The Steel Guitar Forum

E9 Keyhead....

I've got the E9 side torn down for a rebuild now.

Beautiful! Offset 5th and 6th string tuners. 1963.

After a little polishing...

De-Gunking and Re-chasing all of the threaded adjustments on the entire guitar.

Should I re-finish the cabinet??? Instrument construction and finishing is something I'm pretty fimiliar with...

Jake, great-looking project you have going there, looks like you've got a great start on a restoration. How about some photos of the bottom side, it's always interesting to see what's going on inside. Now that you have such a good start it seems like would be the time to go ahead and do the whole guitar. Along with a nice refinishing job the guitar would look like new again. I'm working on a similar project, photos were posted just above yours. How about posting the serial number also, we're still trying to figure out if there's any pattern to these.

Bob,
My Permanent does not have a serial number, but it's older than Jake's, so maybe his does. But Bobbe told me it was not uncommon for Perms to not be numbered. But you would think,,, by 1963, they would.

John, No Idea what year mine is but it has no serial number. Still not sure what all that means,but if we get more examples it may make sense someday. James has come up with some odd examples also.

This is the only serial-like number on the guitar, and in person, it clearly reads "1065". However, Bass side changer mount brackets on each end of the changer's axle that affix the changer to the housing plate and the housing plate itself have the roman numeral IV (4) scratched into the underside of them.

RKR added by Jim Evans circa???

Bob,
"James has come up with some odd examples also."

I thought James was working on serial numbers for Fingertips????? My Fingertip has one of those odd numbers.

Or maybe it was the LKL...

Jake!
Interesting! Still using the welded bellcranks. A short time later, they switched to using the same moveable bellcranks as used in F-Tips. I've seen underside pics of later Perms, where it was hard to tell whether it was a F-Tip or a Perm! Without seeing the changer of course. They didn't need two distinct parts designs. Just used the same parts for both models. So,,, those later Perms weren't so "permanent!"

Jake,
I've never seen a serial number like that. They were stamped. But maybe yours was right before they started doing that? Bobbe S. might know.

Jake, or John Did you notice the Return springs connected to the fingers?? I don't recall seeing that type Springs on the permanents, kind of different even from the fingertip style. It always amazes me to see what is under one of these guitars. Looks like some black spray is gotten onto the sides of the cabinet, might be a good time that refinishing you were talking about. It's interesting that the cross shafts and center bracing look to be fingertip style, but it still has welded pullers. As always no two look the same.

Bob,
Never seen anything like those before. Just went through a ton of pics of Perms that I've kept. The older ones have no springs, like mine They don't even look the slightest bit Shobudish!
Here's a pic of an older one;

John, this guitar also appears to have returned Springs out in the body of the guitar, I'm not quite sure how you could do a lower with this arrangement, interesting layout!! There appears to be screws in the ends of the fingers that the Springs attached to, I've not seen this before, always something new.

Bob, on the old guitar I posted, notice which neck the first three pedals go to.

John, yes it looks like the necks are reversed, my question is what does the knee lever connected to??

I zoomed in. Looks like it's the neck selector switch! And, from the mounting parts, it would appear to be original! Darn! Now I've seen everything!

THe way that RKR lever wasn't even designed to clear the cabinet and the way the LKL lever seems to be quite obviously an aftermarket addition kinda makes my mind wonder if this guitar left the factory with any knees whatsoever... Man, If only these ol' electric tables could tell us their stories... BUt I'm gonna give Jim Evans a call this evening and see what kinds of history he might be able to give me on the thing, seeing as how it used to belong to him.

Jake, What a nice perm you scored. Now you are properly corrupted for sure!!

...they switched to using the same moveable bellcranks as used in F-Tips.

So, those later Perms weren't so "permanent!"

So what should those be called? "Impermanent?" Or are these the real "Universal" models? As much as I love the round front era Buds, I think these in-between ones are really great. I'd be interested to know how many there are around -- and whether any two are alike.

Jack

Here's a good read on Lloyd Green and his fingertip called the "LIghtening Bolt" when he did the Panther Hall album with Charlie Pride. Enjoy.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... r+hall+jbl