Sweet Voice And Easy On The Eyes ... A Sapele Bender Belle

Lap steels, resonators, multi-neck consoles and acoustic steel guitars

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Tom Pettingill
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Sweet Voice And Easy On The Eyes ... A Sapele Bender Belle

Post by Tom Pettingill »

Here is another fun one I just finished up and thought I'd share :)
The lighting could be better, but these are not too bad for now.

A few specs
24.5" scale
1 piece Ribbon Sapele body
Birdseye maple fretboard and trim
Dusenberg Multibender bridge
BG-Pups Custom wound pickups
4 way rotary switching
Custom Belle inlay
Hand rubbed Tru Oil finish
Custom Hatton Tweed Case

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Carl McLaughlin
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Southernbelle

Post by Carl McLaughlin »

:D I can hardly wait for it to get here.I'M on pins and needles.Thankyou so much Tom for the beautiful job w/ attention to detail..Carl :D :D :D :D :D .Can you tell i'm excited?????
Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it.
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Wayne D. Clark
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Location: Montello Wisconsin, USA

Post by Wayne D. Clark »

TOM, IS THAT A PIECE OF ART OR A LAP STEEL GUITAR. I'D HAVE TO ORDER A SECOND ONE JUST LIKE IT, WITH OUT THE CASE ONE TO PLAY AND THE OTHER TO HANG ON THE WALL. THAT'S A LOOK BUT DON'T TOUCH,CARL ARE YOU GOING TO WEAR GLOVES TO PLAY THAT? WHAT TUNING ARE YOU SETTING UP ON HER.

Wayne
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Carl McLaughlin
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southernbelle

Post by Carl McLaughlin »

:D :D :D I hope i play well enough to honour this beauty..SWEET..Carl
Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it.
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Carl McLaughlin
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southernbelle

Post by Carl McLaughlin »

Open E tuning for now High to low E B G# E B E ,GUAGES 15 18 24 30 38 56.. LEVER on B to C# LEVER on G# to A.....Carl :D
Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it.
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Wayne D. Clark
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Location: Montello Wisconsin, USA

Post by Wayne D. Clark »

Thanks Carl, Enjoy, which I'm sure you will.
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Stephen Abruzzo
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Post by Stephen Abruzzo »

Which BG-pups are on there? I love the look of that Sapele body and how the grain comes right through. Another work of art. Enjoy!
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Peter Jacobs
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Post by Peter Jacobs »

That's a beauty -- I love the ribbons in the sapele. Enjoy it, Carl. I'm sure you'll smile every time you take it out of the case.
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David Kurrasch
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Post by David Kurrasch »

Wow! That is one sweet looking guitar! Congratulations Carl!
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Carl McLaughlin
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Belle

Post by Carl McLaughlin »

:D Thanks for all your comments.Once i'm playing it i will try to put on a sound bite..CARL :D
Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it.
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Michael Nemick
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Post by Michael Nemick »

Ohhhhhhhhh Ahhhhhhhhhh !!!!!! That is stunning to say the least. Congratulations Carl. Tom you are an "Artiste"
"I shall pass through this world but once, any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not deter or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again" Stephen Grellet
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Chuck Huffman
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Post by Chuck Huffman »

My word!! I think this could almost be criminal. What a beauty :D
ZumSteel SD-10 5-8, GFI Ultra SD-10 3+4, Goodrich V/P, Boss DD3, FenderFM, Vegas 400. Learning to play for my Savior, Jesus......
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Andy Volk
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Post by Andy Volk »

Hyperventilating! Pulse speeding! Wallet empty. Sigh.
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Stephen Abruzzo
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Post by Stephen Abruzzo »

Hey Tom.....Which BG-pups are on there?
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Tom Pettingill
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Post by Tom Pettingill »

Thanks everyone and a special thanks to Carl. It was my pleasure to get to know you and build one of my babies for you too :D
Stephen Abruzzo wrote:Hey Tom.....Which BG-pups are on there?
Steve, they are basically a 6 string version of the set thats in the JYD, oversize 50's style Alnico 3 magnets wound for a lush big and rich full voice.
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Carl McLaughlin
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Southernbelle Beauty

Post by Carl McLaughlin »

:D :D :D :D ITS HERE,ITS HEREPICS DON'T DO IT JUSTICE, AND WHAT A SWEET SOUND.THE CRAFTMANSHIP IS 11 ON A SCALE OF 1-10..TOMS WORK SHOULD BE ON DISPLAY EVERYWHERE THER IS A STEEL GUITAR SHOW...AWSOME..CAN YOU TELL I AM OVER THE MOON.IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT AND THE GREAT PRICE AND SERVICE..CARL.AS SOON AS I CAN PLAY IT WELL ENOUGH I WILL TRY TO POST A SOUND CLIP
Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it.
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Peter den Hartogh
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Post by Peter den Hartogh »

That is a beautiful piece of work. Amazing!
Tom, do you have a circuit diagram available of the electronics for the 2 pickups?
1977 Sho~Bud D10 ProIII Custom; Sho~Bud SD10 The Professional ; ETS S10 5x5;
Fender 1000; 1993 Remington U12; 1978 Emmons S10 P/P; GeorgeB Weissenborn;
Fluger Cat-Can; Asher Electro Hawaiian; Gibson BR4; Fender FS52; Guyatone 8str;
Fender Resonator ; Epiphone Coronet 1937; Rickenbacher Ace; Rickenbacher NS;
Dynalap 8string; Harbor Lights 8string; Aiersi Tri-Cone; Fender Stringmaster
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Tom Pettingill
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Post by Tom Pettingill »

:) Carl ... I'm Thrilled that you are enjoying your new steel!! :D ... A lot of love goes into every instrument I build and it was my pleasure to craft her for you!!

Peter .. Thanks!

The wiring is basically your typical Tele style switching with the addition of the more aggressive 4th series combo.
The switching goes
1) bridge
2) bridge + neck in parallel
3) neck
4) bridge + neck in series

Here is a 4 way diagram from Seymour Duncan http://cdn.seymourduncan.com/images/sup ... le_4ws.jpg
That uses the more common and easy to find 4 way blade switch, not the rotary switches I use, but the idea is the same.
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Ron Yarboro
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Post by Ron Yarboro »

That's a real beauty Tom. Love your attention to detail. The ribbon in the Sapelle shimmers.

-Ron
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Russ Cudney
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Post by Russ Cudney »

looks dad burn good to me.......
1958 D8 Stringmaster, 1958 T8 Stringmaster, 1955 Q8 Stringmaster (in basket), 1949 Gibson BR9, 1953 Silvertone, 1957 Harmony H4 (yeah the cool black pearloid one), 1947 National Princess, 1969 Shobud S10 3X1
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Peter den Hartogh
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Post by Peter den Hartogh »

Thanks for the diagram, Tom. :D
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Jeff Spencer
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Post by Jeff Spencer »

OOhhh my gossssh! :whoa: :whoa: What a piece of craftsmenship. You sir are to be commended! Thanks for sharing!!
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