The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi all! I'm just excited and I want to share it with y'all..

With some help from my uncle I located this lovely Blanton s10/3x4. Someone might have said it was from '68 and hasn't really been played in a long while but it sounds great to me. I had about 15 hrs to learn what a Blanton was (I was getting ready to pull the trigger on a Carter Starter just the other day) and I realized that this was a lucky find.

The copedent was pretty different from then"standard" E9 but wow how easy it was to go in there as a complete novice and change it all up.

I've got some new strings on the way but in the mean time I'm already having a ton of fun here. Any cool Blanton info you guys have is welcome. I'm here in San Antonio where this guitar was born hopefully I get a chance to meet the builder

Cheers

John

Mmm thats purdy....good luck....practice practice practice

Looks great and bet it sounds great too. Welcome to the world of pedal steel guitar!

Sorry - don't know anything about Blanton but that massive aluminum frame looks a lot like those on the old Fenders and probably rings like a bell. Good luck!

That guitar looks like the one that I had years ago,Blanton guitars are great instruments,I think the body is steel and not aluminum,They were built in San Antonio,When I met Jimmy Day he was playing a Blanton guitar

Congratulations John. There are Blanton players here. Several from Texas. I'm sure some of them will be posting soon. Best of luck on your steel guitar venture.

YOU ARE A LUCKY GUY JOHN. THOSE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. THE FIRST TIME I EVER SAW HANK JR IN THE SEVENTY'S DICKEY OVERBY WAS PLAYING A D-10 BLANTON AND IT WAS JUST AWESOME. ENJOY, J.R.

Welcome to the Wild World of Steel Guitar and the Forum. That is One pretty guitar. It will probably spoil you with the pedals set over near the center of the guitar. I started on an MSA with the 3 pedals set near the middle of the guitar. Of my 3 steels it Is the most comfortable to sit and play. Good Luck and Happy Steelin

Mr Nishimuta, please post some picks of the underneath linkage....

I will be happy to when I go back by the house...in fact I'm having some difficulty trying to get my c pedal to raise a whole step on the 4th string. I've got the tuner maxed out and it seems like it just won't raise all the way. I'll be re stringing tonight anyway so maybe I'll do a series for the benefit of the group.

So here's the underside as requested, you might be able to see my brazed up new rod for one of the knee levers. 3rd string broke so there's no tension on one of the fingers

This little video is for a feature on the' Blanton PSG' on the website listed in my profile box. I have known the owner of this guitar many years and promised some day to feature his guitar it is very special to him and to me also! Do have a closer look at the page on the site ....and all the rest of course while you're there! regards, Bob Adams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNbER_CABIg

ROGER

Hi John,

Welcome to the madness. It's a "nice little hobby."

I think Blanton's Bell Cranks are the "bee's knees"...

Talk about fine tuning a pull... Wow, what a design.

Hi, John.

I had the same problem with my Blanton. It wouldn't raise the 4th string a whole step. There is a block of wood that is painted black on the changer end of your guitar. When the C pedal is depressed, make sure the finger for that string isn't hitting that block. Mine was and all I did was move the block a 1/4" further away from the changer. Also, I've noticed that if you lean the bellcranks a little away from the changer end, you seem to get more pull. Best of luck.

Chris Adams

Thanks for the tip, I actually realized the strings were just too old and the problem went away when I put new strings on it. I have been working out of the Dewitt Scott book and online tabs and learning so much. I'm addicted for sure now

Very unique changer on those

If I recall correctly, there are no endplate tuners on Blanton steels. Doesn't this mean that the micro adjust bell cranks are for tuning pulls and not so much for timing? Is it actually possible to time and tune using the same adjustment?