The Steel Guitar Forum

I thought some of you experimenters might get a kick out of this setup. After giving up on my '73 Emmons GS10 due to incompatibility with 6'7" height and size 15 feet, I found I still wanted that sound in the country songs my band plays. But, I didn't want to go the expensive store-bought route (Hipshot or Duesenberg). Probably can't get much cheaper than scrap wood, a plywood fingerboard with blue marker lines, and nails for position dots. The rest is made of scrap aluminum and leftover parts.
I took an aluminum door hinge and modified it to work as a bender tailpiece. The B and D strings go through the plate of the hinge and under the curved knuckle so that when you push the levers down the pitches are raised. The other screws limit the travel of the plate so that the B goes up to a C and the D up to an E. It works surprisingly well, stays in tune, and doesn't break strings any more often than a pedal steel. The tuning is G D G B D G low to high.
The worst part is explaining to curious folks at gigs why I'm playing old country on a souped up 2X4.

That is insane! I love it -- great solution to your problem, and you can't beat the DIY aesthetics. I especially like that you left the stamps on the wood next to the bender. So, how's it sound?

Hell of an idea for the bender Dave!

Dave, A great big tip of the hat to you for your ingenuity!! Would love to hear it.

Dave, A great big tip of the hat to you for your ingenuity!! Would love to hear it.

Peter Jacobs wrote:That is insane! I love it -- great solution to your problem, and you can't beat the DIY aesthetics. I especially like that you left the stamps on the wood next to the bender. So, how's it sound?

Thanks, Peter. I was wishing there was even more of those stamps left on it.
Overall, it sounds quite good. Not quite as much sustain as most of my steels but still ok. The Bill Lawrence pickup is strong and bright--most convincing pedal steel sound is with the coils in parallel.

Here is a link to a short audio clip. As you can hear, I'm still crawling my way up the learning curve.


http://soundcloud.com/dbegalka/01-track-1

You may be crawling up the learning curve, but you have a good grip and I wouldn't doubt home made cleats!!

I love it all!.....

Way cool!!! I'm thinking' roller nut & bridge? Maybe a maple or mohogany deck? Great idea any way you you make it!

Dave Begalka wrote:Here is a link to a short audio clip. As you can hear, I'm still crawling my way up the learning curve.


http://soundcloud.com/dbegalka/01-track-1

Thanks for all the kind words, gents.
The only excuse I have for myself is that long Minnesota winters can put strange ideas in a guy's head.
Best part about working in the 2X4 medium is there is absolutely no hesitation in bolting another piece on. Thank goodness my bandmates (and SGF brothers) have a sense of humor about my contraptions.

Awesome.

Awsome,well done,for a 2x24 sounds not too shabby.I have Tom making me a new one w/ multibender,Play on..Cheers...Carl

Where can i get one of those good looking guitar stands.LOL Carl

This is the coolest thing I've seen and heard in a long time.

This is awesome !

Dave, very cool! I like it.

Two questions: What is the scale length? And what does the sticker on the headstock say?
Keep up the good work! Do Less With Less!

One more question, Dave - how'd you join the sides to the main piece -- just glue, dowels, biscuits, rebar?

Michael Maddex wrote:Dave, very cool! I like it.

Two questions: What is the scale length? And what does the sticker on the headstock say?
Keep up the good work! Do Less With Less!

Thanks again, friends. Michael, the scale length is 25.5" though I bet shorter (with less tension) would be better for bending.
The sticker says Lapro. That's a brand name that was using on some lap steels with wood resonator cones I built a couple years ago. Still have remnants of that project laying around...


Just saw your post, Peter. Wish I would have thought to go with rebar but it's actually just pocket-screws. (Kreg jig)

Dave Begalka wrote:. . . The sticker says Lapro. That's a brand name that was using on some lap steels with wood resonator cones I built a couple years ago. . . .

Thanks for the info,Dave. I thought that I recognized the 'salad bowl reso' in your avatar.

Dave, are you still using your 2x4 lap steel? And have you got any pictures of your "Hingebender" to see how you routed the string under the pin..

Nice work - very cool to see such a DIY instrument.

that's quite a stand, too.

If Menards doesn't have it, you don't need it!

That is really awesome Dave.

Would love to see more detailed photos. I'd like to do the same thing.