The Steel Guitar Forum

---and for your listening pleasure, Lloyd Green playing the "LIghtening Bolt" with Charlie Pride on the Lawrence Welk Show. The song is "Just Between You And Me". Awesome classic fingertip tone. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQdR0ciwYg

See a slight resemblance to the Lightening bolt in this pic?

Yes, Great choice of wood!!

Awesome guitar, and awesome maple... Do you use a water-based pigment dye or an alcohol-based stain for your bright colors?

Jake I use alcohol based dye(stain) The concentrated stuff that takes a few drops to attain the shade you want. I spray it on.

Awe, back to topic----------

Could we get a few fingertip/perm copedants posted?
Anyone?

James, as soon as i get My ol' Perm put back together, I'll be sure to sit down and chart out a chopedant for it. How many knees does your guitar have? I just contacted Jim Evans (the original owner of my permanent) yesterday and he said that the guitar is without a doubt a 1965. He got the guitar when he was working for Sho-Bud building the Sho-Bud amps (pre-baldwin). After the Baldwin buyout, He came back down here to Atlanta, Texas and continued building the Evans amps. Jim is an awesome guy to talk to, and he said that he would sure be thrilled to get to sit back down at his ol' guitar. And you best know I'm gonna give him that chance.

Jake, THAT kind of history on your guitar will put a grin on anyone's face--congrats on such a cool score!! My '63 fingertip came with one knee, but I added 3 more, so I could play what I need to play--hard core honky-tonk and outlaw music.

This guitar also came with one knee, but a second was added by Duane Marrs. And by the way James, I've seen your guitar and another one that you have restored. Wow. You're the man!!!

TTT

Hey guy's, how ya doing? I just joined the Forum and this thread was one of the main reasons i joined. I bought a Fingertip and a Compactra back in November of 2010 and have been trying to learn all I can about the awesome things that i bought. In the listing on "The Bay.." it was dated as a '65 so that's what i'm currently going on. I really don't know how to date the guitar so any help would be awesome. The guitar has the Day set-up and one knee lever which currently pulls only the higher E string. Here's a pic of the guitar from the top....




also, i blew out the metal ring that connects the rod that pulls the fingers, to the changer itself. It's on the B pedal and it's for the lower pull on that pedal. Any suggestions for a good replacement?

Email me Joel, and I can help you get fixed up, your breakdown is an easy fix. Sweeet guitar you have. Please post some more pics from different angles, and we can help you out more. It's a safe bet that you are the proud owner of a '65-ish 'tip. Great score!!

This picture is from the day I got the guitar off the FedEx truck. I'd had it for about an hour, I didn't even own a bar yet...




and here's another.....




and one more....





I'll have to take a picture of the changer. I don't have one that shows it in any great detail. I can tell you however, that it has acorn nuts on the ends that you use to fine tune the stops. James, I will email you today. Thanks for the offer of help...I need it I gotta tell you, this guitar thru the Compactra is such a incredible sound. I get lost in it and can play the one or two licks I know over and over. The missus is very understanding.., up to a point.

Joel, Seems your 'tip is before '65-ish--my favorite era. And yes, the old Compactra can deliver the tone!! Dig the shirt--my favorite style!!

String ball ends for rollers, right? I see no reason that gauged rollers couldn't be easily made for our guitars, Joel. Same size as the ball-ends, but with gauged grooves.
How about some shots of the underside? Flat-back cranks? Or bubble-butt cranks?

Ok gentlemen, ask and you shall receive... I just took a butt-load of pics. If there's a pic or area you would like a better "Shot" of, just let me know. I'll throw my 2 cents into the serial number debate as well, my number is 7-196-196, FWIW.

Here are some pics of the changers..







and from underneath..

How about a couple cloe ups of your inlay? Yes, your guitar is of the same era as my '63.

I'm not sure what the Bell-cranks are.., but here are the the things that the rod's from the pedals hook to on the pedal side...




and on the guitar side...




here are the ball end rollers. i think i'd agree that gauged ones would work better, but i'm not sure i see problems with them as they are now..




and here is a pic of the rope inlay...

Okay. Virtually identical to my '63,,,, butt,,, yours has the bubble-butt bellcranks, whereas, mine has the flat-backs. So yours is a little bit newer than mine. 1964?

I also could'nt help myself after reading the story by Lloyd Green about the Panther Hall Lp and the Silverface Twin he used with orange frame JBL's. Mines a late '70's Ultra-Linear model but the speakers are the same.




and here is the 15" in the Compactra




and the serial number of the Compactra chassis

so what is a bell-crank James?

Joel,
The bellcrank is the object in the foreground of this pic, they're fastened to the cross shafts and pull the rods going back to the changer. Note the hemi-spherical bumps on the backside on yours? These made for a bit smoother action. The backsides of the cranks on my guitar are just flat, cut with a hacksaw, or something. Yours are cast I believe.

Oh, ok! i see it now. I was scratching my head there for a bit..

John Billings wrote:Okay. Virtually identical to my '63,,,, butt,,, yours has the bubble-butt bellcranks, whereas, mine has the flat-backs. So yours is a little bit newer than mine. 1964?

My personal opinion, pullers (bellcranks) do not have time significance with the production of fingertips. Likely, if they ran out of the cast ones with the semisphere, they cut some flat ones out of some aluminum stock on the bandsaw. I see no difference on performance of one over the other--I have both, and have bandsawed out of stock a few of my own. YMMV

Why I say virtually like my '63, is the regular metal hardware is identical to mine--same era, for what it's worth. Keyheads, tail piece, changer. That era was the narrow keyhead with the string ball ends for rollers, with offset 5&6 tuners, non-wrap-around tail piece. This seems to be the first run of fingertips.

The next change that I notice(with my limited knowledge) showed up when the crossover era wide keyheads with wide brass rollers was used, with the regular open tailpiece.

The wrap-around tail piece appeared soon after and until fingertips were discontinued. When the wraparound tail piece was being used, after a bit of time, the keyhead again morphed into the wide keyhead with narrow rollers(brass and steel rollers, your choice).

My first pics in this thread are of the '67 fingertip, which is considered last run before 'tips were discontinued. That guitar has the wrap-around tailpiece and wide keyhead with narrow rollers, like appeared on "the Professionals". But there are many gaps in the Perm/'tip era shobud history. In that day, the serial numbers were really nothing more than a number to match to the sales reciept for warranty purposes. The numbers were doubled to make shobud look bigger. Example: my '63 is 7-206-206.

Someone may have more acurate knowledge, please post.

So should i consider it pre-'65? Also, is there anyone you guy's would refer me to for an appraisal? I need to know the approximate value for insurance.