Elektro Pedal Steel Guitar Build

[Georg]

The problem is, how to use the same rods for push/pull. I came up with a solution, of which I'll post more about later, as I'd like to at least hook up one string and see it actually work. Two different pedals will be on a rocker bar, when one pedal is depressed, the string is lowered. While one pedal is lowered, the other will go up. This will seem odd, and possibly, not acceptable. I might not like it and abandon it.

That "interlinked pedals" was the problem I read into your single-rod design.
If you can solve that in a satisfactory way - prevent interlinking - your single-rod design will work fine. Otherwise separate raise and lower rods will work better.

I think it might be cool to be able to change a note as much as 4 to 6 steps, if the lowering pedal were depressed and then gradually lifted to neutral, and smoothly continued to raise the note by pressing the raise pedal. I have no idea if this is something I'd want to do or if anyone would want to do?

I have 2 half-note raise and 5 half-note lower on lowest string on one PSG - an All-Pull. The resulting 7 half-note change isn't the most used, but it is nice to have the capability.

Some string gauges will sound pretty dead if you lower them too much, and there is of course a limit to how much you can raise a string without causing immediate or early breakage. Selecting right string thicknesses with change(s) in mind is important.

[Elektro]

The problem is, how to use the same rods for push/pull. I came up with a solution, of which I'll post more about later, as I'd like to at least hook up one string and see it actually work. Two different pedals will be on a rocker bar, when one pedal is depressed, the string is lowered. While one pedal is lowered, the other will go up. This will seem odd, and possibly, not acceptable. I might not like it and abandon it.

That "interlinked pedals" was the problem I read into your single-rod design.
If you can solve that in a satisfactory way - prevent interlinking - your single-rod design will work fine. Otherwise separate raise and lower rods will work better.

I think it might be cool to be able to change a note as much as 4 to 6 steps, if the lowering pedal were depressed and then gradually lifted to neutral, and smoothly continued to raise the note by pressing the raise pedal. I have no idea if this is something I'd want to do or if anyone would want to do?

I have 2 half-note raise and 5 half-note lower on lowest string on one PSG - an All-Pull. The resulting 7 half-note change isn't the most used, but it is nice to have the capability.

Some string gauges will sound pretty dead if you lower them too much, and there is of course a limit to how much you can raise a string without causing immediate or early breakage. Selecting right string thicknesses with change(s) in mind is important.

Interlinking, I do not think this will be a problem. I do have considerations as to how not to need to inter-relate the raise and lower pedals, but, I want to see if I like the rocking pedals idea or not. Basically, personally, I only need to lower a note in order to accomplish my original intention in building this PS guitar. But it seems interesting to me to have the option of push/pull, and, it is more of a challenge.

I understand the changer finger design of 3 pieces, I even already put one together, and I could use this kind of design in this guitar if I wanted to, and, I probably will in the future on another future guitar build. However, one project at a time .

My normal line of work is designing, building, and selling high power LED flashlights, by the way, Elektro Lumens is my company name, and why I chose 'Elektro' as my name here. The 'Lumens' part would not make sense for a guitar, but 'Elektro' is not so foreign to guitar names.

Elektro

[Elektro]

Here are some pictures of my pedal steel guitar I'm building, what I have so far:

This is what it looks like:

I have not done any finishing of the wood or aluminum, as I have been taking it apart and putting it together many times, didn't want to damage any of the finish in the process. I will finish the wood, possibly a light stain, and will at least give the aluminum a brushed finish and anodize clear. I may polish the aluminum to a shine which would really look nice, but am not sure.







Here's a pic of the rod connectors, which connect to the rocker arm inside the body.


I just need to make the connecting rods to the pedals, and the pedals, and connect them. I've already tuned a few of the strings with the stops, and seems to work, but, have to do it by hand so far. The tuning I'm going with is open E: from high to low: E - G# - E - B - G# - E. One of the pedals will raise the G# strings to A, another pedal raises the B to C#, to give the I -IV chords. I set another pedal to lower the 4th string E to D for a 7th chord but so far it seems to not sound good, so I will change this so the 1 string E can be lowered to D, which sounds better. The 2nd and 5th string G# can also be lowered by another pedal to G, to produce a minor chord. You can look at the pictures to see that to each changer finger is one single rod, which connects to a rocker, and to each rocker two pedals can be connected, to either raise or lower the string. The rods design is not very versatile, though, but it works.

I decided I liked the idea of having the I chord and IV chord option, which I guess is pretty standard on pedal steel guitars. I also have the minor chord available and a 7th, and minor 7th (hmmm, wonder what a 7th and m7th can be used for?).

