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Topic: Old Marlin Steel help |
Jeff Pickering
From:
Wichita, Kansas
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 4:11 pm |
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Hello...
I'm not a regular poster, but a friend of a friend just purchased an old Marlin double neck steel from a music store here in Wichita. He came to me to help him get started in playing it. When he got here, the guitar was unplayable and not set up in any way standard. I was unable to even tell what sort of tuning it was. What I'm wondering is if there is anyone out there who can work on these old guitars, might have parts etc as it's missing some. He'd like to get it set up for E9th and C6th. The guy who bought it is a good old boy but didn't know what he was looking at when he bought it. He lives in Medford, OK. If there's anyone out there with any ideas, it would be great.
_________________
Williams 700 Series S-10
Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box
Hilton Volume Pedal
Boss GX700
1969 Fender Twin Reverb w/JBL's |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 7:30 pm
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Jeff, shoot me an email, we can get you and your friend cookin'. 
_________________
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net |
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Ben Godard
From:
Jamesville NC
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 7:44 pm
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| if it's a pull release changer on it, i would try and get rid of it. if its an all pull it may be worth keeping. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 7:47 pm
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Ben, the pull-release has an awesome tone. I'd send it to someone who knows 'em and doesn't mind working on 'em. Not a guitar to throw away
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Ben Godard
From:
Jamesville NC
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 9:14 pm
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| yeah, i guess you are right. Its just in royal p.i.t.a. trying to tune set it up. But if you want a push pull sound of an emmons but dont have the money to buy an emmons, a malin pull release will sound very close. But like I said its a royal pain to try to tune. Not to mention all of the helper springs all over the place it takes to make it work right. Nonetheless, once you get them setup just right, they are pretty good guitars. There's quite a handful of people who like them. One in particular is the guy that did the 2007 interview on a cd with Don Helms. I cant remember his name right now. But he has a beutiful laquer red awesome sounding Marlen. Thats another thing about the Marlens i might add. Mr Stadtler made the most beutiful psg's i have ever seen. god rest his soul. |
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richard burton
From:
Britain
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 10:11 pm
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I disagree with Ben's assertion that a pull release is a pita to set up/tune.
What could be simpler than pressing a pedal, tuning the raise at the headstock, then releasing the pedal and tuning the open note with the endplate screw?
Sometimes, this forum is a mine of well-intentioned misinformation, which must be very confusing for a newcomer. |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 10:26 pm
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I agree. A pull-release Marlen is a great introduction to learning the undersides of pedal steel mechanics. There are no hidden moving parts, and when the time comes, some simple improvements are easy to conceptualize and fabricate.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars. |
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Ned McIntosh
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 13 Mar 2013 10:45 pm
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Jeff, these pull-release Marlens are unique beasts. They have a tone all of their own. However, if the undercarriage is very badly out of adjustment (and yours sounds like it is) then you will need someone who is familiar with the mechanism to set it up.
I re-built the undercarriage on my D10 Marlen and it was many weeks before I achieved the necessary balance of spring-tension versus string-tension for those strings which both raise and lower (The E-strings on the E9th neck, for example). A lot of trial and error, a lot of hard-thinking, and a lot of work making parts, ensuring pedals and levers had enough mechanical travel for the necessary movement of bellcranks, rods, collars and changer-fingers to take place. What I now have is a beautiful, playable piece of steel-guitar history with a unique tone.
Setting up a pull-release which is totally out of adjustment is not for the novice. Fortunately there are good folks here who are well-versed in these steels and I'm sure they'll help, although you may actually have to take, or send, your steel to them so they can work their magic.
_________________
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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Jeff Pickering
From:
Wichita, Kansas
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 3:27 pm Old Marlen help
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Thanks a lot for all your comments. I appreciate the responses.
_________________
Williams 700 Series S-10
Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box
Hilton Volume Pedal
Boss GX700
1969 Fender Twin Reverb w/JBL's |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 3:34 pm
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Here's one I used to own. Stayed in perfect tune and sounded awesome--wish I would have hung onto it. But you can't keep 'em all!!
_________________
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 3:40 pm
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Damn if Len didn't make some purty guitars
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 3:55 pm
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That's an especially nice one, right there.
BTW, not to be a stickler, but the brand of guitar is the MARLEN, not "Marlin." It was named for the owners Marvin Hudson and Leonard Stadler. Marvin was a friend of mine so I thought I'd mention the correction.
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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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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 4:05 pm
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| Quote: |
| But you can't keep 'em all!! |
But, in hindsight, we all wish we would have.
That one should be in a museum. 
_________________
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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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 4:09 pm
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From the looks of the fireplace, I bet that one got the Ricky Davis polish job. RD does do a fine job on those old 'Buds and Marlens.
_________________
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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Jeff Pickering
From:
Wichita, Kansas
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 4:14 pm Old Marlen help
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My bad on misspelling the name in my original post. I know they are Marlens, just mistyped. I guess I don't pick a keyboard very well!
