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Topic: Pedal Steel Repair In/Around Arkansas? |
Joseph Caster
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Bill Rowlett
From:
Russellville, AR, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 8:53 am |
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Hi Joe,
I live in Russellville, AR, and wanted to let you know that you are not being ignored just because no one has responded. Very few forumites who know this stuff would look at a post on needing a repair guy in Arkansas.
What you have is a very early cable pull 8-string double neck, which I bet you already knew 
This appears to predate even the early Bibsby’s and Fender 400’s.
You have a couple good things going for you, and one is that most of the difficult to manufacture parts such as castings are there, and a good machinist may be able to copy them.
The other is that it appears to have a beautiful Birdseye maple body and it should have great tone.
The bad thing is that the front neck underneath bridge castings appears significantly different than the back neck and several parts are missing from it including the topside bridge. The design of the mechanism for the two necks appears to be different. So even if you could copy a part from the back neck; it may not fit the front neck.
It’s obvious that the back neck was designed to pull strings. I’m not sure about the front neck, because of the missing bridge/finger parts. Because of the cable pulley’s location, it seems that some mechanism was intended to work the front neck.
The knee lever works the back neck, but I’m not sure how the cables from the foot pedals were attached to either changer.
What you need to do to get more help on the forum is; post your question about the design of the guitar and pictures under new topic headings that will get the attention of the few remaining guys that that played or worked on early cable pull guitars.
I.e. “Need Help With Early Cable Pull Guitar Parts/Design”
Someone may have seen a similar guitar at one time and could advise you on the missing front neck parts.
Maybe include the builder's name in the topic.
Worst case is that a machinist could copy part of the back neck bridge and let you make an 8-string lap steel non raising neck on the front.
With some high-powered ciphering about what copedant pulls you want on the strings and a good machinist/mechanic, you may be able to get the back neck playable with raises.
I think that you may not find any pedal steel mechanic in Arkansas who is knowledgeable enough about the design of this guitar to assist you. You will have to figure out the design with help from the forum and work with a good machinist.
Good luck,
Bill
Early Bibsby, which had pedals working two of the three necks.
wamut79kvdor6b6bcm6v.jpg (480×640) (reverb.com)
Good Read:
Pedal to the Metal: A Short History of the Pedal Steel Guitar - Premier Guitar |
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Charley Bond
From:
Inola, OK, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2024 4:50 pm Steel Repair
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The back neck casting is like the front neck casting, but it's missing 2 adapter covers & the changer fingers, which can be made. I would turn it into an all-pull guitar & kiss the cables good bye...
You can buy several parts from other guitars & end up with something decent to play.
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Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family |
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