The Steel Guitar Forum

I notice one slick feature Todd has is the bridge/nut slide-in brass (or bronze?) inserts. Adds a variation to dial-in string gauges to Pickup core-posts.. or is it a bar, Todd?

I’m curious about the non-conventional string layout on this one. It almost looks like a reverse re-entrant variation.

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It even has multi-colored dot markers. Really, everything from the decision to do a round neck, to the scalloped board, slot head, volume knob, to the badge is just so right on. A loving tribute.

Thanks again for all the comments. It really makes all the prep work to get this instrument to this point worth it.
The bridge and nuts do have brass inserts. The originals were nickel plated brass. I am setting the string action slightly higher than traditional as well.

Rick, I have a F#9 tuning on this guitar. Which is really a great 6 string tuning. I have this strung up in the style that Speedy or Herb Remington used . From high to low:
E,C#,G#,E,Bb,F#,high Eb,high F# . The first 6 is similar if not right on to one of Dick McIntire's tunings. It is a goofy tuning, but after putting time into it the past 8 months or a year, it has made a lot of sense to me, and has become one of my favorites. So much I took my E13 off of my D-8 and put it in it's place.
In the basic 6 string form it has a lot of chordal variety in a few centric places. More so than any 6 string tuning I have played around on. But it is very easy to get off chart ... and sound that way.

Here's an ipad recording of Wabash Blues. Not really sweet Hawaiian playing, but shows the tone of the steel decently. I tried recording at a bit more volume, but the ipad microphone could not handle it. So it is a bit "back of the room" sounding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-cEXlDZqEE

Beautiful touch and tone.

Todd Clinesmith wrote:Here's an ipad recording of Wabash Blues.

That should sell them Todd

Hope my thumb's healed up by the time it arrives (bone spur surgery on my picking thumb this morning)!

Don't sweat the incapacitated thumb, Jim. The absence of a picking thumb never hurt Andy Iona! It'll just help get you in full frying pan mode.

Gorgeous guitar. Any idea when you may start 6-string production, Todd? I think I'll be willing to part with my 7-string bakelite to get my hands on one one of these.

Nice Todd!
Joe Elk Central Ohio

Thanks guys for the comments. And thanks for listening to the demo. I used my M-11 Rickenbacker Amp with tone set about mid way on the amp. No reverb or effects. The tone knob on the guitar is set at about 1/3 of capacity.

Ian, I think I should have time to get to work on the six string pattern in a month or so. It may take a month to complete and submit to foundry. Best guess would be close to the 1st of 2019.

Damn just when I tough I finally found my last guitar with my JM Cast Aluminum Clinesmith this happened!

Ok I start putting money on the side for a 22.5 scale 8 strings, but I don’t sale my JM!

Beautiful job once again Todd. Thanks so much for continuing to create fine lap steels at reasonable prices.

Onward!

Warmest regards,

Bob

Thanks, Todd. I'll be in touch.

Thank you Bob, Ian and Jean.

Jean, both guitars you speak of, my original cast aluminum and this new frypan, really have two unique voices and compliment each other well. I love them both, as they shine in different ways.

Todd Clinesmith wrote:Thanks guys for the comments. And thanks for listening to the demo. I used my M-11 Rickenbacker Amp with tone set about mid way on the amp. No reverb or effects. The tone knob on the guitar is set at about 1/3 of capacity.

Ian, I think I should have time to get to work on the six string pattern in a month or so. It may take a month to complete and submit to foundry. Best guess would be close to the 1st of 2019.

Thats a tone knob on the guitar, not volume?

Todd Clinesmith wrote:Thank you Bob, Ian and Jean.

Jean, both guitars you speak of, my original cast aluminum and this new frypan, really have two unique voices and compliment each other well. I love them both, as they shine in different ways.

Im thinking about the frypan for an hawaiian music project!

They will be my last 2 guitars, until you arrive with some other amazing guitars!

Bill,
On my personal guitar I chose tone over volume. The tone needs to be rolled back a bit on these pickups. The few players I have talked to, that have old ricky's with one (volume) knob. They usually find a sweet spot tonally on the volume knob and adjust amp from there. So the volume knob is still of not much use, maybe a hair here and there. The concentric pot is probably the best way to go for the all around user friendly application.

Todd Clinesmith wrote:Bill,
On my personal guitar I chose tone over volume. The tone needs to be rolled back a bit on these pickups. The few players I have talked to, that have old ricky's with one (volume) knob. They usually find a sweet spot tonally on the volume knob and adjust amp from there. So the volume knob is still of not much use, maybe a hair here and there. The concentric pot is probably the best way to go for the all around user friendly application.

Thanks Todd. Very interesting. I have a Bakelite and always roll the tone back some. The one real frypan I have had an opportunity to play I found very bright as well. Concentric tone/vol souunds like the way to go.

The knob on my original early single knob bakelite works in a way I have heard Rick Aiello describe as a "rheostat".

I don't understand the technology of it, but for the first half of its sweep, there is little increase in volume and it is bassy sounding.

After that point at around the mid way there is a sudden (almost as though flipping a switch)increase in both volume and treble. There is a microscopic "sweet spot" between two extremes that I sit at.

The one knob Rickys had a 100k pot that acted as a variable load on the coil. As it was rolled off ... it shifted the resonance peak of the coil ...

I have "tones" only on my one knob Rickys and my 24.5" tenor pan. Its essentially a rheostat as described above like the originals with a cap to ground.

Putting a modern wired volume only pot on a frypan ... phewww ... bright enough to peal paint off the wall.

As Todd said ... concentric pots give you the best option when wiring the modern or 50's way ... but since I keep the volume wide open anyway ... I go for tone onlys on my personal one knobbers ...

I made a diagram of the wiring schemes over the years used by Rickenbacher ...

I have had a lot of players wanting the concentric potentiometer, but not liking the stock knobs that come with them. With some work I made a set of octagon knobs, for the concentric pots, to give a more traditional look.

That’s perfect!

Perfect, that's what I say, too!

Looks great and sounds great, Todd.

C. E. Jackson