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Topic: Bridge Variations in Steel Guitars |
Brian Christiano
From:
Columbia, South Carolina, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2021 8:43 am |
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I am not a professional musician as many are, have played for years for pleasure, sometimes playing in a weekend band on guitar or dobro. I have only been learning the steel for the last few years. I am a mechanical engineer and play music as a hobby and social outlet, I am interested in the technical side of my Emmons LeGrande.
It is serial #310L and from what I have gathered it is a Short Head Stock, which is significant, but not sure why that is significant.
Attached are two pictures of my bridge and pedal tuning arrangement.
1. What is the technical term(s) for this mechanical assembly? Is it a bridge as on a guitar? I have heard the term Changer used.
2. Are earlier Emmons, pre-LeGrande, the same mechanism? I know that my guitar is a Pull-Pull and earlier are Push-Pull, but how do they differ? How about LeGrande II and III?
3. How are Sho-Bud, Zum, and Mullen guitars different in this mechanism?
4. Lastly, Mike Sweeney had an ongoing discussion about pickups on his FB tutorial site which I follow and try to learn from, it is extremely valuable to me... what kind of pickups are these on my LaGrande?
I know the best steel minds are on this site so I look forward to your answers and thank you for your input. Love my Emmons, aka "Emmy"
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Brian A. Christiano, MSME, P.E.
1992 Emmons Lashley LeGrande D-10, 1971 Martin D-28, 1959 Gretsch Country Club, 1964 Fender Band-Master, Peavey Nashville 400, Peavey Classic 30, Harlow reso
Coordinator for the South Carolina Steel Guitar Convention held in West Columbia, SC. May/Nov each year. Held at Bill's Music Shop and Pickin' Parlor. |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 14 Mar 2021 9:09 am
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1.) It is called a changer because the pitches can be changed, and there is technically no "bridge" in effect each string has it's own bridge (the rounded surface where the string rests)
I will leave it to the experts on the forum to answer all the rest of your questions. I just have one pedal steel so I can't compare.
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYG9cvwCPKuXpGofziPNieA/feed?activity_view=3 |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 14 Mar 2021 10:13 am
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| Quote: |
1. What is the technical term(s) for this mechanical assembly? Is it a bridge as on a guitar? I have heard the term Changer used.
2. Are earlier Emmons, pre-LeGrande, the same mechanism? I know that my guitar is a Pull-Pull and earlier are Push-Pull, but how do they differ? How about LeGrande II and III?
3. How are Sho-Bud, Zum, and Mullen guitars different in this mechanism?
4. Lastly, Mike Sweeney had an ongoing discussion about pickups on his FB tutorial site which I follow and try to learn from, it is extremely valuable to me... what kind of pickups are these on my LaGrande? |
1. The correct term is changer.
2. Your guitar is definitely an all-pull guitar, not a push-pull, which is a very different mechanism. I can't see the keyhead, but if you say it's a Short KeyHead (SKH for short), then it's the first iteration of the Emmons LeGrande, and that fits with the serial number you show. Later versions of the LeGrande had a somewhat different changer mechanism, and there eventually were some differences in the pulling train also. There are numerous threads which detail the differences between the various versions of the LeGrande - SKH, Long Keyhead Legrande, Legrande II, and Legrande III, but they are all all-pull guitars.
3. Again, there are numerous threads on this forum concerning changers. Sho Bud had many different changers over the years. One could write a book about all the various things Sho Bud did. Modern (post-1980 or so) Zum, Mullen, Franklin, and most modern professional-grade guitars, are all-pull changers. There are differences, and again, one would probably have to do a fair amount of research and could write a book on all the various details.
4. Your pickups are Lawrence 705 pickups with black surrounds, which means they were probably made by the guy who currently owns the Lawrence trademark, but not Bill Lawrence. Most if not all earlier Bill Lawrence built 705s have chrome surrounds, although I've heard reports of some with black surrounds. But I've never seen one. These are both humbucking, and a lot of players like them, including me.
Definitely - pay attention to Mike. He knows his business. |
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