The Steel Guitar Forum

Setting up a new page here with pics of my almost completed steel.








As you can see I still have to hook up P4. I also have KL's to hook up..ran out of rod material.



The re-worked 1970 ShoBud Gumby key head.







The cord with the green masking tape...is the PUP cord. Not hooked up yet.
I am hooking it up directly to the jack.What wire goes where?



The scissors type changer..no frills. I have a problem: On a lower, it starts lowering and then starts raising! It helped somewhat when I made a longer throw on the rod.But still not good. Help!

I have found that if the return springs aren't properly adjusted you will have that problem.

Usually it's when they are too loose you'll see a raise and lower activate around the same time.

Bump

That is called "lift off" and if there is not enough tension on the drop return springs that is what happens.

It looks like your springs are too long. You need them shorter so you have some plus/minus adjustment range for the springs. You want the drop return spring tension just tight enough that you don't get any lift off.

Look at the pictures of the Franklin Steel's in this thread. It shows the drop return springs and the adjusting screws. http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=116623

Bent you have done a great job there. I would love to see it in person when done.
Charlie

Thanks guys, for all the nice replies and also for the advice re springs.

Charlie, you are welcome to drop by whenever you're in London. It would be a pleasure to return the favor you showed me.
Bent

By having such a small distance frome the changer to the endplate, you haven't given yourself much room to manoeuvre.
When you have got the correct tension on the spring, as per Jack's suggestion, it will be hard work when it comes to lowering the string.

Longer springs are better, as they have less percentage increase in length during a lower than short springs.

How thick is the steel guitar neck? getting ready to cut my necks but there is no thickness measurement on my drawings.

Steven,
I got my wood in 7/8" finished and left it at that.
I gauged everything according to that thickness (string height, etc)
I believe that most bodies and necks are made from 3/4" finished.

It does not matter much how thick a wood neck is since it is hardly a part of the structure. It "floats" meaning there is a paper thin distance between neck and bridge at both ends.

Richard,
You are correct on all points.I should have placed the changer another 1/2" or so further away from the end plate. Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it?
It does seem to be working though. With no more adjustment to go, the 2 and 9 string lower works very nicely, actually it is pleasingly easy.
A different story with the 4 and 8 string lower...there, the 8 string lowers fine and I am having a bit of a problem with 4. But I have other possibilities and ain't giving up yet

BEAUTIFUL

Calvin, thank you.
It is quite gratifying to get this nice feedback.

I am working on my springs and it looks like I just might win. Time will tell, as I have run out of rod material and won't get any until the middle of next week.

But the thing plays ok with AB ped and F lever and lower 'E' lever
B

]But the thing plays ok with AB ped and F lever and lower 'E' lever[

Bent, Thats all you really need anyway. Super looking ax, great job..

BF

Bill,
Thanks so much for the kind words. It means a lot when it comes from a builder.

As to your advice re the finishing...it was right on!
The paint on the front and neck was done with ordinary latex paint(by my daughter in law, Jen, who is a mural artist) Then I put 6 coats of Deft brand lacquer over top of that, after Jen assuring me that it would be compatible with the paint.

I thank you for your kind advice during this project.
Bent

As far as your pickup wiring to the jack goes, somebody can probably answer the key question - which color wires on an E-66 are the hot/ground for which coils?

Once you have that answer (or email George L and see if they have a wiring diagram) the normal method is to wire the "hot" lead of one coil to the output jack center pin connnector; the ground wire of the OTHER coil to the ground connector on the jack; and conect the oter two wires (the hot and ground). This puts your pickup in series with hum reduction. You have to be very careful about polarity or you'll throw the coils out of phase and it'll sound thin and nasally (there ARE "out of phase" wiring systems for 'buckers, but they are not just phase-reversal...at least the ones that sound decent...).

You can also wire the to ground wires together and attach them to the output jack, then do the same with the "hot" leads. This will be much like wiring up two single-coils and be much brighter sounding, but still provide some hum reduction. Usually, though, it's TOO bright and with the high impedance of steel pickups the treble might drill through your eardrums.

I'd go with the series wiring, myself, if I wanted to keep it simple. But many 6-stringers (and some steelers) will wire up a humbucking with a coil-tap,allowing you a humbucking or single-coil sound at the flip of a switch. All you need is a small SPST switch, which you can mount almost anywhere. This coil-tap system honestly sounds pretty lousy on most 6-strings unless you have a second pickup, but works on a single-pickup steel because of the high output and treble response.

Last, you can wire all 3 options. It's really not all that complicated - you just need a switch that's a little hard to find except from guitar tech shops, a DPDT "on/on/on" switch. But this gives you humbucking in series; humbucking in parallel; and single coil, all from the same pickup with just one switch.

With the lack of volume and tone controls on most production steels, IMO this should be standard issue with humbucking-equipped guitars - it gives you some distinct tonal variations.

If you have trouble figuring this stuff out, there are diagrams and descriptions on the Seymour Duncan site and several pickup wiring sites. You WILL need to know the color codes to the pickup wires first, no matter what you do - or you can just experiment...you won't blow anything up, but it can waste a lot of time.

Brent that guitar looks great, looks like you did a fine job there. I'll bet it sounds great too.

That is a great looking Axe you got there nice finish work.

Emmett and Steven, thanks so much for the compliment.
Jim, thanks for the advice re pickup wiring. I think I have it figured out from the documentation that came with the pickup. It is a GeorgeL E66 and at the bottom of the sheet it says what wires go where.

It is also good to know that I cant short anything out.
I think it said..Red wire to hot, black wire and shield to ground.. I think "hot" is the protruding thingy that the outer end of the jack clicks onto, right?

Bent, it looks very good! I hope to hear you with it some day soon.

Thanks, Russ. You know you're welcome to come by any time to take a look. You gotta bring your amp though...
I haven't got one as of yet. Looking for a used NV112
in case you know of one...
Bent

GEEE!! youre already ready with it
well thats a beauty. make a youtube clip so we can hear the sound please please please HAH!

well done Bent

What a fine looking guitar, you should be proud. way to go.

Wow thanks Robbie. It's great to get all this nice feedback from all over. Gives me a great sense of satisfaction for my efforts.