Steel Guitar Builder

Harry, you may want to take another look at your machine head. The strings come off of the tuners at a tangent, not from the center of the post as you have drawn them. I don't know which tuners you intend to use but it would be a good idea to allow for that on your drawing before you start cutting a...

Hello Harry,

Have a look HERE and let me know if this would help...
I have drawings for a range of scale lengths. I will need an email address if you want the drawings as I can not send attachments through the forum...

Regards, Allan.....

Hello Georg! Great to see you on here again - I have missed your contributions a lot. I don't doubt you in the slightest in what you say regarding your axle problem - I was only commenting on the actual cabinet drop aspect of the thing. What are the details of that axle that you saw the bend in? Siz...

Mac, my hero... I am delighted to see that someone has actually done some useful tests on this subject. I have always stayed clear of the arguments on body drop as I had nothing practical to contribute. I simply felt that the effect that some people see was not correctly named. Body drop/cabinet dro...

Hi Mac, Just thinking on the run here. How about running the nut body lengthwise over a table saw? You could make a jig to hold it firmly while making the slot. Another jig, along the lines of a finger joint jig, would allow for cutting the crenelated slots for the rollers. The whole thing could be ...

Here is an alternative way - I have done all the work already...
klunk here

I really don't know what to say about this except to offer my best wishes for the future. As Pat said, you have been a huge asset to the forum, so, I hope that you will be able to stay in touch with us here. Even if you are not building your self I know that your experience and knowledge will be val...

Hi Mac, I might not have been clear on how I did this experiment. Here is how: I wound a coil clockwise(on a single bobbin) until I had 8.5 K. Then I reversed the wire and winding direction to ccw and wound another 8.5 worth of wire onto it. But because I had changer directions, the end result was ...

Well, you asked exactly the right question. 'Opinions' is the right word. I have never heard a good reason to make the strings taper towards the nut so I don't! I just feel better with parallel strings. The same discussion goes on in the pedal steel world and I have never seen a good case made there...

Hello Mac, are you talking about a guitar that you actually intend to offer for sale or is this an 'if I decide to sell it later' build? If it is a 'build to sell' instrument you could probably sell it before you get to the stage where you make the final decision. Even the larger builders look for a...