Steel Guitar Builder

It's kinda quiet here, so maybe you won't mind a non-qualifying post. I acquired this old student-model Miller a year ago, 3+1. I added three KLs using scrounged and homemade parts. Got it working pretty well, so I elected to proceed with an aesthetic upgrade.

The cast aluminum frame had raised "endplates" cast and brush-finished. I sanded them smooth and polished these areas for a bright look. Also stripped the paint from the keyhead and polished it. The remainder of the frame and the pedal rack remain painted in black.

I replaced the plain-jane deck board with a nice selection of birdseye. Used cutoffs from that board to "veneer" the painted aluminum neck, and added the inlay banding according to the finest tradition.

How, how do you play this thing?

Trouble posting this pic. Hope it works this time.

Hey Gary, waddya mean, non-qualifying? I would say this qualifies 100%. You have in fact built a new guitar. You have taken a piece of steel guitar history and turned it into a thing of beauty. I know nothing about the Miller. I believe it would be a learning experience for us all to see lots of pics and detailed explanations. How about a couple of pics from under the hood? Great work...the top deck and neck just shines!

Thanks for your interest, Bent. I'll get some pix underneath and post them soon. From any angle, it pales in comparison to your recent blue-beauty.

Real nice job Gary, I'd take her out to dinner...she looks great. And as Bent said, we'd sure like look under her skirt lol.....Stormy

Boy, that sure is good work - lots of time but fun , no doubt.
Like the colors , too.As far as "built" , the car crowd says that all
the time , no matter how many owners the car has been through.
Instead of picking your parts off shelves or bins you just went
through a disassembly stage. Anyway , it's fabulous! Job well
done.
Pastor Bruce

Mighty fine Gary mighty fine! Looking forward to some more pics.

I surely am impressed. Does not even look like the original. When you spend a whole day detailing your car, I mean shampooing the interior, washing, waxing, and you take it for a ride right after it seems to feel like a different car doesn't it. Did you find your guitar sound and played better. If you did that is pride of a job well done and you should be proud and I hope you experienced that feeling after all that hard work. You deserve it.

Paul

Thanks, Paul. Can't say it sounded better, but yeah, it adds a bit of confidence in playing. I have a way to go before I can say I actually "play" the PSG.

Attaching some under pix by request. The brass cross-shafts are the ones I added (brass was all I could find quickly for 5/16" rod). I cut some L-shaped bellcranks from 3/4 x 3/8 Al bar stock, in order to resemble the original cast parts.

For shaft hangers, I cut up an old UHMW cutting board from the kitchen (see the loose parts).

A keen eye will notice that none of the four KLs match, either in style nor mechanics. I acquired them one at a time via the SG forum and Ebay.

Some pix didn't "take" on the previous post.