The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a broken end piece on my 70's model GFI steel guitar. This piece is made of aluminum and is the end that the levers and springs attach to. It is cracked just above the leg where the screw holds it together. Any suggestions how to fix this or find a new end piece would be most appreciated.

Darrell,

get in touch with Gene Fields.He probably has a solution to your problem.Gene is a wonderful guy.

Ron

P.S

he has a link on the forum under manufacturers.

don't freak out...probably anyone with hot rod connections can find someone to weld/braze a fix in this area!

I would take the end plate off and take it to a machine shop. We use to braze aluminum parts all the time in the harley shop I worked at. You can do it at home too as brazing aluminum is fairly easy. You just need goggles, a torch and some brazing rods.

The area needs to be cleaned and then brazed. You can smooth it out with a grinder or similar tool. Then get some of that black engine paint that crinkles when you heat it and you will have an almost new piece.

Look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMADiAMfe00

Its not as easy as this guy makes it look, but he has done this more than once, but its not hard either.

m.

It's a very simple fix to TIG weld it..........BUT the piece needs to be taken off to do it, if I am looking at the pics correctly

This looks like a Jeweled end-plate to me.Welding it will expand the size of the plate and will cause a welding scar on it that can be seen from a mile away.
"Painting" an end-plate to save a couple dollars is probably not what Darrell is looking at.This guitar is in pristine condition for being 30-some years old.

Ron

Ron,

It all depends on your ability. A hack would bugger it up. An artist would make it almost undetectable.

m.

if you bring it to a machine shop they could engrave anything you would like in it after they repair it to hide any defects in the repair if there are any.

It looks like the end plate has been powder-coated and it has to be removed from the immediate area around the weld. To remove powder coat completely, it has to be baked at 800 degrees, or you can sand it off, but keep in mind that the weld will be, at least, in the 1100-1300 degree range. If the powder-coat, or paint or whatever makes smoke, that contaminates the argon or argon/helium mix, that's protecting the weld and the tip, it makes a bad weld.

Ron,
welding will have just the opposite effect.............it will shrink it if anything. It can be put in a jig and it will be fine.

Chas, I take a rosebud or torch and burn off anything on the surface and then touch it lightly with a carbide burr and then weld it...I wonder what material the end plate is? some of the 2000 series aluminums dont weld very well, if at all. If its anything else 4043 will work well

It looks to me to be Black Crackle paint, over aluminum. Yes?

Don, it looks like what was called, silver vein, it's a texture of silver and black.

Jim, I don't know a lot about cast aluminums except that the "lower series" 2XX.0, 3XX.o and 4XX.0 have silicon in them.

I doubt that it's a 2000 series,which has zinc in the alloy, to make it better for machining. All of the alloys that have silicon, 6000 in particular, are great for welding, but "gummy" to machine, in comparison to the 2000 or 7000 series. And 4043 wire is a good place to start, as long as it doesn't have to "color-match". Then you need something like 5183.

I agree with Ron S....
Gene Fields is great to deal with and I'd think he could at the very least give the aluminum type details.
I think you'd be way ahead getting a new end plate if it's available.

I also noticed the back neck opening appears to have been opened up vertically. That certainly would weaken that corner and even a perfectly executed weld repair would likely fail.

Rick

This is a cool product, it's a new kind of rod that you can weld with any torch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-cv3R4f ... re=related

Thanks for all your comments. The lower neck opening I really believe is factory because the paint matches. The finish is a black wrinkle paint with a fine grain wrinkle. By what I have read on Gene Fiends reports the aluminum frame is made of 6064 T-6. I am very interested with the new kind of weld rod. It looks too good to be true!! My problem is the dissasembly as the screws to the end piece is underneath the mica. This means that I will have to remove at least the changers and pickups along with the necks to get enough room to get to the screws. Right now I am waiting to hear from Gene to see if he can find me a vintage end piece since the design has changed over the years.

Thanks Again

Darrell Hodges

I am very interested with the new kind of weld rod. It looks too good to be true!!

Red flag....

This stuff really works, the soda can fix is what sold me, I tried it and did it on the first try. Be really careful if you try potmetal because the heat transfer is close to the melting point of both metals. My best advise is to work with some scrap pieces before you try something irreplaceable.

Bill

When I look at that pic, and zoom in, it looks more like a "void" than a crack to me. Is there any deformation of the end plate in that area?

Hey John, in the picture it does look like a void but it is merely the paint that buckled in the crack. The area that the leg screws into is distorted below the crack as it is not flush to the side rails like the other side. I can pull it back into place by using a clamp without the leg in place. The changer arms fall behind the stops when the leg flexes out of place because the stop is screwed to the lower part of the end plate. I am still looking into the weld rods.
Darrell

DH,
In that case, I think you should call Gene and see if he's got another end plate. When I needed some parts for an older GFI, he came through for me. Good guy to talk to.
http://www.gfimusicalproducts.com/Pages ... t%20Us.htm
(417) 859-2161.

Thanks John, I do have a message with pics in to Gene and I have given him a call too. I am now waiting for his reply to see if he can find an older model end piece. The design has changed a few time over the years.

Darrell

One thing that hasnt been addressed in all this is what caused the failure?? If it was my guitar I would be wanting to understand why it happened as much as the repair process. One last comment on the "new" welding rod...Melting metal on top of metal that isn't melted is called SOLDERING. the welding process is that of melting parent metals together and adding filler rod to join both pieces together with the same or greater strength at the weld

Thanks for the comment Jim. I actually broke the end piece when the wind caught the back door of my pickup and blew it into the leg forcing it outward.
I just hope and pray that Gene can get me a new one so I do not have to worry about the weld/sordering rod.

Darrell

Ohh ok......Sorry for your misfortune, if you run into a jam I would gladly repair it for you, although it is readily repairable by a competent local welding shop

Well...thanks from all of you who commented on my problem. I just spoke with Gene and he says that my guitar is not repairable. I am unsure what I will do now but I haven't given up. I will most likely go the weld/solder route.

Thanks Again
Darrell