Hello all, this is my first post here. I'm in the process of building my own pedal steel guitar, thought I would post about it. I recently decided I'd like to have a pedal steel guitar, decided I wanted to build my own. (I'm a machinist, I build and sell flashlights for a living,
www.elektrolumens.com .) I've never played one, never seen one in person, just looked at photos, and I have Glucks instructions. I'm not using his instructions per se, but they give me some ideas. I used to play 6 and 12 string guitar, until I got arthritus, so bad in my fingers I can no longer play, at all. Just gave up altogether. Until the pedal steel came to my attention recently. I have a lap steel, but, it's not suited for what I want to do. I am building my pedal steel with a different idea, and my intended use is different than most. I just want to mainly strum it, and have the option of chords. So my idea is a six string, and I'll have 6 pedals: one for minor key, one for 7th, one for major 7th, and I'm going to add in a raise to have a 4th, 6th, and 9th. Pretty simple. I'll drop the 3rd a half note to get the minor, drop the 8th a whole note for the 7th, or drop it a half note for the major 7. The 3rd or 5th or 8th will be raised a whole note for the 4th 6th and 9th.
Anyway, here are a few images of the beginnings.
The neck is 3/4" x 5" 6061 aluminum, one piece. The mill is not my expertise, the lathe is, my mill is not so great, but it is working okay.
I'll add more pics as I go along. I can only spend at most 1 hour per day, so it'll take a while to complete. I'll be glad to take advice, as I have never built one before, (or played or even looked at one in person)
Elektro