Home Built PSG in Australia

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 19 Jun 2012 10:10 am

A gentleman named Alex Robson from Australia recently sent me some pictures of his homemade pedal steel guitar and I thought Forum members might like to see it. It looks like a lot of time and patience went into this project!

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 19 Jun 2012 5:20 pm

Wow.
I got nothin' else. Just. Wow.

Tony Williamson · Post by **Tony Williamson** » 19 Jun 2012 5:39 pm

i second that ! that thing is built like a sherman tank. and beautiful too !

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 19 Jun 2012 6:12 pm

A lot of metal in that bad boy.

Ross Shafer · Post by **Ross Shafer** » 20 Jun 2012 7:27 am

Yum! Any chance you could ask Alex if I could contact him for more detail shots. It looks like He's got some cool stuff going on in there.

I'm thinkin' Alex just might be a pretty good machinist!

Wayne Franco · Post by **Wayne Franco** » 20 Jun 2012 7:40 am

"you play sixteen tons and what do you get,A guitar with no cabinet drop". Could be the start of a song huh?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 Jun 2012 7:51 am

Ross, I sent you an email. I think Alex was an industrial engineer, and is now retired.
Yes, it looks heavy!

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 20 Jun 2012 11:17 am

i like it! all steel guitars should be purple!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 Jun 2012 9:49 pm

Here are a few pictures that were taken when the guitar was partly finished.

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 21 Jun 2012 6:09 am

The slotted knee levers probably saves a few ounces......

Looks like an amazing build.....

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jun 2012 9:20 am

Yes, it's an amazing build. I could never build anything like this. I have trouble just making my bed in the morning!

Larry Gerdeman · Post by **Larry Gerdeman** » 21 Jun 2012 1:55 pm

Beautiful guitar, but what are the knobs on the ends for?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jun 2012 2:02 pm

I was wondering about the knobs too. I thought they may have something to do with the changer adjustment, but maybe they are just decorative?

Larry Gerdeman · Post by **Larry Gerdeman** » 21 Jun 2012 2:53 pm

Some of them may control the body of the guitar. It looks like in two of the photos that the body is turned upside down on the frame.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jun 2012 3:05 pm

...the body is turned upside down on the frame.

You're right! I didn't notice that. It looks like the body can be rotated, flipped over within the frame. Very handy for working on the underside!

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 21 Jun 2012 6:13 pm

Strange how we assumed the knobs and the stand were part of the guitar at first. Awesome guitar.

Joseph Meditz · Post by **Joseph Meditz** » 21 Jun 2012 6:37 pm

That's one righteous hot rod machine! But what is that plexiglas plate in the front for? My guess is that it is for lateral bracing.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jun 2012 6:50 pm

The plexiglass plate in front is a "tab rack" for sheet music.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jun 2012 9:19 pm

Alex sent me the following info:

The guitar has an outer frame on four lockable swivel wheels. You can pivot the guitar upside down to work on it.
The spring loaded indent (pawl) is to position the guitar (zero or 180 degrees ).
The pedal bar locks as shown. This is the same both sides.

There are polycarbonate covers over the bridge and the keyless end. Independent adjustable rollers, keyless.
The changer and the bridge are independent of one another. Truetone pickup, has adjustable screws for height.
There is a tee slot so you can change the pickup easily. There is also a polycarbonate music rest (tab stand).

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 22 Jun 2012 11:07 am

The pedal and lever positions seem unusual to me, the pedals are more to the centre of the steel than is the norm, and the levers in the first few photos seem too central as well, although in the last few photos the RKR looks like it has been moved to a more useful position, ie closer to the endplate.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 26 Jun 2012 1:01 pm

On that one shot a couple of posts back of the left rear of the instrument it looks like the input jack is on that side next to another jack or switch or something. If that is the input jack it should be on the other end of the guitar...... But that really is an awesome instrument and very beautiful to look at..............JH in Va.

Henry Matthews · Post by **Henry Matthews** » 26 Jun 2012 3:04 pm

I think that input you are seeing is for maybe a wall wart plug for lighted fret board??

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 26 Jun 2012 7:36 pm

I agree with Henry. The white stripe on the cord looks like some of the cables I have seen on wal-warts. I would like to see a pic of this dude in the dark with the frets lit up (if they in fact do).

Doug said:

The plexiglass plate in front is a "tab rack" for sheet music.

Are you sure? It appears that it is attached to the legs below the top of the guitar. You would never see the sheet music.

What are the electrical components under the guitar. The big brown thing and the circuit board?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 26 Jun 2012 9:46 pm

I don't know the details except what Alex has told me. Yes, that's a tab rack attached to the front of the guitar.
See the pictures below.

Alex says that there are 40 stainless steel mini ball bearings in the guitar, 20 in the changer,
10 in the bridge, and 10 in keyless rollers, as they adjust independently.

I really like his choice of study material! What a smart fellow!

Jeff Spencer · Post by **Jeff Spencer** » 27 Jun 2012 4:38 am

no words

The Steel Guitar Forum

Home Built PSG in Australia

Home Built PSG in Australia

That guitar must weigh a ton