Steel Guitar Builder

I have added a heavy brass stop block behind the changer fingers. The notes ring out more clearly, and the sustain is even better. The set screws tune the drops on the knee levers.

An update on my homemade steel guitar. I got the BL705 pickup, and really like it. I’m almost ready to say that this guitar sounds better than my Carter. Everything seems to have settled in, and it stays in tune very well. The hard ebony pillow blocks and maple peg head have not caused any trouble y...

I was not planning on making more than this one, but already I have ideas for improvement. Could be a very slippery slope.

Are all the pickups out there pretty decent? I was thinking Bill Lawrence would be the way to go.

More photos.

Got it all together! It weighs a few pounds more than my Carter, but I'm so happy that it works great. I was able to get the timing adjusted so that the notes change together without any extra bumps. And very smooth. I'm also very happy about the sustain and tone even without a pickup. Next is to di...

Pedal stops in place.

Here's my RKL lever done. Lowers the E's. I figure that I can add or subtract the springs as needed to adjust the action. It feels good right now, but no strings on it yet. It would be nice to add the RKR lever to lower the second string but I'll need to cut away a little of that corner block in ord...

Today I got the first knee lever in place for lowering the E's. I like that change on RKL, so it's a little more complicated, and I still need to work on how the reversing pieces fit together. I'm thinking I'll try connecting the return springs to the top hole of the bellcranks. Next up is the E to ...

I'm enjoying following your progress, and learning too. I kinda quit posting on my project because I couldn't tell that anyone was all that interested.

Ok, just did this. The shaft is 5/16" steel and I used bronze sleeve bearings on the ends. The set screw that holds the pedal rod crank in place is counter sunk into the steel shaft to prevent any slippage. Everything moves very smoothly without any binding.....so far.