Steel Guitar Builder

According to my research here on the Builders Forum, I made a big mistake by purchasing Gluck's plans to build. Why? Because I built my cabinet using 1/2" maple. And, after reading Pat and Bent's comments on "Body Measurements," I guess I should consider building another cabinet using 3/4 " stock to eliminate Cabinet Drop, which I definitely don't want to deal with.

As far as End Plates are concerned, I have no way to build them. So, any suggestion where I can purchase them for a single neck? Thanks, Fred

Hi Fred,

i've build my first PSG 1/2" birds eyed maple single neck and it does have a little more cabinet drop than my other ones using 3/4" maple but not that much of differences, after building a few PSG's i've came to the conclusion that it is not only the cabinet that is due to the drop...cause my first one has a different undercarriage design than my others and i didn't put a 1/4" aluminum bearing plate like i did with the others so i'll have to wait until i redo the whole under carriage to see the difference, Dekley, EMCI ,Sierra, Emmons and some MSA's PSG's uses 1/2" cabinet so it shouldn't be that bad, i'm planning on building another black mica and will be using 1/2" cabinet with aluminum neck and it will be like a , if i were you i would keep the cabinet and use a aluminum bearing plate the lenght of the underside and use 3/4" front and back apron for stiffness and you'll ok, once again cabinet drop is not only due to the cabinet flexing ...it is due to the whole design, keyhead, endplates, cabinet changer and changer mount are the main cause of the drop in my opinion, one crucial thing about building a homemade PSG's at home if you can't make all the parts... you have to start with the endplates and a changer that will fit the plates from there you'll need the keyhead to determine the lenght of the guitar and from there you can build the cabinet around that, if you make all the parts then you can skip that process and start building from the type and size of changer you're gonna be using and build around that, i've said it before, if you need endplates i might be able to build you some but again...it'll be harder to fit them without having the cabinet to measure for a nice fit, you'll probably have to sand the body and file the plates to make them fit properly .

i haven't post for the last few days cause i was busy building a milling machine , i've got the base and the Z axis done and waiting for my slide compound X, Y axis table to get here to finish it, i don't know how it will come out but it is fun building new stuff , i've made it so i can add stepper motors to converte it to CNC later on, i'll be posting some pics when it's done.

Pat C

Thanks Pat for the detailed info. I just picked up a 1970's MSA complete neck with changer and key head, and plan to build the guitar around it. What can you do price wise for single neck plates? I think I'll build a 3/4" cabinet around the plates, changer, and neck because the one I already built is a double neck. Fred

Fred, I forgot to hit the Submit button. At this late hour, I don't know if this is any good to you but here is what I wrote like 5 hours ago. My head is bunged up with my project...

Fred, all is not lost, that's for certain. One thing - you will have a hard time "eliminating" cab. drop. You can minimize it to where it is tolerable.What I would do with your cabinet is the following: I would get hold of some1/8" thick by 2" wide angle aluminum. You screw one side to the aprons and - very important - bolt it to the end plate extensions inside the body. Then you will have a continuous solid frame all around the body and the wood is essentially there for looks and to have something to screw parts to. Now you will have one of the angles sticking into the guitar body. Tis is very handy to use for pedal stops. Just machine it to the right size so you don;t have too much sticking out.

Endplates: You either make the pieces yourself and have someone TIG weld it together, or have someone make a set for you on a mill, or see of you can get hold of used ones. I would machine a set for you but I am bogged down in my own project and won't be able to do anything till september.

Hope this helps you a bit.

Bent, I really appreciate your help. OK then, my next project is the end plates, and the angle aluminum as you suggest. Fred