The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm new to this Forum. My name is Tom Thornburg and I have a Fender authorized service center located in Pueblo Co. A customer brought in a 1952 Fender pedal that he would like to sell. I'm trying to locate a set of tuners or at the least two replacement keys for the tuners. I contacted Fender and they do not have a resource for the keys. Looking for help here in Colorado. Thanks, Tom

Mr. Jim Sliff, please come to the white courtesy phone.

Tom, we need a few more details. I assume you mean pedal steel - except Fender didn't make pedal steels in 1952.

Can you post a picture? If not, at least the scale length, number of necks and type of pedals (chrome stamped metal or black cast) will tell us what model it is. All the pedal steel models had the same tuner assembly, but that date could throw a wrench into things if it's a console steel converted to pedal, a non-Fender butchered to look like one, or some other issue-laden guitar.

I can tell you now that there are NO "off the shelf" tuners that fit as replacements. The usual method is to remove both strips and replace them with individual tuners (obviously you end up with extras).

But first let's find out exactly what it is so we don't steer you the wrong direction.

Jim

Jim, Hope I didn't screw this picture thing up. I appreciate you help and was told that this site is the place to be for assistance and expertise. Thanks again, Tom

The name of this model is "Dual Professional". It is a D-8 (double neck, 8-strings per neck) non-pedal steel guitar. I would need to see better photos to assess whatever was added to the bridge of the front neck. I am assuming that it relates to a pedal mechanism (since you refer to this as a pedal instrument). Whatever it is, it is not original. It was not uncommon for owners to rig up non-pedal steels in attempts of varying success to add pedals. I've seen excellent jobs, I've seen awful jobs.

Tuning pans are really rare. Occasionally someone parts out a hacked up guitar on ebay. Otherwise it's just a matter of luck to come across parts.

Another series of photos including shots of the underside and of the front bridge would help in determining the condition and value of this guitar.

I'm not quite sure those are stock tuning pans either, but I could be wrong; I'm not as dialed-in on the non-pedal models.

As Jon said, photos from under the guitar from the end where the bridges are, and closeups of the tuning pans may help - but no matter what, it appears this is a boat anchor in its current condition. It will take a miracle to restore it to new-ish condition - however it might not take much to make it simple playable as a non-pedal guitar, which is what it originally was.

Tom, as far as the tuning keys I think I may have mentioned already in email that replacing them with matching single tuners is probably your best bet. I'd pull a pan, carefully measure one of the original tuners in every dimension and then look in the Stewmac catalog, which has detailed specs for every tuner. You may find a close enough match that way. But I notice the tuner shafts seem intact - are just the buttons fouled? That's a much easier fix.

Hopefully you can put up some more pics so we can try to give you more help.

PS - Dumb question, but you didn't mention it...does the guitar *play*? I.e. are the electronics working? IF so, that's a major hurdle.

PPS - You might want to let you customer down slowly, because as a vintage instrument the value of this one has been demolished by the poorly-executed modifications. Half of the low book value would be a killing. Then again, he may just find the right buyer on the right day.

I've got a Double 8 Professional from that same vintage and I'd say those pans look like originals. I've got one broken key also, and haven't been able to find any kind of replacement as yet. If you want to get rid of the pan and the rear neck I'd be interested. The volume and tone knobs look like replacements to me. The instruments that old have the more rounded knobs the same as a 52 Tele. It looks to me that those pictured are the more squared off knobs from later years.

Tom, as Jim said, that guitar's rather beat up. Your friend could spend about $1200-$1400 on it, and he'd have a nice $900 guitar. As it is, it's probably worth a couple hundred (as a parts guitar), and that value wouldn't go up a whole lot even if the tuners were fixed. A very old "playable" but trashed steel guitar just isn't worth very much.

Now, a very old playable trashed Strat or Tele...well, that's a different story!

It must have played well some one wore off the finish

That's what Jon mentioned earlier. I hope he can post changer-end and underside shots so we can see what's there.

Bob Hickish wrote:It must have played well some one wore off the finish

Played hard. The guitar really has character. I bet it sounds great.

A customer brought in a 1952 Fender pedal that he would like to sell.

If someone asked me for advice on selling this instrument, I'd say sell it as is.

It's in need of restoration. That's a time consuming and expensive job whose cost might not be reclaimed in the resale price.

Someone who wants to do the restoration as a "labor of love" would welcome this instrument, and probably pay a fair price for it.

Tom

Maybe your costumer know the history behind that
steel . the wear on it looks like it was played a lot ! that
alone would suggest it worked well in its day , and the
player had some of the old chops . the wear in the area of the
tone control , says WaWa to me , who ever ! wore off the finish
on the outside neck ! that again says the pulls worked good &
he/she had a ball with it .
Joey is correct in saying some one would love to have it - I
know I would .
b0b said it has character ! and no doubt would sound good to .
you cant beat the old stile of the fifties . That guitar has been rode
hard and put away wet more that once .

