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Topic: DIY console steel bridge suggestions... |
Jonathan Lam
From:
Brooklyn, NY
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Posted 30 Dec 2012 9:49 am |
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| Does anyone make 8 string bridges? I am making a double neck console steel and was looking for some advice on how to fabricate a bridge..... |
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Steve Green
From:
Gulfport, MS, USA
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Iestyn Lewis
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2012 10:08 am
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It can be any surface that provides a single point of contact for the strings to pass over. It can be made out of a piece of rod (steel, aluminum, brass), or a piece of angle (again, steel, aluminum, I haven't seen brass in an angle shape). It does not need to have individual intonation adjustments for the strings. If you want, you can make the whole bridge adjustable back and forth. It can be as pretty or as crude as you want, the strings don't care.
Go to http://images.google.com and search for "lap steel guitar bridge" or "console steel guitar bridge" to see many of the options available.
_________________
Iestyn
http://facebook.com/trcguitars |
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Iestyn Lewis
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2012 10:28 am
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Here's a picture from my website showing a design I like. It's a 1/4" by 1" piece of aluminum angle. I cut one leg off at an angle to the desired height of the strings. Then I use a a drill + saw to put in the string ball retainers. It's not adjustable, but it is simple and sounds good.
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Iestyn
http://facebook.com/trcguitars |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2012 12:07 pm Re: DIY console steel bridge suggestions...
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| Jonathan Lam wrote: |
| Does anyone make 8 string bridges? I am making a double neck console steel and was looking for some advice on how to fabricate a bridge..... |
I think you can't go wrong with a cylindrical steel bar... look at a Remington steel or any Fender Stringmaster. If the string retainer is close to the bar then you don't need grooves to hold them from sliding sideways. The butt-end of a long 3/8" drill would work well, IMO... if you can cut it without ruining the hardening.
I'm not a believer in the sharp-edged angle bridges... these tend to bind and break strings in my experience, the Morrell cheapo steels being one example.
_________________
Too much junk to list... always getting more. |
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Jerry Recktenwald
From:
Louisville KY
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Posted 1 Jan 2013 8:56 am
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| 3/8 brass rod works well . When I made my double neck 8 string I used 1/2 brass rod. The 1/2 brass rod seam to me to have a buzz. I just finish my single neck 10 string and this time I used 1/2 x 1/2 steel. I think the steel is clear sounding. There pictures on my post of my bridge and nut. Look at all the bridges that people make and remember what you like about it and combine all what you like. No telling what you will come up with. Best of luck Jerry |
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Rockne Riddlebarger
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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Jonathan Lam
From:
Brooklyn, NY
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Posted 1 Jan 2013 1:14 pm
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| What are the strings getting mounted to? |
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Rockne Riddlebarger
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 1 Jan 2013 2:37 pm
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Duplicate post
Last edited by Peter den Hartogh on 2 Jan 2013 12:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 1 Jan 2013 2:38 pm
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Duplicate post
Last edited by Peter den Hartogh on 2 Jan 2013 12:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 1 Jan 2013 2:38 pm
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http://www.rondomusic.com/cepheus8bridge.html
Dimensions: 3 5/8" x 1 15/16" String spacing 3/8"
_________________
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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Paul DiMaggio
From:
Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 1 Jan 2013 10:08 pm
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| When you use round stock for nuts do you angle the back [headstock side] of the string slots like what is done on angle iron and bone/plastic nuts to prevent the sitar sound or buzzing from happening? Has anyone noticed a perceivable difference in tone between mild, medium to high carbon steel, stainless steels and brass? |
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Rockne Riddlebarger
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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Posted 2 Jan 2013 6:41 am
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There really should not be much "sitar" sound from strings coming over a round bar that is 3/8" or less in diameter. Obviously, the strings do not break free from the bar at the front edge, but a little farther back toward the center line. I am also trying to use the smallest of grooves possible and will rely on exacting placement of the tuners and string anchor sites to create a very straight string pull. The grooves in the photos posted above are intended as accurate string placement guides and may be tweaked for depth as needed at the time of stringing. Another thing that helps with keeping string spacing is the downforce angle at the nut bar and tuners. If the tuners sit up too tall the strings will want to pop out of their grooves while playing.
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www.facebook.com/speedingwest
www.facebook.com/rockneriddlebarger |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 2 Jan 2013 12:31 pm
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The Fender Stringmaster bridge has no grooves and is 0.310" in diameter. The nut is grooved, 0.372" dia, with grooves from 0.336 to 0.364" dia. Both are case-hardened and chromed.
