The Steel Guitar Forum

Woah, that thing is pretty! Is that blue flocking on the inside too? One more thing, ummmmm, can I have it if you decide you don't want it? Please!!!

Seriously though, fabulous is too mild a word.

Regards, Allan.....

Thanks for the kind words Allan, yes that is light blue flocking underneath. My dog eats squirrels whenever she can catch em with her 2 inch legs. Martin.

Outstanding work Martin!!! Hope I'll see you in early June as i'm spending two weeks with my sisters' places in Florida. You are one lucky guy, Don. Enjoy that steel. stevet

Don,

Congrats on your new guitar.... THAT is gorgeous !!!!

Mike,

Beautiful job, AGAIN .... The last time I saw
craftsmanship like that on an undercarriage was...
on your last guitar, I guess. !!!
That's class.

Enjoy Don,

Best,
Scott Truax

Scott
Thanks pal.
Drop into one of our FSGC jams sometimes.
Chances are I'll be playing it.
Don

Hi Steve, will be looking forward to seeing you again ! Thanks Scott. ! Martin.

Steve. the Florida Steel Guitar Club's June jam date will be Wednesday, June 9th. Drop by and see us too, Lake Panasoffkee is about 25 miles east of where Martin lives.

www.floridasteelguitarclub.com A map is on our web site.

Maybe you could make both the same day, visit Mike during the day and then come over the to the club jam in the evening (we start at 5:30). Don will have his new steel at the jam.

Sounds like a good plan to me.
Don

That'll certainly get you noticed on stage.

GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Thanks all you guys.
And I won't be putting my name on this one.
Don

Wow! The mechanics are gorgeous. I'm a newbie here, so please excuse my questions about what others already know. Is this totally custom? No brand name? Where do you get your mechanics milled? What's the type of metal? Are the parts your own design? And finally, how do I get one?

That is one beautiful Steel, can't wait to see the completion pictures. Martin you do great work, Don I know you can't wait to get your hands on that one.
Bill

Martin do you do your own machine work yourself ? Do you have any guitars shipping to Ohio for us to look over ? I can't get over the great looking machine work ! This guitar looks heavy duty to me . How much does a SD.10 weight ? Nice finish i might add .

Gary, allow me to answer some of the questions you asked of Martin.
Yes, Martin does all his own machining. He has a brand new Jet milling machine with a DRO in his shop. He also has a metal lathe as well as sundry other equipment. He is well equipped to build steel guitars from scratch..the whole thing. What you see in those pics is all his own design and handiwork. It is simply beautiful and well thought out, as well as strong and cleverly designed.

How would I, a Canadian, know all this about a Florida resident? Because Martin has been my mentor and adviser during the building of my 2 steels last summer. He is not only a smart designer and builder, but also a great person who stands 8 feet tall in my eyes.

He took me under his wing and coached me throughout my whole building process. I must have called Martin at least 100 times. He usually always had the answers to all my questions. He was never reluctant to give away secrets.
Seldom do we meet a person who makes as deep an impression as Martin did on me. Although we have never met in person, I know that I have a friend for life.

Of course I can recommend his steel guitars as one of the best in the world.

I also feel very fortunate knowing that I am in touch with one of the best steel guitar builders and that he gives so much of himself. He will be overseeing my next project as well.

Gary, I am glad that you gave me the opportunity to write this.

The guitar he built fo me was just stollen for the price of $1,450, We have a happy camper with that one, he has called me several times abouit the guitar, will send him info today.

ernie

To further answer some of the questions asked.
Martin (Mike to Me) uses only a very high grade aluminum for all the parts. The legs on my steel will also be aluminum.

All the hardware is stainless steel.
The changer was made from a sketch I gave Mike and the two of us modified it to what you see.
I wanted a quick change changer in case a string broke during a gig so what you see is what we came up with.
The ball end of the string fits in a pocket under the changer and the slots are so the string width is constant across the neck. I like the ShoBud width, so we went with that.
I also requested the height of the strings from the floor to be 30".
So we took the body dim's from both my Emmons Legrande and also my ShoBud Super Pro and used those to come up to what I wanted in my design.

