Antonation on steel guitar
Antonation on steel guitar
I have a friend who plays steel guitar and he asked me why don't builders build a steel guitar with a bridge that is adjustable like the Les Paul or Fender strats have and place the bridge before the pedal changer and set the changer back a bit and lower so strings can come across the bridge that is in front of the changer not directly a little further away that way the steel can be set for antonation, any thoughts?
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richard37066
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Re: Antonation on steel guitar
The early 70's Fender PS210 had a roller bridge placed in front of the changer. I suspect that it had more to do with increasing decay time (sustain) than anything. PSG's do not have an intonation problem - as long as your bar is dead straight across the strings of a well-tuned instrument - and - the nut is precisely parallel with the bridge. This is a no-brainer for a reasonably talented craftsman.
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Georg
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Re: Antonation on steel guitar
As Richard wrote; no intonation problems on a PSG.
I'd like to add that that's only true when one INTONATES with the bar, which means the bar is only held more or less dead straight across the strings around the first 5-6 fretmarks counted from the nut. Further up towards the bridge/changer the bar must be angled slightly to make the heaviest strings vibrating section increasingly longer than the lightest strings - more or less "copy-on-the-fly" the overall bridge-angle found on regular guitars, or else the player will have an intonation problem.
Of course, that angling is not a real problem, as the bar hand will more or less naturally angle as it moves towards the bridge.
I have one PSG with an angled - non-adjustable - bridge, making the tenth string about 3 millimeter longer than the first string. The entire bridge/changer is angled (see picture below), so no extra bridge on that PSG. Non-adjustable means the angle is a compromise - found after months of testing by ear, but that slight bridge-angle is definitely an improvement over the straight bridges on my other PSGs when it comes to perfect intonation with a dead straight bar up the neck.
I'd like to add that that's only true when one INTONATES with the bar, which means the bar is only held more or less dead straight across the strings around the first 5-6 fretmarks counted from the nut. Further up towards the bridge/changer the bar must be angled slightly to make the heaviest strings vibrating section increasingly longer than the lightest strings - more or less "copy-on-the-fly" the overall bridge-angle found on regular guitars, or else the player will have an intonation problem.
Of course, that angling is not a real problem, as the bar hand will more or less naturally angle as it moves towards the bridge.
I have one PSG with an angled - non-adjustable - bridge, making the tenth string about 3 millimeter longer than the first string. The entire bridge/changer is angled (see picture below), so no extra bridge on that PSG. Non-adjustable means the angle is a compromise - found after months of testing by ear, but that slight bridge-angle is definitely an improvement over the straight bridges on my other PSGs when it comes to perfect intonation with a dead straight bar up the neck.
Re: Antonation on steel guitar
Hello George, this is what my friend and I was talking about, most guitars are angled slightly to help with intonation, but wondered if it could be done on a PSG, I just don't know why the fuss from my friend about it, I have played steel guitar now for a while and never noticed the intonation, would love to see a PSG with a second bridge on it.
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Georg
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Re: Antonation on steel guitar
The old Fender PS210 has bridges at both ends separate from the tuning and changer mechanisms, and I am sure those bridges could have been replaced with adjustable ones if the builder had found a need for it.
I mention both bridges because - IMO - both regular guitars and PSGs will intonate better if individual string-length adjustments could be done at both ends. Some regular guitars have intonation nuts as well as adjustable bridges, and since I have played one with (homemade) nut and (standard) bridge adjustments since back in the early 70s I know how well it works.
Tested intonation nut on my PSG with angled bridge/changer and it works well there too but was a bit too complex to retrofit in the existing construction. Kept the original roller-nut.
The PSG I'm working on (in silence) will have individual string adjustable bridge and nut, but since it has its changer integrated in the keyhead it doesn't need an extra bridge.
I mention both bridges because - IMO - both regular guitars and PSGs will intonate better if individual string-length adjustments could be done at both ends. Some regular guitars have intonation nuts as well as adjustable bridges, and since I have played one with (homemade) nut and (standard) bridge adjustments since back in the early 70s I know how well it works.
Tested intonation nut on my PSG with angled bridge/changer and it works well there too but was a bit too complex to retrofit in the existing construction. Kept the original roller-nut.
The PSG I'm working on (in silence) will have individual string adjustable bridge and nut, but since it has its changer integrated in the keyhead it doesn't need an extra bridge.