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Topic: T-8 with pedal retrofit |
John Allison
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 6:56 am |
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Finally got a chance to grab a couple of quick images of my retrofitted T-8:
And the belly of the beast...
I routed the middle neck to accept a changer, Jim Flynn designed and built the undercarriage and I did some tweaking and set up on it. It's a prototype and still a bit of a work in progress, but it plays great and it sounds simply the coolest. I'd been playing mostly through my Princeton Chorus solid state and getting a nice tone, but I took it over to Herb Steiner's the other day and plugged into his Princeton Reverb tube amp and it really came alive.
Here's the copedent:
It gives me full E9 capabilities, though I'm missing some easy melodic runs and chord possibilities with the "chromatic" strings gone. I don't have the C# on P3 right now and I'm doing okay without it. I may go ahead and add that pull at some point. Tuning the lowest strings A, C# and raising to B, D gives me some nice options. I've tried the opposite with the RKR lowering from B, D to A, C#, but the changer maxes out on the lower and it's hard to keep it in tune consistently. The AB position yields a straight A6 lap tuning with the root on the bottom and the LKR E's down gives a B13 with a low dom7th. [/img]
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John Allison
Allison Stringed Instruments
Austin, Texas
www.allisonguitars.com |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 7:40 am
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 Nice job John. Looks like a fun and versatile instrument. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 8:14 am
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Wonderful!
Are you going to add 8 string pedal steels to your product line, John? There's a market for them. 
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 8:25 am
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The horn is definitely a retro-style guitar, fer sure, and is really a beautiful instrument. The photos don't do the guitar justice... and those nouveau Christian pickups have got that Mooney "transparent" sound in treble strings that I love.
Currently my personal take on John's tuning is from an A6 (w/p.1&2) point of view, which can become E7 with RKR, E13 with p.1/RKR, or B11 with LKR. The other levers apply mostly to the country E9 applications.
I could change my visualization on the tuning at a moment's notice, but right now I see it as an excellent western swing/country hybrid, with emphasis on the 6th side in the full range of strings, and emphasis of the traditional E9th sound on strings 1 through 6.
John's guitar is a combination of woods and finishes, I believe an oil finish on the necks, and a satin lacquer finish on the decks. I love that color combination and I'm gonna get an S-10 non-pedal in that style, or a similar combo to be decided in the future... or in the pasture, one of the two. 
When he has time to build it, that is 
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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John Allison
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 9:36 am
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I agree with Herb's assessment of the tuning. It's definitely a uni style tuning (hey, it's a Mooney-Uni...  ), but it emphasizes the A6 over the B6. It's a little redundant on this triple where I've got the C6 on the inner neck and E13 (high 3rd) on the outer neck. I think it'll make a good S-8 pedal tuning and I can envision a fuller compliment of pedals to take advantage of the B6 side.
As for production, I think we might try to develop a prototype of a pull-release version that simplifies the mechanism and produces even better tone. You'd lose the ability to change copedents easily, but if you want an 8-string pedal, you probably want something relatively simple and specific, anyway. It might not be soon, but I think we'll come up with something.
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John Allison
Allison Stringed Instruments
Austin, Texas
www.allisonguitars.com |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 10:02 am
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WOW  I love it.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 12:35 pm
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| John Allison wrote: |
| As for production, I think we might try to develop a prototype of a pull-release version that simplifies the mechanism and produces even better tone. You'd lose the ability to change copedents easily, but if you want an 8-string pedal, you probably want something relatively simple and specific, anyway. |
Not necessarily. My D6th copedent would be pretty hard to do on a pull-release.
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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John Allison
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 1:24 pm
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Yes, Bob, anything more complex than a pretty straight 3/3 or 3/4 set up would be benefit from the use of a modern changer. I wasn't sure if I'd get anywhere near the tone I wanted with an all-pull, but it definitely works. It'll be interesting to see if a pull-release makes much of a difference. That'll be down the road a bit, I expect.
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John Allison
Allison Stringed Instruments
Austin, Texas
www.allisonguitars.com |
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Ransom Beers
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 2:12 pm
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| Waaay cool!I wish I'd thought 'o' that. |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 18 Mar 2012 2:35 pm
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| I would really like to hear some soundclips if you can post some. |
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John Allison
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 19 Mar 2012 6:11 am
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I'll work on some clips. I've been wanting to get some of the local steelers to record some demos on a few different steels so that we can get a broader range of samples...not to mention some very high-level musicianship. 
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John Allison
Allison Stringed Instruments
Austin, Texas
www.allisonguitars.com |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 19 Mar 2012 6:21 am
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Fred Glave
From:
McHenry, Illinois, USA
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Posted 20 Mar 2012 8:08 am
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Most definitely cool.
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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord, |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Aaron Goldstein
From:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 20 Mar 2012 8:53 am
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This is super cool, I bet those Christian pickups are a great match.
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