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Topic: Changer Finger Material |
Larry Phleger
From:
DuBois, PA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 6:34 am |
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| I am planning on building a pedal steel. I have built a number of non-pedal steels and have made the bridges and nuts form aluminum. I have been well satisfied with the tone of these instruments. I was wondering if anyone has used aluminum to make changer fingers. My main concern is how well aluminum will hold up. Will the strings tend to wear groves in the fingers as they move? Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. |
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Glenn Demichele
From:
(20mi N of) Chicago Illinois, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 6:55 am
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There's a discussion here about grooves. My Franklin has aluminum fingers and I developed a zing problem because of grooves. Rather than sand them down (eek), I opted for a reversible/renewable fix using thin steel tape as a veneer over the existing finger and groove. Looks and works great.
See my pics at the end of this thread. https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=316291&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25
_________________
Franklin D10 8&5, Excel D10 8&5. Both amazing guitars! Homemade buffer/overdrive with adjustable 700Hz "Fender" scoop., Moyo pedal, GT-001 effects, 2x TDA7294 80W class AB amps, or 2x BAM200 for stereo. TT12 and BW1501 each in its own closed back wedge. Also NV400 etc. etc... |
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Dick Sexton
From:
Greenville, Ohio
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 7:12 am Aluminum?
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Larry, most modern pedal steels use aluminum in their changer fingers. In my experience, some hold up better then others as far as grooving. There are different grades or compositions of aluminum, from pretty soft to pretty hard.
I suspect there is probably a trade off between Hardness and Tonal Qualities.
Composition/Workable/Weldable
Alloy 2024/Good/Poor
Alloy 3003/Excellent/Excellent
Alloy 5052/Good/Good
Alloy 6061/Good/Good
And many more... https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/what-aluminum-grade-should-i-use/
I think a changer finger with a replaceable cap would be interesting. And may have already been done.
Good luck with your build. Be sure to post pics.  |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 9:04 am
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ZB had a cap on the top of their changer fingers, it was made of a very hard material.
That could be one of the reasons for the great tone. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 12:10 pm
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Bell Bronze?
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 12:13 pm
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| No, steel. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 1:47 pm
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Bell Bronze is considered to be the most musical metal and is much harder tghan Aluminum. I'd like to hear a guitar made with BB changer fingers.
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps |
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Jim Bob Sedgwick
From:
Clinton, Missouri USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2018 8:13 pm
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| Williams uses zinc plated steel fingers. Grooving problem solved. |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 28 Feb 2018 6:38 am
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| Zinc plating is pretty soft. |
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Sonny Jenkins
From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
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Posted 28 Feb 2018 7:00 am
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| Zinc = galvanized??? |
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Gary Cosden
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2018 7:06 am
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BenRom has built some with brass fingers I believe. There are videos if you want to search.
http://benrom.com/ |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2018 8:08 am
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I owned a couple of Williams guitars and the fingers sure weren't galvanized.  |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 28 Feb 2018 8:29 am
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Zinc plating is done by electroplating and galvanizing is a process where the part is dipped in a solution where the galvanizing takes place. Zinc plating is much thinner and not as soft.
_________________
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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Tony Smart
From:
Harlow. Essex. England
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Posted 28 Feb 2018 2:04 pm
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| Your best bet for hard aluminium (English spelling) would be 7075 or even 2024 grades. |
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Jack Wilson
From:
Marshfield, MO
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Posted 5 Mar 2018 5:29 pm fingers
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| GFI uses stainless steel |
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manny escobar
From:
portsmouth,r.i. usa
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Posted 6 Mar 2018 7:27 am
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| When I completed my first home built pedal steel in 1983 I machined the fingers out of aluminum. I built the second one in 1990 using stainless steel for the fingers. I prefer the tone of the 2nd guitar, but I`m not sure it`s because of the s.s. fingers. Guitar #1 is set up at home for practice. I have not had a problem with grooves on the softer fingers. |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2018 7:55 am
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| Promats use stainless steel fingers and I contribute their nice tone partially to this. They also use stainless steel nut rollers which contribute as well. |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Posted 11 Mar 2018 11:31 am
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Ive had good luck with my brass fingers. Hard enough to withstand grooving, and to my ear, as well as experts' ears, have a great tone
_________________
BenRom Pedal Steel Guitars
https://www.facebook.com/groups/212050572323614/ |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 11 Mar 2018 7:48 pm
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| If you go with aluminum pay attention to the T number. Like 6061 T-6. The T number is actually how it was artificially aged, but it's easier to think of it as the hardness number. T-0 is soft and easily bent. 2024 has a lot of zinc in the alloy and is much stronger than 6061, but I don't think zinc is very "musical", and 7075 can be as strong as steel. I have a bass steel guitar machined out of 7075 T-8 aerospace which was not available to civilians. I got it from Lockheed and it's very impressive sounding instrument. |
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Chance Wilson
From:
California, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2018 6:40 am aluminum
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| I love cast aluminum over a very hard axle. The axle diameter makes a big difference too. |
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Tony Smart
From:
Harlow. Essex. England
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Posted 12 Mar 2018 12:41 pm
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I replaced my 6061 fingers with 7075 T-6.
Much better at resisting grooving and in my opinion no great difference in tone. |
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Jerry Dragon
From:
Gate City Va.
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Posted 12 Mar 2018 5:10 pm
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| Ross Shafer wrote: |
| Zinc plating is pretty soft. |
the zinc plating we use on our steel parts are more for resisting corrosion than for hardness needs. |
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