The Steel Guitar Forum

Great looking guitar Wayne! I know they sound great too.

Beautiful guitar. I agree with everything mentioned here, such as the aluminum cross shafts, etc. I was curious about a few things with the RB. Is the #6, G# string a .022W or P? Are the changers mounted only near the end of the cabinet or does the changer housings mount under the neck and near the end( similar to a Williams)? Thanks.

Thanks Hook and Tim.

Billy...My G# (6 string) is a .020 plain. The changer is mounted with a total of 6 screws... 4 on the changers ears and 2 screws for the split bar which is mounted to the ears. The wrap around neck is separate from the changer. Wayne

Not trying to bother you but was there other mica colors you thought about other than black? What brand/type of PSG strings will you be using on this beautiful guitar? Thanks for your patience/time.

Billy, no problem...there's a few other colors I like as well but black to me is classic. I just like the look and feel. I've been using D'Addario's for a long time, to me there the best!

Wayne I Ordered a New One Like Yours Yesterday. Randy G.

That's great Randy!

beautiful simple black guitar!

bravo on this project. rittenberry already was becoming a standout for its originally great tone. to take that platform and improve on the tonal aspect by picking it apart is the kind of thinking the steel world needs.

i've always felt that more wood to cross shaft connection was good. my p/p and 82 zum aare simple that way. no aluminum infrastructure steeling what tone could be there. goodwork.
will this be a model now that can be ordered? i hope so. that puts the ritt right at the top of the chain.

i'm still intrigued with the infinity also.....however this ritt's got a real good look.

high performance in a hot rod 'sleeper' skin!
the jch boards add a little life to the package.

I got to spend some time with Wayne's Ritt and I was very impressed. Clear as a bell and even all over the fretboard. Plays like butter with total precision. The mids are solid, the lows focused and the highs are sweet. An amazing instrument !

VERY NICE!!!!!!!

awesome guitar...great job both of you guys...congrats

Wayne what amp setup are you using with this peace of art ? Gary

dlayne and Damir...Thanks!

Chris...Thanks. There are so many factors that shape the tone of every guitar. It's like a recipe, you discover what the main ingredients are then you can tweak the rest to your liking. Gary had the main ingredients already in place, we just tweaked the rest and made it better. Yes, Gary is taking orders on the Prestige model.

Gary...I have a Sarno V8 preamp, mainly for running direct. For the night clubs I'm using an early 80's NV400 with the Ken Fox mod installed running a BW 1201-8 speaker. The Milkman amp is my next purchase, awesome sounding amp!

I also have a New Rittenberry Prestige SD-10 with 3&7 ordered Gary

Oh yea I forgot it's "Black to the Bone" Gary

Wayne is there a reason for using the 8ohm speaker? I have never used one, I was just wondering.......Gary

One of the factors Wayne, which you should look into is the pullers on the crossrods. Bud Carter and others have done research supporting the importance of a center pull versus a side pull. With the side pull as on your prestige the pull is not even. With a center pull you get a perfectly balanced pull which in addition to making sense mechanically, also contributes to the complex tonal result and overall resonance of the pedal steel guitar. I would consider buying one of these with the proviso that center pullers be installed, since this factor has been well established by folks much smarter than I am.

Wayne, I didn't catch what the changer fingers are made of. Did you end of going stainless there too? If so, which version?

Gary...No particular reason, I just like the sound of the 1201-8 and 12" speakers in general.

Brian... Gary and I talked about bell crank design before we started this project and we were well aware of the center type crank but decided to stay with his original design. There are pro's and cons to each design and I don't want to get into a big debate over this with you. If your going to base your purchase on bell crank design, then maybe this guitar is not for you

Memphislim...No, there a high grade aluminum alloy, I'll leave it at that.

I'm so glad that bell cranks don't keep me, Wayne and hundreds of other great steel players from working and making a living as a steel guitarist.

i like the center-pull bellcrank concept as my old zum uses them....but bruce changed later on to side pull...maybe for manufacturing or expense reasons. but evidently it wasn't 'that' important to him. and i still consider zum one of the top steel brands.

Wayne,
Great job on the duet with Bob!! Do you have an estimate of the new ritt's weight?

Will...Thanks. My D-10 9x8 weighs 50lbs.

Well, I'm just curious about what type of oil you use for keeping your guitars serviced. Final question is, do you use a special type of case to protect the RB and do you handle your own guitar or do others load/unload it since you travel with Martina? Thanks.