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Topic: How Much Flex Between Necks on a T8 Stringmaster? |
Jason Goodell
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 7:00 am |
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I’ve recently acquired a 55’ T8 Stringmaster and I have a newb question. How much flex between the necks is considered normal? Picking the steel up from its case, the outer necks slouch noticeably when held by the middle neck. My understanding is that there are two rods with spacers that run horizontal through the necks and hold the necks together. Also, does anyone know, there spring washers as part of the rod assemblies? It’s winter and the internal humidity in my house averages about 40%, but soars to 60% or more in the summer with the AC running. I want to see how things change with the summer before I decide to do anything. I don’t want to snug them up only the have the rods strip out or split the wood. Thanks in advance for your responses.
_________________
Physicist, software engineer, hobbyist amplifier builder, purveyor of dad-jokes, and guitar player of many of its forms. Not necessarily in that order, and with no guarantee or warranty. |
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Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 7:53 am
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No springs or split washers, just a pair of spacers between each neck. You can see what they look like in this thread:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=353601&highlight=stringmaster+neck
You are correct. Behind the diamonds there are two threaded rods (1/4-20 if I remember correctly) with nuts on each end. At some point Fender started using a specialized allen head nut that is tapered like a wood screw. You may want to tighten a little on each end of the rod to avoid bottoming out that nut, if that's what yours has. Just tighten them up, a little at a time on each rod, till they're snug. I don't think there's much chance of splitting them unless you just go crazy. Stringmaster necks are tapered so you do need to go back and forth between the two instead of wailing down on one of them before moving to the next. |
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 9:56 am
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| Your question obviously comes from someone who is knowledgeable about the delicacies and temperamental nature of standard guitars. Non-pedal steel guitars (aka "steel guitars") like the Stringmaster, are blocks of wood with pickups and tuners screwed on, and are much less affected by little things like humidity. Tighten the nuts up nice and snug as Bill describes and you should be good to go. It'll probably take another 65 years of bouncing around to loosen them up again. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 10:22 am
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If you think a T8 Stringmaster flexes, you should see a quad Stringmaster! 
Erv |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 12:01 pm
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| Yes, remove the diamonds and tighten the nuts a bit. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 12:13 pm
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I did that.
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 22 Jan 2020 2:11 pm
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| Jason. I also just got a 1955 string master t-8, 26” scale. All necks are pretty solid. |
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Jason Goodell
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2020 6:17 pm
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Thank you for all of the responses and info, and I bet a quad does flex a lot. I'll be snugging up the necks, as soon as I figure out how to get those little copper screws out without stripping the heads.
_________________
Physicist, software engineer, hobbyist amplifier builder, purveyor of dad-jokes, and guitar player of many of its forms. Not necessarily in that order, and with no guarantee or warranty. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 27 Jan 2020 7:27 pm
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"little copper screws out without stripping the heads."
As my guitar said after cleaning and oiling the lollypop tuners on my stringmaster long scale T-8:
"The designed these things to never be repaired." |
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Jason Goodell
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2020 7:05 pm
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Haha, the screws are actually steel, but so rusted they look copper. I ended up using a variable speed battery drill with the torque all the way down. Found a Phillips head the fit perfectly with no wiggle, and slowly backed the screws out. Snugged the rods up and put everything back. No problems! 
_________________
Physicist, software engineer, hobbyist amplifier builder, purveyor of dad-jokes, and guitar player of many of its forms. Not necessarily in that order, and with no guarantee or warranty. |
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