The Steel Guitar Forum

Thanks Rick!

Danny, I would be interested to see the mechanism under that cover.

Alan,

I appreciate everyones interest in my changer.

I would love to show the workings of the mechanism, however I am at a loss as to what to do with it at this time.

My changer seems to be unique in that it is totally adjustable, tunings can be changed easily, and it stays in tune. It has the option of 4 different tunings with just the flip of one single lever.

I have played it for over a year now and have never broken a string. I only retune it and change strings about the same amount that I do my other guitars.

So far I have not seen or heard of any other changers for lap steel guitars that will do what this one will do.

Several people have suggested to me that I patent my changer. I really would like to do this but it can cost upwards of $5,000.00 to just run a patent search and get things started.

That is why I am hesitant at this time to go more into detail as far as exhibiting the workings of the mechanism. I sincerely hope no one is offended by this and that they understand my position.

I have talked to one of the larger manufacturers of steel guitars who showed and interest, but there was a misunderstanding and unfortunately it didn't work out.

I am open at this time to any suggestions anyone may have as to what to do now that I have come this far with it.

Thanks,
Danny

Danny: I hope someone takes up production of your design. It sounds like it's the answer to many a player's dream, and you should be rewarded for the work you've done.
Since you were closely associated with the Harlin Brothers when they had their legal dispute regarding the mechanism design on the Multi-Kord I can understand your reluctance to get involved in a similar dispute.

Good luck !

I might have mentioned this before a long time ago,but when I was a young lad back in the late 40's I had a Supro that had two tuning levers under the strings at the keyhead...they weren't attached, just held in position by the string tension and they could be moved to any string you wanted to put them under, and also had an adjustment to raise and lower the pitch. It was a very simple design but worked very well, and I could get three or four different tunings by just flipping the levers. I sold that guitar when I was in the Navy along with the levers. What a dumb a** I was.

If you look closely at the picture you can see them.




Harry

Thanks Alan,

Who knows maybe someday something positive will come with my changer. Meantime if someone else comes up with a lapsteel changer that will do what mine will do and they patent it. More power to them.

Yes I was associated with Harlins and I was aware of the controversy between them and Gibson over patent rights. However that all happened before I knew them.

Alvino Rey had designed and built a pedal steel guitar. So did Jay Harlin.---Who was first Rey or Harlins I am not sure.

Many people have expressed dislike for the Multi-Kord. I think Harlins deserve a lot of credit for having the first patent on a pedal steel guitar.

The principal of what Harlins changer will do, to my knowledge, is still more than what any changer on the market today will do. That is to raise and / or lower any or all strings in any order with each pedal. That and the tunings can be changed in a matter of minutes instead of hours.

I hope that will be an incentive to the manufacturers of pedal steel guitars today, to design and build a simple cost effective changer that will do that.

Danny James wrote:...I hope that will be an incentive to the manufacturers of pedal steel guitars today, to design and build a simple cost effective changer that will do that.

Maybe the Harlin-Gibson dispute has discouraged manufacturers from working along those lines.

I would think that the Harlin Bros. Patent has run out a long time ago.

I may be wrong, but I don't think Alvino Rey or Gibson ever did patent a pedal steel. If they did I would think their patent has expired as well.

To my way of thinking the field should be wide open now

I hope someone will improve the design and make a similar changer to Harlins, but put it on the end of the guitar instead of on top. Then arrange the pedals and knees like the modern steels of today

I have thought many times about giving it a try myself.

The possibilities would be practically limitless as to copedants and how quickly different tunings could be experimented with by the average player.

Danny James wrote:...I hope someone will improve the design and make a similar changer to Harlins, but put it on the end of the guitar instead of on top. Then arrange the pedals and knees like the modern steels of today....

As I mentioned in our emails, Danny, I'm in the process of building a regular pedal frame to put under a modified 8-String Multi-Kord. When I've finished it will have six regular pedals and two knee levers. I'll post some pictures and soundbites when I've finished.