The Steel Guitar Forum

I am not a very experienced builder of steel guitars, or anything else, for that matter, but last year, I built a single neck steel guitar, and I really loved the tone of it. I thought if might be fun to see if I could build a double neck that suits my preferences as a player. I just finished it yesterday, and haven't had time to play it much yet, but I thought I'd better photograph it before it gets all scratched and dinged up. I built this more for tone than appearance, but I did make an effort to make it look nice, too. Here are the highlights:

All maple construction, Lacquer finish.
23" scale.
Alumitone pickups.

The string spacing is almost parallel (67mm spread at the bridge. 65mm at the nut). I mounted the output jack underneath, because it just seemed to make sense for a console type guitar. There is no volume or tone control, but that's the way I prefer it. It's hard to see in the photos, but the background image on the fretboards is a photograph of the wood that's under each neck.

In the limited time I've had to play it, I'm extremely happy with the tone. It's rich and vibrant, with beautiful, bell-like chimes all the way up the neck. I'll record something with it as soon as I have time. I have to catch up on a few other projects that I've let slide while obsessing over building this thing.

That's absolutely beautiful, Jerry. Can't wait to hear it. By the way, What makes those round brass bars at the bridge stay put? Is it just string tension?

Thanks, Steve. The bridges and nuts are tapped and threaded, and bolted from underneath.

Gorgeous! Can't wait to hear her sing!

Wow, Jerry, that's a superb job. Looking forward to hearing it.

BEEYOOTEEFUL!!

It's hard to imagine a more perfect D-8. It's almost too beautiful to play. A functional work of art.

What an amazing piece of work, Jerry. A lot of thought must have gone into this design.
And the photographs are beautiful (I don't know how to spell subperb).

What are the holes for, at the bottom, that line up more or less with the pickups?

Magnificent Jerry - Excellent craftsmanship
if i recall you're a surgeon ?
if so, i'll let you operate on me anytime !

That is simply stunning, Jerry. Congrats! Are audio samples coming soon?

The only bummer is the rest of us can't have one too!

Thanks, guys! Peter, the holes you see on the bottom side are where the neck is mounted. I made the necks removable, partly because it's easier to build that way, and partly because I was trying to duplicate the tone of the "experimental" single neck that I made previously. I used threaded brass inserts in the neck for machine screws instead of wood screws, because I knew I'd have to take them off several times during the building and finishing process. The keyheads are mounted that way as well. I figure nobody really looks at the underside anyway, and a few holes there are better than exposed screws on the top.

Crowbear; Surgeon? Sorry, not me. You must be thinking of someone else. It's an interesting idea for a second career, though...

I probably should have waited until I had something recorded with it before posting pics, but I was excited after getting it strung up. It's been an interesting project, although much more difficult than I imagined going into it. It's more than twice as hard to make a double neck as a single, at least for a one-off where there are no jigs or templates, and everything has to be made by hand. It was also my first time doing a lacquer finish, but I'm happy with how it came out. I started out with a bunch of different design ideas, but in the end it evolved into a pretty conventional design. I don't know if I'll ever build another one, since I don't really need any more steel guitars, but it was fun, and I learned a lot. I'll try to record something soon.

Excellent job Jerry! .. very well thought out and great execution!

Thanks, Tom. My woodworking chops will never match yours, but I have to say that if not for the inspiration I got from builders like yourself and a few others, this instrument probably wouldn't exist.

Bellisimo! That's got to be a joy to play.

How did you make the fingerboards? In particular, how did you do the fret graphics?

Joseph, for the fretboards, I started with an online fret calculator that models the fretboard with basic lines, exported as a pdf file. I took that into Photoshop, where I made the fret lines the thickness I wanted, added position markers, which are just symbols from some font or other, I don't remember which. Then I photographed the body of the guitar without the necks on, and used those images for a background, so the effect is like seeing the wood under each neck. I tried a bunch of different designs, multicolored markers, all kinds of stuff, but in the end, I decided simpler is better.

If I weren't so lazy and impatient, I would have made a nice wood fretboard with inlays, but you gotta stop somewhere. Besides, this way, I can change the design whenever I get the urge.

Very nice work.. You should be proud.

The fretboards look like wood in the photos. Very clever of you to achieve that effect with paper.

Not only accomplished craftsmanship but a lot of creativity to go along with it. Congratulations on the fine job.

All I can say is it looks GREAT - you need to bring your steels to the Phoenix Show in January - we have a non-pedal session in addition to the main stage.

One more time that looks great - love that wood

Joe Naylor
www.steelseat.com

Thanks again, everyone, for your kind words. In the unlikely event that I ever decide to go into the steel guitar building business, I'll at least have somewhere to start.

Wow Jerry! Beautiful. I notice there are no volume or tone knobs on it. That's the way I would have it for myself too. I also love the fretboard graphics. I know how difficult it is to make a steel guitar despite how easy it seems. This is every bit as fine as any I've seen. It couldn't be more perfect. Bravo!
May I ask, in materials alone, what did you spend?
Now, I hope you have the good sense to put the Leavitt tuning on one of the necks. Don

Thanks, Don. There is probably $700-$800 worth of materials in this, but it adds up to more if you figure in stuff like lacquer, sandpaper, tools I had to buy to finish the job, etc... Then you have to have a case, leg bag, and so forth.

Of course, I didn't build it because I thought it would save me a lot of money. I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I enjoyed the process, and all the problem solving that went with it. Still, I doubt if I could have bought anything as nice for what I spent on it, and it represents exactly what I wanted.

I still haven't been able to really wrap my head around the Leavitt tuning. If I need to play complex chord types on the steel, I'd just as soon use the C6 pedal steel, where I can get around it easier. For the time being, I have this new guitar set up with my preferred Hawaiian tunings, C13th and B11th. I had been using my Stringmaster for that, but now I'll probably set it up more for Western Swing, with E13th / A6th or C6th. On the other hand, I might do something completely different with the new guitar, who knows?

Super Yummy - Ya just Gotta Love It !- Congratulations

Beautiful! I hope we get to hear it sometime. Really nice work!