Steel Guitar Builder

hi paul a palm pedel is kinda like a vibrato bar only you make one string move and not all of them , this is placed on top of a steel and you push it down it with your hand , you can get the same sound as you can with a pedel steel guitar everything is on top no floor pedels . the wood im useing for this guitar is treated wood but still pine its completly dry and ive run it through my planer a few times , this is more of an experment than anything else and besides contrary to popular opinion pine is a great tone wood ive used it before and ive got great results with it , on something like this i personally think the pup is more important than the wood ive seen some lap steels made from grade aaa wood that sounded like crap and ive seen some made from plywood that was fantastic sounding as for the knots on this guitar its not important at this point being an experment as it is . Russ thanks for the comment

more progress , i changed the tuner head to oak , itll hold screws better than pine will and i also made my bridge s i used a 1/2 inch rod and cut grooves in it for the strings ,the wood parts on the bridges are oak , ill put a piece of aluminum under the guitar so the strings will go through the body s into the aluminum , strings will come up and over the brass bar then to brass nut which ill also groove .any comments are welcome and or ideas , thanks for looking . Russ

Im not going to do the palm pedel on this one but next time coming up soon. Russ

here is a little update of my duel 8.i have the bridge mounted and the pickup ( will be two of each as its a double ) and the key head is mounted , ill get everything setup the way i want it then take it back apart and do some final sanding anyway its coming along , thanks for looking and comments or additional advice welcome thanks again . Russ

Here is few pic s of my version of a palm pedel or lever whatever you wanna call it, ill post as i go along with progress on it , i used aluminum brass and stainless steel in the construction , its all an experiment so if anyone see s where i can make it better or offer advice please do tell me , it needs contouring for a final look and polished but that will come later , thanks again for looking. Russ (Azureskys)

Nice job Russ. Are you configuring it so that it can do raises and lowers? I think the Duesenberg can only do one or the other. (per lever)
I haven't thought too much about it but I think it should be possible to get both on a single lever. I guess lifting the lever and continuing to play would be a bit of a pain but it may still have some value.

Regards, Allan.....

Thank you Allen, i see that you are very observent, what i was thinking here is just raising the string although i do like your idea of lowering also but then again it might be a bit of a problem like you said , if you have an idea shoot it to me , i can always change things , its an experment anyway Im open to any advice and ideas . thanks again , Russ

Here i spraycanned the two bodies with spar varnish ( the ultimate finish) joking there , anyway it came out real good , spar is used on boats and its pretty tough stuff, ill paint the bottom black and probly the necks will be black also the key heads will be natural as well as the wood used on the bridge and fret board . the spar did richen up the wood color of the pine and its got a nice gloss to it .Russ

Russ, just a hint..I read some time ago in a woodworking magazine that spar varnish yellows pretty bad. I don;t know for sure, never had any experience with it. Just thought I'd pass it on.... Your project's looking good so far!
Is that Truetone pickup you have in the picture?

yes it is Bent, i have two of them i bought awhile back and ive used them before and have had great results with them .Jerry lives in New Mexico not far from me and he s a very friendly guy , makes great pickups he can make you any kind you want just tell him what kind of sound your after and he ll wind it to what you want these are a mellow sound , thanks for the tip about spar if it does yellow its fine this is just an experment anyway , i wanna see how the pine will hold up. Russ