_________________
Williams 700 Series S-10
Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box
Hilton Volume Pedal
Boss GX700
1969 Fender Twin Reverb w/JBL's |
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Jeff Pickering
From:
Wichita, Kansas
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 4:15 pm Old Marlen help
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My bad on misspelling the name in my original post. I know they are Marlens, just mistyped. I guess I don't pick a keyboard very well!
_________________
Williams 700 Series S-10
Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box
Hilton Volume Pedal
Boss GX700
1969 Fender Twin Reverb w/JBL's |
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Jeff Pickering
From:
Wichita, Kansas
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 4:16 pm Old Marlen help
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My bad on misspelling the name in my original post. I know they are Marlens, just mistyped. I guess I don't pick a keyboard very well!
_________________
Williams 700 Series S-10
Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box
Hilton Volume Pedal
Boss GX700
1969 Fender Twin Reverb w/JBL's |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 15 Mar 2013 4:18 pm
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Yes Herb, Ricky refurbed that guitar for me, back in my very early pedal steel dayz. His fireplace is famous.(so is his work)
_________________
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net |
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 16 Mar 2013 11:07 pm
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| Herb Steiner wrote: |
| From the looks of the fireplace, I bet that one got the Ricky Davis polish job. RD does do a fine job on those old 'Buds and Marlens. |
He do indeed.I bought an SD-10 from Ricky (I think), and it was a jumbled mess underneath--No fault of Ricky's---Springs all over the place, it looked--Weird.
But I took it to my old buddy Charles Reece's house.IMO, Charles was the greatest at working on a pedal steel--And nobody was close, except maybe Mac Atcheson, with push-pulls. A man who has been associated with several steel companies, told me that Charles built a better push-pull than Emmons.
Anyway, we put that little guitar on the bench, and parts started flying like Pogo's car! Took awhile, be he had that guitar right and sounding fine. It was light, too, but it sure didn't sound that way after Charles worked his magic on it.They are, indeed, great little guitars, with vicious tone. |
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Edward Rhea
From:
Medford Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2013 8:56 am
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hey guys, it's been about a month, thought i might give y'all an update on this old marlen. talked to jeff in the beginning, he advised me to join the forum and posted this cry for help. i was able to contact ricky davis who in turn led me to james morehead and richard burton(sorry i haven't contacted richard just yet). James and i have corresponded and met. he was able to clean up, restring and set up my e9 neck. a little tweaking, some mothers, and a fresh set of strings made a huge difference! still i have a few issues with parts missing, but not enough to keep me from learning a few fundamentals. ive concluded that learning the steel is somewhere between beating yourself up and dismantling a nuclear bomb. i've really enjoyed the marlen, it has great tone.
i also would like to thank randy tatman for providing me with a marlen volume pedal, it's working out great!
i'll try to get a few pictures posted for you who are inrested. in the mean time i'm gonna pick strings and steel some licks
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“TONESNOB†|
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 7 Apr 2013 9:13 am
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| ..and a good lesson from ben in foot-in-mouth back-pedaling. |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 8 Apr 2013 7:06 am
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Eddie, You have a very cool Marlen and yes, it has GREAT tone to the bone. It is up and running enough to get "hands on" and start your journey of learning the "musical rubics cube". It's a joy to help you get it up and running, and see your enthusiasm. Looking forward to you coming down again.
_________________
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net |
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Mule Ferguson
From:
N Wilkesboro NC,
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Posted 8 Apr 2013 12:09 pm
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I just became a proud owner. Marlin S10 White SN27379X. which should be a 1972. correct. Please enlighten me on the changer/pull.ETC
Mule 
_________________
Emmons La Grande D10, Zum Encore, Multicord,Marlen S10 1972, Nashville 112, Evans HVP #2, Peavey Profex ll, Martin, Merle Travis D28M Bigsby Neck.
D28 Henderson, Dobro and Tut Bro. Fender Tele, Stelling Stagehorn Banjo |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 8 Apr 2013 1:39 pm
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I agree somewhat with Ben's analysis. Though the pull/release systems may sound nice, many of the early Marlens were poorly built. If the guitar has a lot of wear, and if the crossrod bushings are loose, it can be a real bear to keep in tune, and cabinet drop may also be significant. Old, worn guitars can be fixed, but the work is expensive if you have someone else do it (usually hundreds of dollars). I'm in the camp that no matter how good a guitar sounds, or how good it looks, if it's unreliable and won't stay in tune, it's useless to me.
The later, all pull, instruments are far better guitars, and they are the only Marlens I'd ever recommend. |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 9 Apr 2013 5:33 am
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Donny, I agree to a point, All the "ifs" you speak of are true for ANY guitar--pull release as well as all pull. I've seen some all-pull guitars that rival Lego's in quality, for what it's worth. It's wise to look past the "name" and look at the guitar.
Good thing about Eddie's Marlen, after adding a couple knee levers, It just needs to be cleaned up and adjusted. No biggee. He made a great buy.
_________________
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net
Last edited by James Morehead on 9 Apr 2013 5:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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