New Forum Member

Mark Wybierala · From: New Jersey, USA

This is my first post in your forum...
Hello. I am a professional luthier and have been so for the last fifteen years. I make a living building and repairing stringed instrument. I am also the service manager of a small privately owned music store in central NJ. Maybe I've been lucky, but in all of this time, I've never had a client bring me a pedal steel. But I have one now that I need to repair and restore. I'm taking on a job that I do not have the knowledge to pull off.

I've been totally honest with the client about my lack of knowledge. I'm doing this job mainly for the opportunity to learn about this really cool device.

I understand what's going on when one of these things are working properly but I'm sure that there are a lot of playing techniques and nuances to the mechanics that escape me. You gotta start somewhere. I'd actually like to build a few of these at some point. If there are patient people here in this forum, I'll do my best to be a contributing member in trade for some knowledge.

What I have is a bit of a dinosaur. Its a 1963 PedalMaster twin 10-string. I'm going to try to upload/attach a photo I found on the internet of what I believe is the same model. Mine has be used, abused, neglected and probably assembled incorrectly. I gotta say that if I were to build a device like this, I would have done a few things quite differently but that's the builder in me an irrelevant.

Please forgive my lack of nomenclature

The number one problem I have at the moment is that with quite a bit of internet searching, I haven't found a tuning chart that will coincide with the way the mechanism is set up. I've been looking at many C6/E9 charts, and trying to match the pedal/control actions with what is available for controls on the underside. I'm only looking at the underside of the unit. There are a total of eight available controls. I haven't even tried to assemble the support legs or the pedals. It would be a waste of time at this point. I am only looking at the underside of the main assembly and what are obviously the levers that eventually go to the pedals or knee levers (I don't believe that there are any knee controls). For example, there is a control lever that is set up to make two strings go sharp while one string goes flat. I couldn't find a tuning chart that employs this strategy.

I suspect that this instrument has been assembled by someone as ignorant as me - or maybe more ignorant -- dunno. I understand that there are limitless options and players who employ their own unique tuning and control strategies. They way things are now is that the adjustments and arrangement of controls yields an unplayable device.

What I'll do in the next few days is map out the existing controls and post them as a grid. Maybe the control strategy might be familiar to someone here. Without a tuning chart, I'm dead in the water and cannot move on to performing repairs and adjustments.

Any help is appreciated

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

See if you can get more pictures. Good quality shots of the top, front and especially the undercarriage would help us to identify what you have. A real close and good picture of the bottom of the changer (the bridge where the strings attach) would possibly help someone figure out what changes you have on the guitar.
_________________
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 55 years and still counting.

Stephen R. Feldman · From: Takoma Park, MD

Hello,

what town are you in in
N.J.?

Do you repair broken Gibson
necks?

Mark Wybierala · From: New Jersey, USA

Richard, Sure, I'll take some photos and provide a lot more info.

Stephen, I'm in Hamilton on Quakerbridge Rd. The business has been in Hamilton for many years and to avoid putting in a plug for it on a forum that I've just joined (probably against the forum rules), I'll just say that most players in the area are keenly aware of who we are. I've done quite a few broken headstock repairs. As long as there hasn't been a previous attempt at repair, I've had a 100% success rate. If someone else has tried and failed, its not something that I'll take on because earlier applications of glue prevent a joint from going together properly and the only real solution is to send the guitar back to Gibson which can be worth it on some guitars. Most broken headstocks can be repaired quite well. Necks that are fractured near the neck/body joint or somehow mid-way are too compromised to be repaired unless its only a separation of the fretboard. You can call us anytime and just ask for Mark. It doesn't cost a dime for you to bring in the guitar for an opinion and available options.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

First, a bit of googling says his place is The Music Box.
A bit of googling should get you in touch with him (my copy and paste is acting up right now).

Second, Mark: Up at the top in the "links" section is a link marked "copedents", that's steel guitar for "tunings and setups."
A pull-release changer (what you have: a solid finger that gets pulled to make raises, and released to make lowers) is a primitive system, but with just a bit of Gyro Gearloose/Magyver can do everything a modern guitar can. The plus side is that pull-release has, generally, AWESOME tone.
See the thread just a bit down called "Not a restoration" for some of what one guy has done.
One neck (usually the front neck, farthest from the player) is typically tuned to E9th (yes, the third is the highest)
F#
D#
G#
E
B
G#
F#
E
D
B

I'd start by taking LOTS of pictures of the underside, then remove all the metal and do the stuff to the cabinet (the cosmetics) and then clean every bit of metal before putting the fingers and the rest of the bridge back together.
You're not ready to THINK about how to hook up the pedals and knees.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Mark Wybierala · From: New Jersey, USA

Hey, this post is going in a great direction. Thank you Lane for the nomenclatures. In a few years I'll be able to speak the lingo as good as anybody. I don't have any Gyro Gearloose Magi-call-it but I have a gallon of naptha, some lithium grease, the web address for McMasterCarr, and some good intentions.

I need to pull the leg fittings and get them to a good welder because they are cracked. I can photograph, lable and draw pictures before I take it apart just like I did to replace the head gasket on my Geo Tracker -- there are a few more parts to this pedal steel though. Awesome!

Craig Baker · From: Eatonton, Georgia, USA - R.I.P.

Hi Mark,
Welcome aboard. Can't count how many gigs I played around Trenton years ago.

Mr. Gray used the term "copedent". That was coined by Tom Bradshaw out in CA. Tom is well-loved and one of the "Godfathers" of the steel guitar community. The word comes from ChOrd PEDal arrangemENT.

Enjoy the forum Mark, you've found am excellent place to make lasting friendships.

Warmest wishes for the Christmas season
Craig Baker 706-485-8792

cmbakerelectronics@gmail.com

C.M. Baker Electronics
P.O. Box 3965
Eatonton, GA 31024

Ben Lawson · From: Brooksville Florida

Mark I'm in Hillsborough NJ about 10 miles north of Princeton. I don't do any major repair work on my own steels but some of the best steel techs are on this forum. I most often count on John Widgren up in Ct.
Mike Cass is my other go to guy in Nashville. If you're not at all familiar with the operation of a pedal steel its probably not a good idea to jump in without help.
I would like to come down and see what you have some time.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Ben, I suspect if he did his own head gasket, he has both the attention to detail and the supply of swear words to tackle a steel.
Mark, as long as it has the parts it needs, it shouldn't be too bad, just focus on one string at a time: it's just simple levers, rods and collars and a few springs.
If you just look at one at a time, it makes more sense.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Max Bernstein · From: California, USA

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Also, if it's a D-10, P5 does that on the C6th: 10 up a whole to D, 9 up a half to F# and 5 down a half to F#.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Mark Wybierala · From: New Jersey, USA

I didn't say that the car was running again...

But it will be. Hmmm...

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