Steel Guitar Builder

Paul -

Yeeeuuuuww!

You had it much worse than I did. I just got disgusted with the many parts seemingly made with a hammer and a hacksaw that I tore out the entire undercarriage and started from scratch. The cabinet was in pretty good shape with only the expected small scratches and dings from 35 years of use and misuse. The aluminum trim had the expected scratches and dings - some I managed to get out - others not worth the time and effort to make pristine. And, yes, I will post some pics when it is finished.

The layout will be different - but that's a story for another time.

Richard

Hi Richard, I sure hope you some before and after pictures to show. I look forward to seeing them.

As of last night after many tears and beers here is were I am at. I added one additional knee lever and replaced the other one as it was broken. Don't laugh to much at my metal working skills. Richard, I too use the hammer and hacksaw as frequently as the guy who built yours.

Paul

Paul -

Don't it make ya feel good to have a bunch of clean, shiny parts? Finish it up and let us all see the final product.

Richard

Hey Richard, gotta love the shiny stuff. I notice I have some binding on the C pedal and LKR. I will have to take it apart. I am going to make up a new flipper (rack) for LKR and drill the holes a little larger on the flipper of the C pedal. Hopefully that will fix the problem. This assembly was a test fit. For today, I am just gonna relax and have a few cold ones.

Paul

Hi Paul looking at the underside of Flipper . are the collars on the rods stops?For tuneing ? Ive never seen that before , the whole setup looks like it would be simple to build without a lot of other work making other parts , anyways she is looking very good. Russ

Hi Russ, hope I make sense here, but I have partaken in the slopping back a few cold ones. From what I can tell this is very similar to Sho-Bud's rack and barrel system. Just by moving the rods I can change the tuning easily. Now to answer your question. If you look at the mechanics you will see 6 of the rods have springs at the end that press against the end plate. I used the barrels on the rods to put tension on those springs. On each flipper you will see there are 2 barrels on 2 of the rods. These pull the changer when the flippers are acted on. I am not sure if it shows up in the pictures, but there is a piece of angled aluminum with 3 holes that sits above each pedal lever that a screw goes in to set each of the pedal stops. I still need to make up a few brackets for the stops on the knee levers. Kind of an L bracket I am thinking.

I still have some work to do, but I'd like to get the strings on soon. If you need more pictures of the undercarriage to help you understand my short and crappy explanation, I'd be happy to send or post them.

Paul

Hi Paul ,If you have the time sure id like to see more pic s , Its just different from whats being built today that got my enterest, it looks nice and clean not clutterd something you don't see everyday , im still not sure how it works maybe ill figure it out ( don't know anything about the old shobud rack n barrel either, geeeeeezzzz I need a bud lol got another ?lol . Russ

Hey Russ, I will post more pictures tomorrow after work. Yes it is a strange piece of work, but it seems pretty simplistic in the way it is designed. I think I will rotate it 180 degrees and you will see the stops better. Also, my explanation may not have been as good as it could have. Too many wet ones. I may try and do a small video to show how it works.

Paul

Looking great! I will be posting some pics of my project soon. I will be working on the under carriage and rodding soon as well. I still have a lot of parts to clean and polish before installing them.

Hi Russ,

Here are a few pic's that show the pedal stops a little better. I also included a sketch of the of the changer that Burt posted to help with its workings.

Paul