The Steel Guitar Forum

A lady brought this lap steel and a custom shop telecaster to a music shop that I work at. Both instruments belonged to her husband who had recently passed. I bought the steel that same day because I noticed something odd about it. It is a dual neck with an 8 string neck up front and a 6 string neck in the back. I can't find anything online about Fender making any of these. They're usually always dual 6, dual 8, etc. Anybody have a clue what's going on here? The pots and pickups date to around March, 1966. It doesn't seem to have been taken apart and rebuilt secondhand.

Thanks!

The eight string neck has some funny business going on. The pan has holes in it, probably for home made pedal pulls. The nut is not right on that neck either, and the screws are in odd places. Maybe it was a double six and the near neck was converted.
Is the finish original, it looks to be but if not are there any signs of plugged holes under the eight string pan?
Like most things Fender, everything is interchangeable so who knows?

Coincidentally, someone just posted his conversion on a FB lap steel group. He converted a Dual Pro from a D8 to a D8/6 . I believe he just dropped in the different tuner pan and it fit perfectly. Different animal, the Dual Pro, but proof of interchangeability in some circumstances.

Cartwright Thompson wrote:The eight string neck has some funny business going on. The pan has holes in it, probably for home made pedal pulls. The nut is not right on that neck either, and the screws are in odd places. Maybe it was a double six and the near neck was converted.
Is the finish original, it looks to be but if not are there any signs of plugged holes under the eight string pan?
Like most things Fender, everything is interchangeable so who knows?

Yeah finish is all original. There are no holes under the 8 string neck. I just bough a new 8 sting pan and am currently looking for an 8 string nut.

Did the 6 string and 8 string Stringmasters have the same nut width? If not, are the nut widths on this instrument the same on both necks, or different?

No holes in the body under the eight string pan supports your theory that that neck was converted from a six to an eight. It's likely that the holes in the pan were made when pedals were added to the donor guitar.

That 8 sting neck is only set up for 7 strings.
There is an 8 string tuner pan but take a look at the homemade nut.
Erv

Erv Niehaus wrote:That 8 sting neck is only set up for 7 strings.
There is an 8 string tuner pan but take a look at the homemade nut.
Erv

Yeah I'm looking for an 8 string nut. The bridge has 8 holes for the strings but it looks like the nut was only notched out for 7 strings. I also just ordered a new 8 string tuner pan. Hoping to restore this with period correct parts.

Ethan Seay wrote:
Yeah I'm looking for an 8 string nut. The bridge has 8 holes for the strings but it looks like the nut was only notched out for 7 strings. I also just ordered a new 8 string tuner pan. Hoping to restore this with period correct parts.

Looks like you'll need a couple of 8 string pickups too and a new control plate (unless you're enlarging the holes for the pickups and drilling holes for the 2 new strings).

My guess is that is started as a double 6 (8 string pan drilled but not body and has original 6 string nut but custom made 8 string nut).

He said the bridge is set up for 8 strings.

I think you got it right Irv. I know nothing about Fenders but, on the 8 string, look how far the strings extend over the fret board.

Joe Breeden wrote:on the 8 string, look how far the strings extend over the fret board.

That's because of the home made nut - not the fretboard. Put a nut with standard Fender spacing on there and they will line up perfectly. On an 8 string the outer strings are pretty much in line with the silver edging on the fretboard.

Yep the bridge and pickups are set up for an 8 string. So whoever converted it did a good job except for the nut.

It looks to me that the fretboard is designed for 6 strings.
I believe with 8 strings, numbers 1 and 8 will hang over the fretboard, not a particular problem though.
Erv

Erv Niehaus wrote:It looks to me that the fretboard is designed for 6 strings.
I believe with 8 strings, numbers 1 and 8 will hang over the fretboard, not a particular problem though.
Erv

Fender only made one Fretboard width for their lap steels.

Thanks,
I was unaware of this.
Erv