I'll have the rods connected to pedals in a day or so, and can tune it up and see how it works. The sound is mellow, more jazz tone, due to the kind of pickup I used and it's placement farther up the neck. I might add another pickup in there closer to the bridge changers to get a liver tone. Anyway, the tone it has is what I went for. I do have volume and tone pots, 500K, but they don't seem to do so much, I think I did something wrong in the wiring? I also added a bleed bypass for the higher notes, for when volume is set to lower. So far I do not even use the tone and volume pots at all, I just leave them wide open and use the volume and tone on the amp, so, I see I didn't even really need to put them in.

The design is very different from what I've seen of other pedal steel guitars. I wanted to put the blocks on the inside but didn't have room, and I wish I had opted for a bigger cabinet. And, I just used aluminum stock I happened to have on hand, is another reason I designed the leg holders and legs the way they are.

The pedal board I messed up and made it too short, so, I'll replace it later, but for now I just added a piece to make it longer.

Elektro

[Elektro]

Here's a picture of me with my pedal steel guitar I made:



I have been playing it now for a few weeks. Once it has been adjusted it seems to holds it, as I have not had to re-adjust the stops yet. It is tuned to open E, from low to high: E - G# - B - E - G# - E. I play it kinda more like a regular guitar, strumming and/or picking the strings, but also, as a slide guitar, I also can slide between the chords, and also use the pedals to change from the I to the IV chord, as is done on a pedal steel. So, not quite absolutely like a regular guitar, and probably not like most people play this kind of guitar, a kind of mix I guess.

Pedal one lowers the G# strings to G for a minor chord. Pedal two raises the G# to A, pedal three raises the B string to C#, two and three give me a IV chord, pedal four drops the middle E to D, for a 7th.

I do plan on dis-assembling this guitar, and finishing the wood, possibly polishing the aluminum. But I hate to take it apart without another one to play, so, I'm building another one, a console steel with knee levers and no foot pedals. I've already started on the second one.

I did make a video of me playing, but I need to re-record it and upload it to YouTube. I'm not a professional player at all, just like to play and sing to the Lord.

Wayne

[azureskys]

Looks like you did an excellent job with your first pedal steel and your doing a second as of now ? you got the bug my friend , its addictive welcome to the club lol Looking forward to see your second. Your idea of using those strips of aluminum for the pull rods is cool , I like the look of them as opposed to the rods , I guess they could be used for the pedal rods also , hummmm interesting idea . I like to see things that are different from the old ho hum norm, it shows innovation and creativity on the builders part rather than another clone so to speak . Id like to see a break down of your changer, im not clear on how it works, two piece fingers? Maybe you could show some drawings of the changer? Russ

[Elektro]

Looks like you did an excellent job with your first pedal steel and your doing a second as of now ? you got the bug my friend , its addictive welcome to the club lol Looking forward to see your second. Your idea of using those strips of aluminum for the pull rods is cool , I like the look of them as opposed to the rods , I guess they could be used for the pedal rods also , hummmm interesting idea . I like to see things that are different from the old ho hum norm, it shows innovation and creativity on the builders part rather than another clone so to speak . Id like to see a break down of your changer, im not clear on how it works, two piece fingers? Maybe you could show some drawings of the changer? Russ

I have a few photos of the changer fingers:





I was trying to make thing simpler, and the thought of a 2 part finger that works for raise/lower was intriguing. The rod to pull or push attaches to the .250" finger, of which I machined into it a slot for the rod, which has a bearing on it (no rubbing parts to wear out). This first finger pushes against the 2nd finger which has a spring attached that pulls it forward. When the rod is pulled, the note is raised. When the rod is pushed, it pushes the first finger into the 2nd finger to lower the note. The one single rod to the finger raises or lowers the note.

My next design will use .375" thick single finger, but a second finger will be in line with it behind, with the spring attached to it. This will be a push/pull design, with knee levers only. I'm hoping to make something more portable, not having to fiddle with foot pedals and rods, etc, for it's transport. My first design works flawlessly, but, it is not very portable, I didn't incorporate the thought of easy assembly/disassembly into it. I want something I can bring along with me.

Wayne

[Farmer]

Wayne, you have a lot of great ideas on your guitar, remember one thing, don't let anyone tell you that this is wrong or that is wrong, because it is your guitar and your ideas, everyone is different, so build it as you see fit. I always thought it had to be a certain way, but decided that it didn't have to be like everyone else..... Buy the way great work Mike

[Elektro]

Wayne, you have a lot of great ideas on your guitar, remember one thing, don't let anyone tell you that this is wrong or that is wrong, because it is your guitar and your ideas, everyone is different, so build it as you see fit. I always thought it had to be a certain way, but decided that it didn't have to be like everyone else..... Buy the way great work Mike

Thanks Mike.

Here's a link to a few videos I made and uploaded to Youtube, if anyone is interested to hear what it sounds like:
Pedal Steel Video #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDuz4A3q ... e=youtu.be

Pedal Steel Video #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGvDlCKE ... e=youtu.be

Wayne

[na4it]

That is something in years to come you'll look back and be very glad you did it!