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Topic: Fults Proto-1 Steel Guitar... On Debut... Looking 4 Feedback |
Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 3:35 am
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Hello All... Newbie here, Brad Fults
I am the son of Bob Fults who just finished up his VERY unique, 1 of a kind Steel Guitar.
Dad was 2 years in designing and building this Ground Breaking Steel....
[Oh, And Dad does not do the forum/internet thing, so that's where I am stepping in]
WE ARE ON HERE LOOKING FOR OPEN FEEDBACK AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
Below is a general description and please feel free to post any questions you may have for my Dad and we will answer to the best of our ability...
[I could not get pics to upload... I will be posting on down here I hope... newbie]
This is the FULTS PROTO-1
All Custom Made with top cabinet Tuner Knobs.
YES, all tuning is now done on top deck.
NO MORE SIDE TUNING.
TUNED W/EASE IN SPLIT SECONDS NOW.
Plus these chrome tuner knobs shift side-to-side when each lever/foot/knee is pulled/pushed... A real eye catcher.
This is just one-of-many new Mind Blowing improvements that's been incorporated into this Awesome Instrument for the World of Steel Guitars to view...
The Distinct improvement's are...
1- Top Deck Tuning, Very ergonomic for Split Second Tuning... No more long drawn out process of feeling like your playing a game of twister, LOL...
2- Sustain that goes for ever and a day...
3- Highs and Lows so clear and bright like no other....
4- Cabinet Drop Eliminated... The last testing showed 1/2 cent drop...
*PS...note that the neck, head, pickup and legs are factory Sho Bud, rest is all custom designed and produced by Bob Fults...
The leader in 'Thinking outside the Box'... you should see his Pedal Brass Banjo... 1 of a kind and way outside the box.
Produced with the HIGHEST QUALITY MATERIALS OUT THERE, TOP TO BOTTOM. DAD NEVER GOES FRUGAL... NEVER.
And I want to send out a BIG THANK YOU out to Dyke Corson, Dave Flanagan and of course Johnny Cox for their participation...
Also check out announcement forum to see Tobin Hess and Jacob King playing her at the Southern Illinois Steel Guitar Convention.
ANY QUESTIONS or FEEDBACK, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST.
[better quality pics will be coming soon]
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, BRAD FULTS [SOME LIVE SHOT VIDEOS OF THE FULTS PROTO-1 ARE ON MY FACEBOOK]
Last edited by Brad Fults on 23 May 2018 5:41 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 3:39 am
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![](https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix1712/17833_IMG_7974_1.jpg) |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 3:41 am
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![](https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix1712/17833_IMG_7979_1.jpg) |
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Rick Rian
From: Rochester, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 4:42 am
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That looks very interesting! ![Whoa!](images/smiles/icon_omg.gif) |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 5:44 am Dads Pedal Brass Banjo... Need Someone to cut up on her!...
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![](https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix1712/17833_IMG_0628_1.jpg) |
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Tom Sosbe
From: Rushville,In
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 6:13 am
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I played this guitar in Mt. Vernon great guitar. well built and great design. |
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Keith Hilton
From: 248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 6:45 am
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A+ for originality! |
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DG Whitley
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 8:32 am
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A few questions if I may:
1. I am assuming the knobs at the front of the guitar are for tuning pedals, knees, splits?
2. Are you presenting this as the prototype for a full production guitar at a later date?
3. Could you provide a few shots of the underside?
4. If you are planning production, any guidance on pricing?
Very interesting guitar indeed. Best wishes. |
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Charley Bond
From: Inola, OK, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 11:01 am Singer on the Fults Steel Guitar FB page
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The singer is GREAT, wish I knew who he is.... The guitar sounds GREAT too, maybe better than the singer & that would be hard to do.... _________________ Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 2:32 pm
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hi dg, and happy to answer q;s here in a bit bud... just got back in and just headin out to till a garden while the sun is still in the sky... i'll get on here in a few hour and fill in the blanks buddy.... and if you want to read some above mean while, it'll fill in a answer or two there. my pleasure dg and talk to you this evening, brad |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 6:30 pm
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hey dg... heres some answers for yah bud...
1= the tuning knobs up top take the place of all the side tuning/stops... no more side tuning... all done now as easy as can be... plus each pivots side to side about 1/4inch when its lever/note is called for. bright eye catching action...
