Mystery Parts?

Steve Goodson · From: South Carolina, USA

Can anyone tell me what the parts are and what they go on? I got them with a steel I bought.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Look like bell cranks, rod pullers to me. Big hole for cross shaft, little holes for pull rods.

David Ball · From: North Carolina High Country

Those screws have to be there to tune something...

Dave

Larry Jamieson · From: Walton, NY USA

Those are, um... Dog heads. I'm not sure what their use is.

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Fred · From: Amesbury, MA

My Carter doesnâ€™t have them and the dog bones are in good shape soâ€¦

Oliver Samland · From: Hamburg, Germany

Might those be a changer fingers for a pull-release system of some sort? Just guessing.
They don't look like bell cranks to me, there ain't no screws to clamp them onto a cross shaft. They seem to be designed to move freely on a round axle.
Ollie

Matthew Walton · From: Fort Worth, Texas

I suspect knee lever brackets maybe, since there's no way for those holes to clamp down on a shaft as Oliver pointed out.
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Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Yeah, point taken. I know not.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

With no picture to indicate scale and no pictures of the undercarriage of the guitar, it's just a guessing game.

Tucker Jackson · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Are there any tell-tale string grooves along the top of those near the large hole?

I think they are changer fingers for a very basic 6-string pull-release changer, and homemade; note how the small holes are not spaced uniformly.

The strings might thread through the higher of the two (or three) holes and run up the back of the long side and over the top. Meaning the string would route just over the top of those screws. The other small holes in the finger are for pull rods.

At rest, the top of that finger arm would not be parallel to the ground. It would need to be pointing a little bit downward (in the direction of the key head end of the guitar) to get those screws low enough to be out of the way of the strings running just over them, especially when engaging the raise. You can do this on a pull-release changer because there is no fixed stop-plate disallowing that kind of overly-rotated finger-position.

On a pull-release, a finger is really simple since it can only be set up to do a raise or a lower -- but not both. So it doesn't need the scissor thing you have on a more modern all-pull guitar. All you need in the design is an L-shaped hunk of metal for a finger and an adjustable screw that somehow hits a stop. Often, the screws are not ON the finger itself, as is the case here. But this works too. And to do a lower, you need a strong spring involved in the pull train.

For a string that raises, those screws would provide the at-rest stop against a strip of metal that ran across the top deck between the changer and pickup (this, rather than the common pull-release method of putting screws on the back of the changer housing, next to the longer side of the finger).

When stepping on a pedal, those screws would lift up off of the stop plate. When you let off the pedal, natural string tension would pull the finger back until those screws hit the plate, landing you back home on the starting pitch.

For a string that you set up to do a lower, it would operate in reverse; the finger starts out rotated with the screw already lifted off of the stop plate when tuned to the higher open-note; unlike on a raise, the open-note of a finger that lowers is held in place by a strong spring.

Hitting the knee lever releases tension on that spring and natural string tension takes over makes the finger move to lower the pitch. It moves until the screw hits the stop plate to end the lower. When you let go of the knee lever, the spring kicks back in and pulls the pitch back up to the higher open-note (and those screws will be lifted back up to be hovering over the plate).

If this theory on these mystery parts is true, it would not be a great design for a pull-release changer. Those tuning screws would be directly under the string making them hard to adjust.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

They're obviously home-made parts, as no two are exactly alike and they're also pretty crude. Since there are no setscrew holes at the big holes, they're likely made to move freely on a shaft. And judging by the rod holes or cable holes (two in most, and three in at least one), I'd guess they're fingers for a pull/release guitar that tuned the pedals from the top. I don't see any way to attach strings, but we're only seeing one view, and it's also possible they're unfinished parts.

Peter Harris · From: South Australia, Australia

The one on the right goes on the bottom of the steel.
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Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Did you ask whoever you bought the guitar from? Evidently they aren't arts for your guitar or you would see some already installed.
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Jimmy Gibson · From: Cornwall, England

They are from a pull release changer system,the screws are to hook the strings onto,and you can see where the pull rods have been rubbing against some of them.

J G..

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Tucker Jackson · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Steve Goodson · From: South Carolina, USA

Thanks everyone for the great inputs. I learned something today.

Jimmy Gibson · From: Cornwall, England

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

I agree that the are pull-release fingers, but the cap screws are for tuning, not holding the string. Notice that some of the fingers have a small hole going vertically through the finger between the axle and the cap screw. I think that is the hole through which the string is threaded. It will provide a strong angle for the string passing over the top of the finger.
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Butch Mullen · From: North Carolina, USA 28681

Maybe parts for a keyless tuner?

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Peter Harris · From: South Australia, Australia

Steve Goodson · From: South Carolina, USA

i think they look a lot like fingers o a early sho bud maverick.

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

The look like some ones dream to build a 6 string pull and release finger guitar. With the small hole between the screw and the large hole, (Look close at 2nd and 5th finger in picture), Would allow the string to go over the outside of the large hole, The large hole would act as a pivot point. If the fingers came back and stopped at rest against cross bar on the changer frame or the guitar body, At the mark in the big curve where the spot is on the far left in picture. When a pedal is shoved down, A cable in the 2 or 3 hole section would pull the string to raise the note and the set screw would be the stop for the raise. May have been pulleys to allow full pull on 2 strings to even out.

It would be exactly backwards from the way we know Pull and Release Changers. Shove pedal down and tune pull note first, Then release pedal and tune open note. This setup would be, Tune open string first, And then push the pedal and tune raise, With the set screw with the set screw contacting a flat piece of metal a back of changer area.

When I wanted to build a steel in about 1968 I had designed a similar finger, That used a set screw adjustment on the string raise. Then I saw a Sho-Bud guitar in person and rethought the finger design completely.

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