T-10 9 pedal needs some help

[Steve W]

Changer end

[Bill Ladd]

Steve -- If you don't mind measuring, could you post the scale length of that guitar?

Thanks

[Steve W]

I'm told the scale is 23 and that was something Miller did. I have a S-10 with 23 and a D-10 at 24. I wish it wasn't 23 but I think the change would not be easy unless I could make shorter keyheads.

The later fretboards kept some of the same design but changed it up just enough to not be a copy.

[Steve W]

A little update. It arrived and I was happy to see that the scale length is 241/2 not 23. I also removed some of the masking tape on the backside of the rear apron and it's nice bidseye maple on the aprons. I also pulled one neck and it looks like mahogony that was stained a little brown and not painted white as I thought.

As far as things that might help sound and sustain; I noticed that the endplates are a bit rough inside where the deck sits. There are even small indentations on the underside of the wood becasue those rough spots weren't letting the deck sit perfectly on the endplate. The changeres and keyheads also look like they were finished by just holding them on a belt sander. They are not perfectly flat so I guess those will have to go to a machinist to correct that. The blue paint is supper thick. The necks are 3/4 inch and they have a channel routed out under the neck in the middle at 1/2 deep by about 1 1/2 wide. The changer also has this opening. I wonder what that is about? Is it trying to send the sound out the changer and up the neck?

The decks are not attached to each other at all. There is even a gap between them since they don't even sit on top of each other. But I have since learned that bigsbys were the same way. Maybe the individual necks can vibrate more when they aren't glue or bolted to each other. Cabinet drop wise, I think that may not be an issue because the E9 neck is on the opposite side of the guitar from the pedal rods.Accoustically this sounds fine so far. All of the electronics are out right now.

[bobby burns]

To flatten that head, stick some sandpaper to a piece of glass, and sand the head flat by moving the surface you wish to flatten against the sandpaper. If it is way off, the sanding marks will tell you where the high spots are so that you can work them down with something more agressive. It is hard to imagine that they would have bolted it together if it was in such bad shape that 20 minutes or so (or less) of sanding against a flat surface wouldn't fix it.

[Steve W]

Bobby, Thanks for the advice on the paper on glass idea. I will give that a try. I agree that it seems that someone wouldn't put on a changer that is that out of whack, but I'll try to take a picture of one taken off of the guitar sitting on a flat surface. At least on the changer that I checked is was at least a 1/16th difference if not almost 1/8th from one side of the chager to the other. The keyheads all still show fairly obvious lines from grinding. I think Roger Miller didn't want to spend the time to sand out those lines and then polish. The good thing is that I have done one before and I can get those marks out and get a good finish on these metal parts, it just takes time.

The only other thing I need to check first is that the uneven surface wasn't a way to make up for uneven wood.

I put the pickups in and although they are 20K ohms they sound OK. I'm still thinking about going for a lower Ohm pickup like the 10K's in my permanent. It just sounds more old school to me. A Jason Lollar 10 string Charlie Christian pickup would be cool but that is around $300 a piece. I think it's time to learn to wind new ones.


Now if I could figure out what tuning has a second string raise for one pedal and a fourth string raise for another pedal. They are welded on this guitar so I can't just move them around.

[Steve W]

Update: I stripped 2 of three necks. I found what I thought on the back neck, birdseye maple but the neck ended up being what I think is Oak. Not my favorite but OK. I've read that the use of different woods helps resonance. The front is birdseye maple but with a small inlay on the top and bottom. I'm trying to decide which way to go with the necks, darker or try to blend in with the body. It looks like it was originally done in a slightly redish brown on the necks and apron.

I noticed that the front neck has more resonance than the middle neck and no amount of losening or tightening screws effects that. The pickups are also different even though they read the same. I haven't strippped the middle neck to find out how different the wood is of the platform. Right now I assume that the wood that the changer sits on has a lot to do with how the guitar sounds.

There is no finish on it right now.

[Steve W]

Extra pics

[Bent]

Steve, the wood that the changer sits on is what some call 'the deck'. The experts call it the sound board, so you are correct in saying that it has a lot to do with how the guitar sounds. That's not to say that the sound board is the ONLY sound component. That it is a major component, is for sure.
I find that my work will be based on what Paul Franklin wrote not long ago: The steel's tone is the result of the sum of all its parts(not quoted directly)

I take this to mean that if I find that this fiber bushing in a cross rod has a deadening effect on the vibrations, I will try a bushing of a different material.

[Allan]

That was under that evil paint job? Wow! Looks like you could end up with a very interesting guitar at the end of it all. What did you use in the end to remove the paint?

Allan.....