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Topic: rickenbacher pedal steel |
Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2020 3:34 am |
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found this in the shop, been sitting upstairs for decades. my father took it in on a trade and just set it aside. funny thing is that most of the strings were still in tune.
do not know whether to sell as is or restore like i did the multi-kord.
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K Maul
From:
Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL
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Posted 6 Mar 2020 7:00 am
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From what I’ve heard and read, these are mechanically problematic. It would make a nice console non-pedal, though.
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KEVIN MAUL: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Donner, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, GFI, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing. |
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Erik Alderink
From:
Ann Arbor Michigan, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2020 7:38 am
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| There’s a mint looking one up for auction currently, you can find the listing in the for sale section. I’d watch to see what that goes for before you decide. |
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Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
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Posted 6 Mar 2020 9:43 am
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These steels are kinda neat. They incorporate the earliest version of the "virtual pivot" changer design used later on the Fender PS210, Excel and Anapegs and now on the new Sierras
All of these changers use this same basic concept, albeit quite differently in each case. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2020 10:54 am
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Roy,
It would make a great non-pedal console steel, I'd just let it go at that.
Turn it into something like this:
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Jon Zimmerman
From:
California, USA
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Posted 6 Mar 2020 11:16 am Ric PSG Evo.
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If you can get hold of a copy, Richard R Smith’s “The History of Rickenbacker Guitars†has photos of various trade shows in late 1950’s- early 1960’s..where development was ongoing. Pages: 61 (James Burton posing), 67 (trade show from ‘63), 78 (Brooks Twins),
and in the color plate pages- 108, 109..(trade shows). In the Ric book, most all the visible changers look entirely different from this particular one (Control knobs as well- 3 in a row out frt) Might it be a prototype? I’ve never seen one except for pictures in the Ric book.
To me, the Ric factory had capacity enough back then for producing a pedal actuated guitar, but the complexity of parts/machinery costs may have moved all the efforts into “ not profitable†to further develop. While Fender moved ahead with his production models using stamped sheet metal/wood parts made via templates, etc. His cable actuators were quite simple by comparison, and faster/easier to put into his line logistically. A genius of the era, IMHO. |
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Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 7 Mar 2020 5:48 am re: fender
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my father had many of the early fenders and that is actually what got him to build his own, said there must be a better way. this came about on live tv, one of the cables slipped the pulley and he reached under to put it back on and when he straightened up a button on his shirt caught a string, the foot pedal went to high volume and almost blew the top off the building.
without gene fields, leo would have been in trouble. gene was something else, just when you thought you saw it all, BAM, he would come out with something else. he also was a great player, he amazed me with his guitsteel. sad to say he has gone his way on like many of the great builders. his son-in-law carries on and he too is a great person. |
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David Weisenthal
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 7 Mar 2020 9:46 am
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| Fabulous old guitar. I vote for refurb.🸠|
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Mitchell Smithey
From:
Dallas, USA
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Posted 7 Mar 2020 8:19 pm
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| I have a double 8 Rick with a crossover mechanism here at the house. It has a lot of chrome and sounds great. Haven’t fiddled with the changer, it looks like a Harlan brothers design. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 7 Mar 2020 9:35 pm
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I had one for a while. It was very short, with legs splayed out so far that you needed a lot of floor space to set it up. It did work, though, and it was fun to play.
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 8 Mar 2020 2:42 am
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It looke just as beautiful as their standard 6 and 12 stringers.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2020 5:03 am large stance
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| now that you mentioned mr. bob it does take up a lot of room. i think i will measure the angle, bet it is more than the 10>12* that is pretty much standard. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 8 Mar 2020 7:16 am
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It didn't quite have the tone that my little Rickenbacker lap steel has. I think that strings through the body of the lap steel makes a big difference.
I like the hinged door hiding the changer. There was also a panel over the bottom, hiding the pulling mechanism. Classy design!
The pickup on Roy's is not an original Rickenbacker horseshoe. The pickup on mine was original, but it had a problem picking up the first string.  |
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Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2020 3:56 am pickup
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glad you caught that one mr. bob.
it probably did have a top piece for the pickup, might have to make one.
back then, that cover was very important. on the harlen i restored, without that piece, the sound was a wash out even with the pole pieces nearly touching the strings and it was the third string that was the worst. however, with the top piece and the spacer magnets, all of that was gone. the volume pot was a weird value and being the guitar was stored in a damp environment, changed to a 500 with the option to change value via piggy-back resistors, that old pickup still packs a punch. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2020 8:07 am
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It's not just a cover. The classic Rickenbacher pickup includes a magnet that wraps under the coil and over the strings. It's a heavy piece of metal, and it's what gives the guitars their unique, beautiful tone.
Most pickups wind a coil around a magnetic field. Rickenbacher put the coil inside the magnet.
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Mark McCornack
From:
California, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2020 7:24 pm
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Well, if I get to vote, I’d encourage you to restore it as best you can 
Maybe it’s just my nature, but I like tinkering with this kind of stuff, and this instrument is a rare bird to be sure (even if not perhaps the pinnacle of pedal steel mechanics). Even if it is ultimately a fail as a a pedal steel, you can always play it as a non-pedal console. 
I had a Bud Crossover model, and I didn’t hack that either. Same reason. It deserved to be kept in original condition and had its own unique set of charms.
That’s my two cents. |
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Jim Pitman
From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2020 5:43 am
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| Yes the pickup cover is important and so is the entire plate. They serve as the coil core increasing the inductance so the number of turns of wire can be reduced. Another thing that happens is the magnets can loose some strength over time. It's easy to re magnetize them if you have the equipment.\...but those legs...looks like a space ship from the War of the Worlds movie. |
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Rex Lindsey
From:
Ellisville, MS USA
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Posted 26 Mar 2020 2:52 pm Pedal Rick
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Do you still have the Pedal Rick
Please pm me or 601-498-9600 call or text.
To my count this is #3 - I have one and someone at Dallas had a D-8. So they made at least 3 lol |
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Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 28 Apr 2020 8:40 am still up in the air
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i listed it on craigslist and a few hits. it seems like the donor value is more than the whole, sorta like medicine, cure more patients.
i sure wish i could play one, yep, my fault!
i do like the old style of things and history, not like my father always improving things which is neither bad nor good. so i probably will restore at a latter date if no one wants it.
it will be a break even project for sure but since covid is around, a nice distraction. |
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Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 19 May 2020 12:35 pm rickenbacher sold
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26 year old from new orleans was tickled pink to get it. he plans on restoration and learning how to play. i will say this, if he learns to play well on an older instrument, look out on a new one.
if the changer does like the harlin multi-kord, will be a nice playing one. on the harlin, i have changed strings and not have to reset the changer, of couse using same gauges. |
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Dale Foreman
From:
Crowley Louisiana, USA
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Posted 19 May 2020 5:22 pm Rickenbacker
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Hey man, is this Pee Wee Whitewing’s first steel Andie was talking to you about? Give me call at 337-517-1401
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Rittenberry Prestige(2) |
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Roy Thomas
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 26 May 2020 6:28 pm rickenbacker
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no this is not the guitar in question.
it was a steel body rick which i sent to her today.
i am the older son, not the REAL roy p. thomas, i am the "r" thomas. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 27 May 2020 7:50 am
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In a recent online conversation with an expert, I learned that Rickenbacker did indeed make some steel guitars without horseshoe pickups. They had a pickup cover instead of the heavy horseshoe magnet.
So... that pickup might be original equipment. 
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