Bobby Bowman
From:
Cypress, Texas, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Aug 2011 3:56 am |
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I have a customer's Marlin here to set up and adjust. It's a single finger pull/release, but has the nylon tuners on the changer and what I think are "open tuning" adjustment springs for the E strings, 4 and 8, that are the only strings that both raise and lower on this guitar.
Every other pitch change on the set up, whether raise or lower I can get "dead on" perfect, but I'm having trouble getting the 4 and 8 strings to return to proper pitch.
I can adjust either off of the raise or the lower and get 'em dead on, but not both.
One way the raise comes back sharp or the other way the lower comes back flat.
Any help will be much appreciated. 
Thanks,
BB
ps: I've worked on a few Marlin guitars over the years with success, but never one like this.
_________________
If you play 'em, play 'em good!
If you build 'em, build 'em good!
http://www.bobbybowman.com |
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Ned McIntosh
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 4 Aug 2011 6:10 am
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Hi Bobby,
I bought a Marlen Pull-release steel and had to set up the E raises and lowers, as well as the 6th string lower to F# and raise to A.
What helped (hugely!!) was being able to make large adjustments to the tension on the springs attached to the tension-rods with the tuning-nuts on them. I got this idea from fellow forumite Harry Sheppard (who has posted a reply), so all credit to him for this refinement. (Thanks Harry!!)
Instead of just screwing one end of the spring into the wood of the cabinet, I added an aluminium flange with holes drilled through it, and used short sections of rod with stop-collars to give a coarse adjustment capability to the tension-rods, as shown in the photograph below. In the photo, the uppermost spring is hooked onto the tension-rod at the left end, and to the coarse adjuster at the right end, via a short rod and a stop-collar which allows the short-rod to be lengthened or shortened against the aluminium flange:-
This eables you to "pre-tension" the rods so you don't run out of adjustment with the tuning-nuts.
If the lower comes back flat, then the tension-rod isn't exerting enough tension to overcome string-tension. I made an adjustment (added extra tension) on the position of the stop-collar at my aluminium-flange first, such that the lower came back slightly sharp, then you tune it with the tuning-nut so it is true (reducing tension with the tuning-nut.) If the raise is coming back sharp, there is too much "pre-tension" on the rods, so you back off at the coarse-adjustment, then re-tune with the tuning-nut.
What you are trying to do is balance the string in the open-note position against the spring-tension from the tension-rod (which tries to raise the string) combined with the tension of the string itself (which tries to lower the string)...if you adjust any one of these, the other two are also affected. You must check all three, re-tune them as many times as necessary, adjust the coarse-adjuster if you need to (sometimes a very small adjustment is all that is needed) until they all balance.
When you re-tune the raise (for example), you also affect the tension of the string in the open-note position, so you need to re-tune it, and then check the lower is still true. Repeat the raise-tuning, check the open-note, check the lowered note. Sometimes a knee-lever may need a little more throw for a change to be capable of being tuned. Every factor - bellcrank travel, string-tension, spring-tension, raise-tuning, lower-tuning will have an effect on the others, and you go through a lot of trial and error before you get the tuning right. The good thing is once the tuning is adjusted correctly, provided you don't change string-gauge, then the tuning is remarkably stable - and the pull-release changer itself is absurdly simple to maintain.
It is also important that knee-levers and pedals have positive and repeatable stops, and the bellcranks are not slipping on the shafts. Anything like this will destroy any stability in the tuning.
String gauge may also have an effect, and if the strings are a bit old they may not be capable of being tuned true for all three notes. The 4th string seems to be most trouble in this respect. When in doubt, change it, make sure you have removed all the stretch from the string and go through the tuning process again.
The single biggest help in getting my Marlen to tune properly was adding the coarse adjustment to the springs for the tension-rods as shown in the photograph above. It doesn't have the crisp, short, easy pedal and lever-travel of an all-pull steel, but the tone is something else!
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The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being. |
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