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Topic: Fender 400 Roller Nut and Bridge - Jim Palenscar |
Roger Guyett
From:
San Francisco, Ca.
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 3:14 pm |
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Hi fellow Fender long scale players....I just wanted to show off Jim Palenscar's (who runs Steel Guitars of North Country) nice work on my beloved Fender 400 steel. He manufactured a roller nut and bridge for the guitar.
It's a long scale guitar and although I tune it to D9 to keep the string tension down a bit, it's still breaking strings more frequently than I liked so I asked Jim to build a roller nut and roller bridge. Besides how well the parts are machined the great part about it is, that the parts just swap in with no change to the guitar.
Thank you Jim !
Now....has changing the bridge/nut changed the sound ?? Hmmm....I couldn't tell the difference but haven't played/studied it enough !
Last edited by Roger Guyett on 26 Jun 2017 9:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 3:59 pm
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The Fender instructions suggest that you use the second tuner post for the first string to relieve the angle of the break at the nut. You may want to try that and go back to E9.
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Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars. |
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Roger Guyett
From:
San Francisco, Ca.
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 4:33 pm
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Hi Chris -
Thank you...I will try that.
Roger |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 4:37 pm
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Roger, is that the naked lady ZB?
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Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars. |
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Benjamin Franz
From:
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 4:38 pm
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| Jim Palenscar, will these be available to others? If so, I would buy them in a heartbeat! |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 5:59 pm
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really nice work there!
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Roger Guyett
From:
San Francisco, Ca.
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 6:12 pm
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| Chris Lucker wrote: |
| Roger, is that the naked lady ZB? |
Yes Sir ! And she hasn't aged a day |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 8:38 pm
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Those look great! Do the strings sit higher than they did with with the solid bridge or is it about the same?
Thanks
Dave
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Roger Guyett
From:
San Francisco, Ca.
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 10:10 pm
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| Dave Zirbel wrote: |
Those look great! Do the strings sit higher than they did with with the solid bridge or is it about the same?
Thanks
Dave |
Hi Dave -
To me, it seems like Jim made them so the strings end up back at same height - I believe that's what he told me as well- anyway, extremely close if not exact...bridge cover fits perfectly as well
Roger |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 26 Jun 2017 11:11 pm
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| Jim Palenscar does outstanding steel guitar work. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 8:38 am
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It looks like Jim reverted back to Shot Jackson's idea of using string ends for the rollers. Whatever works!  |
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 4:08 pm
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| Due to the height limitations of the string distance over the pickup and wanting to preserve the integrity of the bridge by not taking too much out and having it retrofit as well the diameter of the roller was an issue. I would have like to have been able to utilize a larger roller and smaller axle for mechanical advantages but it just wasn't in the cards. |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 27 Jun 2017 4:10 pm
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| Nice work Jim, Beautiful parts! |
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Jon Zimmerman
From:
California, USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2017 10:02 am Slim Jim
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| With such a narrow "wiggle room" space to upgrade, Jim's solution is a most elegant, simple way to solve the binding/slipping string-angle tangle inherent in a design as old as the name FENDER. Leo would be quite proud, IMHO. |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2017 11:24 am
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Wow! That is fantastic work. Nice upgrade.
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Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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Bill Ford
From:
Graniteville SC Aiken
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Posted 5 Jul 2017 3:03 pm
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| Erv Niehaus wrote: |
| It looks like Jim reverted back to Shot Jackson's idea of using string ends for the rollers. Whatever works! |
Also looks like he machined the original bridges to accept the rollers. Fine looking machine work too..
Roger, On the string that breaks(usually G#) try bending the ring the string ball hook onto so the string ball sits a little higher with less angle over the bridge. I did this on a 400 that I had, helped tremendously..BF
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Bill Ford S12 CLR, S12 Lamar keyless, Misc amps&toys Sharp Covers
Steeling for Jesus now!!! |
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Chris Byars
From:
Denver, CO
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Posted 12 Aug 2017 12:05 pm
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| Wish i could get a roller and a pedal for the outside neck on my custom T8. Just for the Isaacs pull. I play standing up too, so... yeah. I wish I had machinist skills. |
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2017 4:19 pm
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| Actually I just used the same sizes of materials and machined the ends to make them look like the originals so that the originals were intact should the end user wish to put it back. |
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