info on miller pedal steel guitars???

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

i am going up to marshfield wisconsin to look at a
miller d-10 p.s.g i know, this has been a topic on here
that some say they are not that good . are bass player
wants to buy it for his kid , so i am the steel player in the group so he ask me to take a look at it. it is a a d-10 with wooden necks and two knees. i don't know anything about miller steels so, i need some help here. i am guessing it was made in the 70's ? can i get parts for it does anybody play a miller... would like to here from all you present and past millers players.

paul wade Very Happy

Jerry Erickson · From: Atlanta,IL 61723

Paul, Miller guitars were made in Chillicothe,IL. Parts are not readily available for them. The changer is kinda like a ShoBud Maverick or MSA Red Baron if you've ever looked at them. It's not quite a permanent setup, but pretty close. I guess if it's in good condition and VERY reasonably priced it would be ok. They don't play or sound too bad. I'd feel better about getting an older MSA.

Bill Dobkins · From: Rolla Missouri, USA

Paul, I have an old Miller pull release. I dont suggest it for a beginner. I beleave ,to learn to play a steel you need to understand how they work. The Miller system is old and out of date. Get him a Carter Starter or something like that. I got tired of working on my miller, It was wore out like most of them you find will be. I still have it and will rebuild it someday but with different type parts.
Hope this helps.

Steve Waltz · From: USA

A D-10 Miller just arrived on Monday to my house. It has three knees and seven pedals. I think it's a 60's guitar because the pedals have a space between pedal three and five, as if it is missing #4. I think that was common on earlier guitars. My single neck is newer and now I can see that there are a number of differences between them so I think that not every Miller is the same and experiences with them will differ. Here are the things that I noticed and how they might effect performance.

So far I like the D-10 better. Some Millers were 23 inch scale. I read that it was done to limit string breaking problems but I think there is a tone loss from that. My D-10 has a 24 inch scale and the single is 23. The D-10 has wood necks with a complete keyhead assembly like a normal guitar. The rollers are brass, the single has aluminium rollers. The single neck has a keyhead made of two pieces. The tuner area is separate from the roller area. The roller area doesn't seem like it is as stable as the solid keyhead.There may be tuning issues there. I think Miller did it to minimize tuning issues with meatal necks. The solid keyhead also has four screws to hold it down and the other has only three. I think both of these issues are things to look for as they may have been one cause of tuning issues.

I believe that another tuning or stability issue comes from the woods used. My single is mahogany and walnut and it seems to have cabinet drop issues. I think the tuning key and roller area plus the wood type all figure into that problem. The D-10 is hard birdseye maple with fancy inlay added ontop. The D-10 again just feels and sounds more solid.

There are also differences in the mechanics. The pullers on the D-10 are attached to the crosshafts with two allen wrench screws. These seem to do a better job of holding things in place. The single neck uses only one allen wrench screw per attachment to crosshafts. I have some slipping problmes with kness and pullers on that guitar. But it seems like they can be repaired by grinding part of the shalft down where the screw hits so that it has a flat space to land on rather than a round surface. I have a feeling that tuning issues metioned in the past might have come from these problems as well. If your parts can't stick to the shafts they are going to go out of tune over and over. The knee stops are on the shafts as well so they can go out if they move.

The place where the pedal rod attaches to the cross shaft on the D-10 has two holes to choose from and it allows for more addjustment in pedal travel than the single neck which only has one choice. That part is also welded onto the shaft where the newer guitar again has only one allen wrech screw there to attach to the shaft. The pullers on the older guitar, the D-10, are also taller and help to decrease pedal travel. The cross shafts are a normal size and many brands of pullers will fit on there. Those John coop parts will work and it looks like someone used Emmons push pull parts on the shaft of my A pedal. It looks like it works fine. So adding knees shouldn't be an issue as long as you don't care that the parts aren't Miller.

The older guitar also has more "beefy" endplates than the new ones. The endplates also travel under the guiar more and seem to help out with the sturdy feel and possibly the tone.

So......it seems like the older Millers might have been made better than newer ones. I think tuning issues will be different between guitars due to a number of issues, some I listed above.

Basic stuff,

It's a pull/release. It seems like a twin of mid 60's permanents with the adjustable parts. Pickups are normally coil tapped. Nice quick change pedal rod parts. Woodwork can be very ornate. I think adding knees isn't any worse than any other guitar. I've heard that they are heavy but my D-10 is lighter than my sho bud professional. They were not cheap when new. They were made to pro quality. They could be ordered with many custom choices. They were sho bud permanent knock offs. I think when all pull guitars came around, Miller didn't change his system. They went out of business. I wonder if qulity went down before they went out of busines as a way of trying to stay competitive.

i also wonder if the past posts about these guitars were made mostly by people who bought them used in the 70's and didn't need to try to get tehm to work right so they unloaded them for a more modern guitar. I'm curious to hear from people that played them in the 60's for at least a few years.

I'm not saying they are great. I don't really have enough experience with other guitars to tell anyone how good or bad they are. I just tried to give you a few facts. It was long but you asked.

Steve

Steve Waltz · From: USA

Paul Redmond · From: Illinois, USA

Miller's are or have been known for their sound and most certainly NOT for their accuracy. I have a S-10 with 2FP and 4KL. I installed a George L's p/u in it and the sound is unbelievable. They are, as others have stated, tuned up like a Maverick. And for that matter, like any other so-called "pull-release" system. The cabinets on every Miller I've ever seen are absolutely beautiful. The mechanics of Miller's are cave-man!! With a lot of TLC and understanding of just how pull-release systems actually function, the Miller guitars will be no more troublesome to play than an Emmons p/p or an early Marlen (among others). The sound is "warm". . .OK??
PRR

Bob Simmons · From: Trafford, Alabama, USA

the Miller is not a true pull release system - the early Marlens tuned raises thru the end plate - I've modified many Millers and they tune and sound great ! www.simmonspedalsteel.com

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