Steel Guitar Builder

Youve been a busy boy Russ, looks like it will be up and playing in a week or so.

Best regards Ron Mc

A week lol , just a tad bit longer . Once its finished Ill see about posting some sound bites on here . Ill have more pics soon . Russ

I got some parts made today milled three pedals and ten bell cranks plus got some cross shafts cut to size im sure ill need more bell cranks for this ten string guitar , might do a vertical knee also , not sure where it will go or what string to put it on but it would be nice i thought of another pedal also dont know where it would go either , anybody got any idea there ? I would have got more done but its raining and my shop has a metal roof , you cant hear yourself think when its raining lol . All the parts need cleaned up and holes drilled and tapped Ill get that all done then sand them a bit and roll them around in my rock tumbler for a day or so then ill polish them if they need it , I got a big buffer with different grits i can use for that if i need to .I was going to cast some pedals but i had some 1 inch bar aluminum and just went ahead and milled them . Strings will go through the fingers i didnt use a pin , once i get them done and rounded on the rotary table all i have to do is drill the holes for the pull rods and presto they are done , I also got some white or kinda off white plastic material im going to use for the pickup , hope it looks good as far as the color goes with the walnut wood , anyway workin everyday to get it done . comments welcome thanks for looking , if it looks good ill make a white fret board maybe ? Russ

Shots of getting it together

Your doing well Russ, I remember when there used to be loads of posts like this on the forum with comments and advice by the score, just lately I've only been doing parts for other builders and refurbishments.

Regards Ron Mc

Hi ron i sent you a pm , thanks for the comment I remember when the forum was full blast I got a lot of views on this build but no comments only yours , maybe nobody likes it or not enterested in it i dont know lol. Maybe when i get it finished ill get some comments ya think lol. I would like to do a different changer but im at a lose there but this guitar ill do the pull release and maybe the next something different anyways thanks for commenting . Russ

Hi Russ, here's a link to the dimensions of my fingers viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1223&start=40
It looks like you have heavier machine tools than I have so it shouldn't be a problem for you to manufacture them easily, all I have is an old Myford ML7 lathe and a little 'Chinese mill'

I have a large mill and lathe, can mill just about anything i want i guess and the lathe is a 10 inch swing plus a rotary table and other accessories make them both very useful for most anything i wanna do . I might try that changer next time . thanks again Ron . Russ ( i think i looked at that before )

If you need other dimensions I'll try and help, my mill is only the equivalent of a Grizzly G0704

Ron Mc

Oh to have a mill....
Russ, that's looking really nice. I like your pedal design.


Ron, I apologise for being one of the many builders you have made stuff for. Lol