Knowing what its history was or is , is worth more than the guitar itself .

Hick

Whatever you do, don't refinish it!

The same method that I recommended for this Vox amp would work well on a Fender steel. Benjamin Moore. "We cover the steel world".


There ain't nothin' a dip tank can't cure.

b0b wrote; "Whatever you do, don't refinish it!"

b0b, don't worry, I won't.

I have talked to Tom on the phone, and I am happy to say that it is sold...to me.

My boss at work has one like this, except in fair original condition, sitting in the reception area collecting dust. I bug everyone by playing it a couple of times a day,(without an amp), on our workbreaks and often I will spend my lunch break trying to work out little things. My fellow workers must hear little bits of "Cold,Cold Heart", etc. in their dreams at night.

It will be well cared for, and played ... a lot.

I would love to try and get the pedals hooked up and running again. I'll feel like I'm sitting in on a "Barn Dance" YouTube clip. I'm thinking, E6 (with pedals) and maybe A6.

I will try and find a fix for the bad tuners, but if I can't fix them, I will replace them all. Yes, I will make it even more "Un-Vintage", and drop its resale value even more. I don't care because I don't plan on ever selling it, I bought it so that I can PLAY it. If I decide I need to replace all of the tuners, I will take some pictures of the tuners as I pull them out and I will list them here on the Forum so that someone who needs them can use the remaining good ones to fix a "Fender in need".

I'll post pic's when she is back in playing condition.

Fred

Fred--

Just down the road here, I've got a straight (one John Carruthers solder reattaching a tuner to the pan) 8/54 Dual Professional with honest wear but no damage or modifications if you want a reference to look at. (Cost a bit less in '73 than any of the numbers I've been seeing above.)

I have talked to Tom on the phone, and I am happy to say that it is sold...to me.

Now that's a happy ending to this chapter!

Please post some pix in future, Fred, so we can follow the next chapter of this Musical Veteran.

Glad somebody got it who will make it a "player" and not worry so much about vintage "ethics", since it's so thrashed anyway.

But I do agree with b0b completely - do NOT refinish it! I prefer the "relic" look myself, especially on a real relic - and refinishing can foul up the raw sound of a guitar of that age.

I'd definitely like to see some photos of whatever has been done to that front bridge and any mechanism that might be on the underside. I have the same guitar (dual pro) that has been hacked, mightily, and I've become a student of what-all has been done to these guitars. Like I said, I have seen outstanding jobs and I have seen some really pitiful work.



Kids, a machete is not a woodworking tool.

Man am I glad I joined this site. You guys are great and I appreciate all the responses. Fred sounds like a great guy and I'm glad this guitar will be played. When it rains it pours in this shop. I have not seen but maybe 5 steels in the past 4 years here and I had a friend bring in a Shobud pedal, a Kalamazoo lap steel and a Dobro "original doghouse" today. They belonged to his Father-in-law who just passed and he wants to sell them. I will start a seperate post with some pictures and again I will be looking for an idea of value. Fortunately they all look in great shape, he was not a very good player according to his daughter. I live in the bluegrass world and dobro will be of great interest in my circles, but not the electrics. Thanks again for all your help. Tom Fireweed Music

Hi, well it arrived today, and as I expected it's gonna need a lot of help. The add-on pedal "stuff" will be a challenge but I think it may be able to be finished and workable ... someday. For now I will just use it without any pedals. The tuning pans need work, as seen in the original photos. One is pretty workable, but the other is a bit of a mess. Both pans have had a Slot cut in them. There is also some wood missing on one neck, under the tuning pan, where it drops vertical toward the floor and screws in to anchor the tuning pan. A least when this is repaired it will be UNDER the tuning pan and will not be visable. I am pretty sure I will replace all of the tuners and I am toying with the idea of fabricating some sort of new tuner pans, that will fit standard tuning machines. They will not look original but that is really not that big of an issue to me, after all, this will only ever be a modified player, and the existing good Lollipop tuners could be used on a restorable steel. If I decide to keep the existing tuning pans then I will cut slots in every position so I can take the Lollipop tuners off without taking then apart. If I decide to fabricate new tuning pans then I will sell the existing tuning pans with the tuners installed just the way they are. I figure I will replace the Pickup Selector switch with a new one and sell the '52 switch and button to someone who wants '52 original Tele parts. The sale of these parts will give me some money to use to get the repairs and parts needed to get this back up and playable. It will take a lot of work, but I am very excited about getting it up and playable. It will be a "Frankensteel", with the added pedals and modified tuning pans, but It will still have those '52 pickups and body and should sound very sweet. I'll post some pictures as soon as I figure out how.
Fred