extended E9 S12 on order and am tortured by the wait! I love Alumitones. They aren’t traditional humbuckers and to my ears they have great clarity and note separation. They need to be just a touch FARTHER from the strings than other pickups to get optimum effect, I think.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 20 Sep 2023 5:06 am

I have yet to tinker with the pickup's height. It's only been a few days and I baulk at touching anything electrical on an instrument! I know - it's just those cross-head screws - but I'm tied up trying to play the thing.

Today's the first day that I have the ghost of an idea that I may actually get to prefer this tuning.

Will Houston · Post by **Will Houston** » 20 Sep 2023 2:38 pm

It's a beauty, sounds like it will keep you busy and out of trouble...enjoy

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 21 Sep 2023 2:54 am

Roger Rettig wrote: Just now, it feels as though I've been given a #10 Meccano Set only to make that tiny wheelbarrow.

Our American cousins will be thrown by that one Roger.

Sorry you don't get on with the Alumitone pickup. I've had virtually every available steel guitar pickup over the years. I do like the Wallace True Tone very much and have a pair in my Sho~Bud. I also love the Emmons single coil pickups too, but I have installed Lawrence 705 pups in my push pull. I have a load of pickups that slide into my MSA Legend Signature. It's easy to do A-B comparisons that way, and I have to be honest and say that none of my humbuckers sound inferior to single coils. Just different. Single coils have more twang on the bottom strings, but in some environments they are noisier.

The Alumitone is super smooth I find, but I understand what you say about the 'softer' aspect. Maurice Anderson once told me that the Alumitone was his favourite steel guitar pickup, but he always preferred a mellower tone anyway. I love your new stunning guitar Roger, and for what you require from it with your new tuning, it will do the job perfectly. Look after yourself my friend and stay safe.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 21 Sep 2023 4:47 am

Ken

Thanks for your thoughts.

I'm happy to report that I've already started to enjoy the Williams'/Alumitone's sound for their own qualities.

This is partly because, after ten days of playing the steel, I'm developing more confidence and some familiarity; that has led me to play more authoritatively with good effect.

I've never learned much about pickups. My Emmons sounds great to me, as did my Zum Encore with the Truetone in it. As it happens, I briefly owned an Emmons D10 with Pentads in it: I never cared for its slightly dull (albeit quiet) pickups. My new guitar has different characteristics to my LeGrande and, to put it somewhat crassly, it's a bit like a Telecaster vs. an archtop Gibson - 'chalk & cheese'.

I can recall steel-techs baffling me with talk of 'wound to so many ohms...'. They'd also remark that they wished they could opt for s/coils, but they were 'too noisy for the studio'. I don't know what my Emmons p/us are rated at; I suspect the E9 is a touch brighter than C6, ideally so.

I loved Maurice's tone and it complemented his repertoire; he was like a 'Johnny Smith' or 'Herb Ellis' among steel players.

Bill suggested the Alumitone and told me that it was a popular choice. I was so wrapped up in pedals-and-KLs that I paid it little attention. Now, I'm happy that I agreed to that option.

I'm far from out-of-the-woods, but this tuning - its basics, anyway - is very intuitive. I happened to glance at the Emmons just now and thought: 'Those ten string-necks look awfully narrow!'

As for my Meccano Set analogy, I'm well past the wheelbarrow but a tad short of the giant block-setting crane, a picture of which adorned even the smallest kit.

Rick Bernauer · Post by **Rick Bernauer** » 22 Sep 2023 12:59 pm

Roger -
Glad your wait is over and you can start enjoying that Williams guitar. I've been very happy with my Williams D10. Good luck and have fun!

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 22 Sep 2023 2:09 pm

My first thought. A #10 MECCANO = Erector Set in USA. But that is and Erector Set on Steroids with class.

Good Luck, On the mission of taming the Beast, Happy Steelin.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 23 Sep 2023 5:38 am

Right, Bobby: when I was a boy in the early-'50s, the #10 Meccano Set cost £41.00. To put that in context, the average annual wage was around £100.

For most of us, that was beyond the dreams of avarice. It was certainly way out of my father's league and I think I got as far as getting the humble #5.

The 'Beast' is far from tamed, but it feels more comfortable every day. I'm lucky that there's no deadline now I'm retired.

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 24 Sep 2023 10:51 am

Anthony Campbell wrote:Looks great!

Where did you get that big wheel tuning wrench? Are they even made anymore?

There was a fellow who used to sell them here on the forum....I haven't seen them here in years......I imagine if you did a search you could find that information.....I bought one years ago and yes, they're great....

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 24 Sep 2023 10:54 am

The lacquer job is actually not lacquer unless Bill changed methods. He told me a long time ago that he used a two-part polyurethane coating that cures overnight in an ultra-violet oven. He even has to wear a paper "space suit" when spraying the stuff. He has always been light years ahead when it comes to technology.
PRR

Marshall Woodall · Post by **Marshall Woodall** » 24 Sep 2023 11:10 am

I'm thinking that painting on the Meccano Box is giving the pictures of the Williams a little competition. The old man smoking a pipe in the soft glow of the kid's curiosity is quite striking! I have to chime in once again with a positive alumitone experience. It has such a low noise floor that it is essentially a wide open canvas for tone shaping, particularly if you are recording. I'm glad you are conquering that tuning Roger. Just the mental exercise of it all seems worth it.