Hi folks, new member here.
Just picked up an older Marlen 210 and I was wondering if anyone could tell me the year it was made? I saw a post that said the serial number read backwards gave you the date the guitar was made, but my serial number is 477091 which would make this really old
Thanks for allowing me to join and hello from Florida!
Mike
I'm honestly not sure if it's a pull-release changer as I am not familiar with those. My only pedal experience has been on a Carter Starter and I was not expecting this Marlen to follow me home today.
go to google and type in marlen pedal steel guitar manuel and you can find a lot of info on setup, how to tune, etc, etc.. i could not find an actual manuel, but a lotof helpful info....thanks jack
You're not going to find any documentation that will be specific to that guitar. The undercarriage on those evolved over the years... but that said, you've got the best kind of pull release right there, imo. Everything is going in a straight line, spring tension on the lowers, adjustable pedal stops, the right bell cranks... The slender fingers indicate that it's not super early, late 60's - early 70's would be my guess.
I'd take the whole thing apart and clean every piece. But you'll probably want to familiarize yourself with the mechanism before you take that plunge.
Thanks guys. I definitely need to take things apart, clean and lubricate underneath and I'm pretty confident I can take some measurements and put things back where they were but what if something has slid over time? This unit has not been played since the 90's and I picked up from a family member who did not know anything about it other than her dad owned it since the 70's. There is light rust on some of the rods and bell cranks that I need to get cleaned off so I will be removing what I can. Also, on one of the fingers (C6 #7), the pin that carries the string ball has snapped off, I'm thinking I can remove that finger and have a machine shop repair it? This one is the Day setup which I'm also hoping could be changed. Was really looking for a nice S10 or SD10 but couldn't pass this one up.
Mike
Hi Mike,
Over the years I have posted quite a bit of information on the Marlen Pull-release steel guitars as I owned one and re-furbished the undercarriage several years ago.
Rather than repeat the posts again, I strongly suggest you search the forum for posts and threads on "Marlen", "pull-release" and my name as author, and you should turn up a lot of info, in text and photos, which will help you understand the mechanism, and will also assist you in dismantling, cleaning, re-assembling and setting-up.
These are excellent instruments, but they have a logic all their own. There are a lot of good folks here who also are well-versed in the
care and feeding" of the pull-release steel guitar. You've definitely come to the right place!
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being.
Appreciated Ned and I have been looking at all the posted info and will continue to do so. I have read many tuning posts already as well, but I seem to confuse myself more every time I read a new one! I could not find anything on converting to the Emmons set up, if it's posted in there somewhere I cannot find it. Perhaps I will just have to learn to play the Day, I'm a beginner so switching may not be a big deal. Thanks all!
Mike, that looks like a Schaller machine-head, ought to be plenty of suppliers for those.
If one's gone, chances are the rest are all fairly tired, I'd just buy ten left-handed ones and ten right-handed ones and replace them all.
Be careful though, the length of the shaft has to be such that the two opposite each other at the narrow end of the keyhead don't touch or interfere with each other.
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being.
Thanks Ned, I was hoping to find one replacement for now while I am working my way through the guitar. I read where changing the tuners often leads to some needed modifications which I am trying to avoid right now until I get everything else dialed in.
Thanks, Mike
Took the changer off for a good cleaning and sent it off to the local machine shop to have the old broken string pin removed and replaced. Fingers crossed he can get it out cleanly so we don't need to relocate the pin (which is plan B).
[/img]