2= this is the prototype and we are just getting our feet wet in this... fresh out of the shop... that's our goal now to see what kind of feedback we get for a while and go from there... we got nothing but A+ down south and dad was called genius quite a few time by some pretty smart fellas that's been in the business for many, many years... and this is the amazing part, dads just starting to learn how to play one... just stating to take lessons... any way... we are going to show it a while and hopefully take her down to Nashville some time soon and get her up in the lights some how... and she get up there, and artists see and hear the difference... it will blow up I'm sure... so production may come after that bud... dads getting up in age, and he would probably sub out, but would have all control of production and quality control for sure.
3= dads has photos of every inch of this girl, and even has every piece/part with its own pic and original hand drawing... its recorded and even dated ... dad is very meticulous with what ever he deals with... I will see what he wants to picture under her and will go from there.
4= the question of the day... well, we are just starting the gears turning on this dg.... but in a nut shell w//price/cost would be in the 6-7k range... hopefully the lower side of that... and please remember, this was designed and built by a 1950's navy machinist who then went to the UofI till he retired.. then he made 1/2 of his house into a machine shop for himself... to 'tinker' with this kind of stuff... and he takes no short cuts... this instrument will outlast life on this earth... and the precession, tone and smoothness is worth a small chunk of gold to most...but if you knew all that this consists of and the quality of tone and feel she has... nothing comes close to her... and add in the elimination of cabinet drop is just the icing on the cake. well feel free with any other q;s dg and hope to see you around some where real soon. brad |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2018 6:47 pm Re: Singer on the Fults Steel Guitar FB page
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Charley Bond wrote: |
The singer is GREAT, wish I knew who he is.... The guitar sounds GREAT too, maybe better than the singer & that would be hard to do.... |
hi Charlie... the answer on the singer...
if your talkin the train hobo song at top of my f.b. page is my cousin, kevin sisney, he writes and records, plays all in what he does... very talented, very unique...
now if your talkin the fiddle player on down my page, the was dennis stroughmatt .. he has a set of lungs and can play that fiddle too. he was at the sisgc last weekend too... but let me know who you was referring to Charlie and fil free w/any other questions you may have bud, brad |
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Jon Zimmerman
From: California, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2018 6:07 pm Picture Perfect Inovator
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From what can be seen of the " Banjo Bench" mechanics, your dad is a meticulous master-grade machinist. I was curious if the bridge pivots, with the (what looks like..) string ball-end stirrups, that are made of a bronze-type of alloy metal? Or a plated surface? I only have my IPhone to view the pics. ( look non-Sho Bud)
Won't ask you to reveal exactly how the Grover- type tuners "shift" to accomplish their task.. I would think that part is still proprietary info, and as such, should have some patents pending ? Maybe not. But do make sure all those 'ducks' are in a row for the sake of 'true inovation'. Copy-cats lurk endlessly.
All the best.. Jon Z. |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2018 9:57 pm Re: Picture Perfect Inovator
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Jon Zimmerman wrote: |
From what can be seen of the " Banjo Bench" mechanics, your dad is a meticulous master-grade machinist. I was curious if the bridge pivots, with the (what looks like..) string ball-end stirrups, that are made of a bronze-type of alloy metal? Or a plated surface? I only have my IPhone to view the pics. ( look non-Sho Bud)
Won't ask you to reveal exactly how the Grover- type tuners "shift" to accomplish their task.. I would think that part is still proprietary info, and as such, should have some patents pending ? Maybe not. But do make sure all those 'ducks' are in a row for the sake of 'true inovation'. Copy-cats lurk endlessly.