The grooves go all the way around in order to not disturb the tangent line that sets the start of the string. It would seem not too hard to chuck the bar in a drill press and groove it all the way around. Getting them case-hardened and chromed is another matter.
If you had a fence for the strings behind the nut you could dispense with grooves... without chrome the grooves would tend to bind the string more, I'd think. The strings actually walk around on the bridge some... you can move them by hand. If your string-through scheme pulls straight down on the bridge this would stop this, and be an improvement.
_________________
Too much junk to list... always getting more. |
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Don Barnhardt
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 11 Jan 2013 9:44 pm
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| stainless steel rod with thru the body holes directly behind it |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2013 1:23 pm
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| Quote: |
| Has anyone noticed a perceivable difference in tone between mild, medium to high carbon steel, stainless steels and brass? |
The way I understand it, everything on the guitar contributes to it's "sound" and the tone comes from the strings vibrating through the bridge to the body and the vibration from the body goes back to the strings, through the bridge. In my experience with making bridges out of different metals, I can't honestly say that I've noticed huge changes between the different alloys, because each of the guitars has been different.
My experience with the different alloys is, to my ears, the harder the alloy and those with a high modulus of elasticity tend to sound better. Alloys with silicon in them, instead of zinc (6061-T6 aluminum and SiB, silicon bronze, instead of 2024 al and brass) sound better. The higher alloys of stainless sound better than 303, 304 and the "exotic stuff", Inconel 718 sounds really good. Steel is ok and I think Ti6-4 titanium is the best.
Strings through the body and a titanium bridge.
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Paul DiMaggio
From:
Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 14 Jan 2013 2:21 pm
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I don't have any titanium but I do have some 5160 [spring steel] and 3140 that would work.
Do you router a groove for the rod to sit in or flatten one side of it or build a cradle for it? |
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Billy Mostyn
From:
Queensland, Australia
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Posted 15 Jan 2013 4:03 am
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This is the type of bridge I use on my 8 string lap and consoles.[/img]
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Jonathan Lam
From:
Brooklyn, NY
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Posted 15 Jan 2013 5:46 am
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Chas and william,
How did you make those bridges? |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2013 11:05 am
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Paul, 5160 and 4130 are nice. Another possibility is, I've made things out of drill rod, then hardened it with an oxy acetylene torch. Was it the "proper" heat, no, but it worked for what I was doing.
Jonathan, I machined it out of a block. I have a Bridgeport mill, which is a very convenient tool when you own steel guitars. However, when I was cutting the titanium, I had the spindle speed going slightly too fast and "killed" a $250 cutter. Titanium 6-4 is pretty friendly to weld, but very unfriendly to machine, and to be honest, I used to work with a former NASA machinist and he would refer to me as the blacksmith, when it came to machining things. |
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Paul DiMaggio
From:
Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 15 Jan 2013 12:22 pm
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| Quote: |
| he would refer to me as the blacksmith, when it came to machining things |
. Lol, I can relate to that Chas, I've dabbled some in the art of the blacksmith, precise isn't a word used much. Who needs a measuring tape when you know the approximate size of your anvil face, hammer head etc.  So am I correct in thinking that a metal that is hard enough to ring would be preferable for bridges and nuts as opposed to stuff that isn't? |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2013 8:27 pm
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| Quote: |
| So am I correct in thinking that a metal that is hard enough to ring would be preferable for bridges and nuts as opposed to stuff that isn't? |
To me, if it rings, that means it's "musical". Anything that damps the vibrations in the guitar, I think, is going to affect it adversely because, again, how the guitar vibrates is where its tone comes from.
This is a simple titanium rod for the bridge in a guitar made from a billet of 6061 T-6 (the T number is the "hardness" number. ( Actually it was for how the aluminum was artificially aged)) and it's a 7-string bass.
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Billy Mostyn
From:
Queensland, Australia
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Posted 17 Jan 2013 3:27 am
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Hi Jonathan,
I have a friend in Canada that fabricates a lot of metal parts for me from my designs. I'm ok with woodwork but I dont do metalwork. The man's name is Bent Romnes and if you googled Benrom Pedal Steel Guitars, you'd find him. He does great work for me and also comes up with great ideas. He's a great guy and I'm sure he'd come up with some great ideas for you. |
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