The 4 pedal set-up was taken from my Emmons and we moved them over 1/2" and pedal 1 became pedal 0.
Then all the knee levers were matched to my sitting position.
The steel is custom in all respects to my body with the expertise of Mike's extreme concern for detail in making the best possible steel for me.
The bell cranks for the pedal rods are unique and a 1st of its kind design by Mike also. He shows that in a photo above.
The pedal rods will be aluminum and all the pull rods will be stainless steel.

He told me after my steel he will be building all his steels to one design because customs steels such as mine are just too much for a one man shop.
He may change his mine if the price is right.

I don't think he would have done this if I wasn't a good friend of his and live only 3 miles from his house. So I was able to be at his home within 10 minutes of his call with a decision on the design when it was needed.
Don

This is really exciting to watch and I sure appreciate you taking the time to post photos.


Greg

Jack, I will do my best to get down to the jam June 9th and also to see Martin & his blue guitar. I think I can get one of my sisters to go also. The other is not a fan of country music, but we will work on her! Thanks, for mentioning it. stevet

Steve
I talked to Martin on Sunday and I am looking forward to meeting you also when you get a chance to see him.
One clarification if I may.
It is Martin's build but my steel guitar.
Don

Good GOSH !! I dont know what to say about all the nice comments ! Gary P. Yes I do all my own machine work, I have had a mill almost two years now and am slowly learning the in's and out's of a milling machine. I didn't know what one even looked like 2 years ago. Learned how to do the basics out of a book. Bent, you have impressed me with your work and designs since day one. For those of you who havent seen one of Bent's steels they are as fine as any I have seen and keep in mind he did these steels with a table saw, a band saw, a hack saw, a lathe and a file, unbelieveable !!! I'm not sure Bent even has a lathe. We have had our problems with the guitar I am building now but it is doing all right so far. It has dragged out a long time between the weather, and I have to make trips to the V.A. on a regular basis thanks to a lovely couple of "gifts" from "Uncle Ho" back in the sixtys. If I could stay on my feet more than a couple hours at a time it would be done now. I really appreciate all the really nice comments, I do this because I really enjoy it. However my "practice time" has suffered greatly. Matter of fact it is non-existant ! Thanks again and will be posting more pics soon. Martin.

Gary, sorry I forgot to answer your question about the weight on an SD-10. I really dont know, they are not heavy because everything is aluminum. I machine my end plates out of solid 6061 2X4 flat bar. And all the decks are a full 3/4 inches because I feel that makes a big difference in the tone. The fasteners are all stainless steel, there is nothing in my guitar that will ever rust. I will weigh Don's guitar when I am done and let you know. Martin.

I was talking to the engineers at LACE pick-up Factory yesterday and learned something I didn't know. For you folks that are installing a "ALUMA=TONE" pickup on a pedal steel, the end of the pickup that the leads come out of is supposed to go toward and under the treble strings. I dont know why, and didn't ask. Of course it goes without saying that when I checked, I had it in backwards. I have always used Jerry's TRU-TONES but Don and I decided to use the Aluma-tone on his guitar. I think it will work great. Martin.

Martin Weenick wrote: Bent, you have impressed me with your work and designs since day one. For those of you who havent seen one of Bent's steels they are as fine as any I have seen and keep in mind he did these steels with a table saw, a band saw, a hack saw, a lathe and a file, unbelieveable !!! I'm not sure Bent even has a lathe. Martin.

Martin, thanks for the nice words about my steels. It means a lot to get a plug like that from a builder of your stature.
Everything you said is correct except for the fact that I don't have a lathe. I do however have a good buddy with a lathe who does all the round stuff for me.
My days of hacksaw and table saw might soon be over. Soon I will be taking delivery of a big milling machine and really be able to get down to business.

Hey y'all..go take a look at the steel guitar builder's Forum, listed below. Also, some pics of my steels on the Photobucket link. Thanks again!

To add to Mike's comment about "Uncle - Ho".

Mike's building my steel and those before me with some extra weight in his body from the metal in his body from the eneny.
This has caused him to be in constant pain 24/7. Yes, and many trips to the V. A.
He has several "Purple Hearts" to prove it.

To do the work he does under this situation is amazing to me.
I applaud him for his service to our Country and for building my steel when he could be off doing other things.
He is a dear friend and I love him for this and his dedication to my steel.
It has been a long wait, but it will soon be over and worth the wait.
Don