All the best.. Jon Z. |
hi jon, yes dads been a machinist in navy in the 50's, from there he was machinist at local machine shop for short period and got on the uofi university in a lab. as the machinist till he retired.. he is very meticulous in anything he does. and I have some video of the steel in action w/tobin hess and jacob king both playing her.. some video quality focusing issues in parts, but audio is good... I will be posting them on my facebook @ brad fults ... I am a knife maker, as hobby, you will see on there as well. and as far as the mechanics we will be throwing that around some day... and I'm sure the part on the pedal brass banjo is plated nickel... i'll check w/dad on that and confirm... but tune into my facebook and see videos. great questions jon, ty... brad fults.. oh, and thank you for the heads up on copycats... all good... pending mode, plus they would never match dads quality, nor his brain power that designed and mastered these things... he will always be the innovator and the man that thought outside the box to master the awesome innovations in this girl... |
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Jon Zimmerman
From: California, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2018 10:10 pm
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Thank you, Brad. I will follow along with great interest on developments. Sorry to mis-spell
"innovator" etc. Your dads talent and skills are reaching far and wide . Steady on and safety first! ![Cool](images/smiles/icon_cool.gif) |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2018 10:18 pm
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Jon Zimmerman wrote: |
Thank you, Brad. I will follow along with great interest on developments. Sorry to mis-spell
"innovator" etc. Your dads talent and skills are reaching far and wide . Steady on and safety first! ![Cool](images/smiles/icon_cool.gif) |
thank you sir for the input and great questions... and heck no, don't apologize for mis-spelling... you will c I do it all the time.. even with spell chek...oops. lol. thanx again jon and I will be talk'n with u soon. brad |
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Tim Russell
From: Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 29 Apr 2018 2:16 am
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Can you post pics of the underside? _________________ Sierra Crown D-10 |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 29 Apr 2018 4:59 am
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Tim Russell wrote: |
Can you post pics of the underside? |
hi tim... right now we don't know what we are going to do with her in future, we are just here to get some input on her in general... if dad decides to market it, we'll have pics then and more explanation on her then too... thank you tim and hope y'all understand, and I will dbl check w/dad today and make sure we are still on that page here... and he might share some pics under her also, ty tim... brad |
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Johnie King
From: Tennessee, USA
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Posted 30 Apr 2018 5:43 pm
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. These Young men played it beautifully sounded superb |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 1 May 2018 3:48 am
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well thank you johnie for your input on the sound quality, the pic's you posted yours? I take it you was there at convention and heard it in person? ...and yes tobin and Jacob are up coming in this world of steels.... looks like you have made a few lap steels? kinda checked out your facebook and they look very nice. well done... thank you again johnie and have a great day bud, brad fults |
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Russ Wever
From: Kansas City
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Posted 1 May 2018 4:15 pm
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What is the reason that the tuners for
the mechanism are on top of the guitar?
Does the nature of whatever the
mechanical system is demand it?
Is it because the player doesn't
want to or cannot slightly lean
over to tune it at the endplate?
Curious,
~Rw _________________ www.russface
www.russguru |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 2 May 2018 3:57 am
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Russ Wever wrote: |
What is the reason that the tuners for
the mechanism are on top of the guitar?
Does the nature of whatever the
mechanical system is demand it?
Is it because the player doesn't
want to or cannot slightly lean
over to tune it at the endplate?
Curious,
~Rw |
hi Russ, yes the tuner knobs are for tuning and they also have side-to-side action as played... we feel it is a lot easier-handier than using a tool in the side plate and hitting the right one ea. time...and leaning over ea. time you move to next one to tune...plus no tool needed. tune just like a guitar... these are right there and tuned in a fraction of the time and w/the ease of just sitting there.. plus easy to correct tune while jamming. these tuners are just a part of the upgrades that goes into this steel... theres a few things that have changed to come together to make this steel stand out from all others... bottom line to it all, is tone quality, instrument quality, playing quality and ergonomics in tuning... feel free w/any other q.s Russ and have a good day, Brad Fults |
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Johnie King
From: Tennessee, USA
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Posted 9 May 2018 2:03 pm
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Like to get a peek underneath befor to Long . Got to be some innovative things under the hood. |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 10 May 2018 5:53 pm
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Johnie King wrote: |
Like to get a peek underneath befor to Long . Got to be some innovative things under the hood. |
hi johnie... I'm gonna talk with dad again and see what he will let me post ... he's just kinda swaying from one to another on a few of the pending features "under her hood"... I like that one johnie, lol... but anyway, ill be bugging him heavy and I will be posting more pics in the days ahead... may have the under the hood pics... thanx for the tap on the shoulder johnie and see what we can do bud, brad fults |
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Brad Fults
From: Illinois, USA
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Posted 23 May 2018 7:11 pm Here's A Few Under Side Pics Dad Let Me Put On...
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Feel free with any questions you may have... this is getting some unbelievable praise on this side... it just keeps on getting stronger in the production possibilities... Dad is really feeling the kind words .. and that's boosting this to new levels and just wanted to thank you all as well for the input... hoping to start production as all things fall into place with it and Dad.
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