Steel Guitar Builder

I have a set of plans for sd10-- similar to LDG..unfortunately some of the measurement have faded or smudged..anyone have anything they would share....Thanks guys.

Plans? What's plans? Dunno about anyone else but for me, plans are what you draw after the thing is built. OK, not quite. But I sure don't have a full working plan. I make sketches and drawings as I go along.

Anyone else?

Allan.....

I mainly need the measurement of the deck overhang--where the pad joins...and the measurements for the bellcranks,hangers etc..

I also have a set of plans that I am working from but I am afraid that they are kinda of generic in nature and since I have yet to finish my construction I can't assure you that they would be correct as they are printed. Would be more than willing to try to help you though, if I knew what you needed.

Respectfully
Roger
village idiot

Hi David,...what exactly you're looking?...and what do you mean about hangers?, most of the mesurements or plans i make is after i have the endplates , keyhead and changer temporary install to determine the lenght of the guitar make the bellcranks and align as close as possible horizontal with the raise and lower fingers on your changer,

here's some of the step by step i use because i don't have a full prove plans and templates set in stone yet...

1. i decide what kind of cabinet to build( SD, Double or 1 1/2 body ).
2. then build or buy the endplates and keyhead.
3. build the cabinet.
4. build or buy a changer.
5. fitting the changer in the cabinet and cutting the hole in the endplates or vise versa.
6. how far the changer is from the end of the cabinet will determine the total lenght of the guitar( i use a minimum of 2" from the center of the changer axle to the end of the guitar with the (endplates 1/4'').
7. once the changer is temporary install i screw the neck temporary and mesure a 24" scale.
8. then i build or buy keyhead and then temporary install the keyhead with the endplates .
9. with all that i can now know the total lenght of the guitar will be and can now cut the cabinet to the right lenght.
10. position and install the pickup temporary
11. now it's time to start on the undercarriage.
12. from there it's a matter of choice from the builder where to put what... like knee lever and pedals, position of cross shaft ect...
13. build or buy the legs.
14. determine the height with legs and install the pedal rack and cut the pedal rods to fit.
15. install everything temporary.
16. finish the cabinet.
17. buff everything to a shine.
18. reinstall and finish the guitar.

that is pretty much how i go about starting a custom building process. , i'm sure some use different process and will chime in, and i'm sure i will do some things differently once i have build a few more.

one thing i've learn is to buy or build your endplates and keyhead before making the cabinet, it's easyer to make change and fit wood with metal and aluminum than the other way around. .

hope this help, ...........Pat C.

David, what you are wanting is really what you have to sit down and work out on your own. Don't take this as us not wanting to give away secrets or anything of that nature. But when you sit down to sketch up a steel that's gonna be all your own, the last thing you'd want is something "like an LDG, or Mullen or old ShoBud"
There are very few 'givens' in this business I believe. And that is the same for bell cranks and the other parts you mentioned.
I can tell you one thing you should start working out from: The scale length. That one is what decides how long the body needs to be for a minimum length.
You have the 2 most popular ones which are 24 and 24 1/4 inch scale lengths. So now you go and put that down on paper then, starting at the keyhead end, you can figure out how long you need your keyhead to be if you are making one. Then, armed with that one, you proceed to the other end, where you figure out the placement of the changer hole in relation to the scale length and all the rest. Then your bell cranks have to be made with the thought in mind of how deep is the body? How many holes do I need to accomplish the right pulls?

One way is to buy all the parts and make your body to fit to those parts.
Another way is to buy the body and the parts and hope they all fit together.

My biggest fun was to actually make all the parts myself (except for strings, legs, pickups etc) That venture was never cast in stone and steel #4 will be different and hopefully an improvement over #'s 2 and 3.

To answer your one remaining question ( I think I answered your bell crank one): When you say the "deck overhang" I take this to mean the step-down on the e op plate from the E9th part to the C6th. This is more often than not 1/4". There is no overhang here. The two parts are usually the same width, one popular measurement seems to be 5 1/4 for both, totaling 10 1/2". I chose to use 5 1/2" and 5 " for my SD 10's. So we see, nothing is cast in stone here either.

In addition, the depth of the body is dictated by so many things, but if you have ready made end plates, the width of these will dictate the depth you make your body.
Hope this somewhat gets you going. Good luck!

Pat, that was very good.It is easy to see how you have learned from trial and error and just plain using your own head.

To answer your one remaining question ( I think I answered your bell crank one): When you say the "deck overhang" I take this to mean the step-down on the e op plate from the E9th part to the C6th. This is more often than not 1/4". There is no overhang here. The two parts are usually the same width, one popular measurement seems to be 5 1/4 for both, totaling 10 1/2". I chose to use 5 1/2" and 5 " for my SD 10's. So we see, nothing is cast in stone here either.

This is exactly what I am trying to figure out...the measurements are so smeared I cant read them....I am using a RJ Gluck building plan..My endplates are identical to the SHOWBUD.....Only steel I could find at the time I could get pics of...

David, If you can use the Gluck plans, go right ahead. This is not my way of building a steel since I think Gluck's idea is more like a "kit plan"..one size fits all type.
If it works for you, kudos!

I was only considering the gluck as a base reference...I think the finished product is kind of cheesy looking....just my opinion.