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Topic: Dekley Steels |
Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 27 May 2014 9:46 pm |
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Im rebuilding a Dekley D-10 that was in a fire. It wasn't burned but it had extensive smoke damage. The guitar was almost black. Three years ago I took it all apart, every piece, and just got busy doing other things and didn't a have time to mess with it. Just started working on it about 10 days ago and after cleaning and cleaning and more cleaning of parts, putting it together now.
Never noticed before how well these steel at made. I like all the workings of the guitar. However the changer is a little strange compared to most other guitars but works and goes together very simple. The are easy to work on amd make changes. I'm making this a 9 x 5. It did have ten pedals but left one off. I really like the lever reversers, very functional and accurate.
The only thing I don't like about the guitar is the two piece key heads. They take away from the looks To me. The aluminum is going to be hard to get back it's sheen but rest of guitar looks fine. I'll post some pictures later. It's a shame they quit making these fine guitars.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 28 May 2014 5:25 am dekley pedal steels
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Henry,
yes dekleys are great guitars. i have been playing them since 1987. my second guitar is a dekley d-10
slimline 1981 what year is yours?? would like to see some pix's of yours when your are finish . here is mind
p.w
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 28 May 2014 5:41 am
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Paul, don't know what year this one is but I'll look at serial when I get home. Here's couple pics in process of rebuild. Henry
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 28 May 2014 7:51 am
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henry,
thats 80's slimline d-10
paul
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 28 May 2014 8:01 am
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Thanks Paul, didn't realize it was a slimline. Were the others,the earlier models, a bigger guitar. Will have to Google that.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 29 May 2014 4:48 am dekley d-10
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henry,
here is a pix of a early dekley d-10 they where bigger
more like a m.s.a d-10 classic. by,the way if you ever want to sell that dekley please let me know 
p.w
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 29 May 2014 5:01 am
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awesome guitars, little heavy, but still great, and btw. I don't see anything wrong with split key heads , they look just fine to me..
Db
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 29 May 2014 5:39 am
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Paul, the guitar doesn't belong to me but wish it did. Believe it or not, he bought this guitar in a fire sale for $30. Wish I would have taken some before pics. It was a basket case, almost solid black. The changers wouldn't even move but they weren't rusted at all which surprised me. Just a lot of smoke damage. I have cleaned and polished every piece on it by hand so hope it turns out ok. Only thing that was rusty were the knee levers but was able to clean ok. Have it ready for strings and then will start putting the rods in and tune it up. Can't wait to see what it's going to play and sound like.
By the way, I soaked the changers in some stuff called Purple Power cleaner. They looked new after soaking for about a week and worked smooth as silk.
Henry
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 31 May 2014 4:49 am dekley d-10
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henry,
wow $30.00 bucks  man he has a great guitar.i am
sure he will be very happy with it. let me know what you think about the sound of the dekley d-10 would
like to here some sound bites if i could. would like to some day come out and meet you ...
Paul
dekley d-10 slimline 8+8
peavey session 400 amp
boss rv-5 reverb |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 31 May 2014 8:05 am
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Sure will Paul, I've got the E9th neck going and just starting to rod the C6th. Couldn't resist plugging in to amp to see how it sounded but the neck switch is bad and only C neck would work but it sounds good. The floating changers on the guitar are very unique and easy to work on and bet lots of tone of the Dekley come from there. Will keep y'all posted.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 1 Jun 2014 5:04 am dekley decal
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henry,
i also have dekley decals for the front of the guitar
if needed
Paul |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2014 8:52 am
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Thanks Paul, it has the decal but would like new fret boards. Where could I get those?
Got E9th together and playing and it does sound good. Took me a while to figure out the knee reversers and stops because didn't have anything to go by but finally got them working correct. I'm having trouble with the neck switch so going to get a new switch and do away with tone circuit. I don't think anyone uses them anyway. Will post some pics later.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Jim Smith
From:
Midlothian, TX, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2014 10:52 am
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The neck switch is DPDT (double pole double throw) with center on. It's hard to find switches with the center on capability. It could be that a shot of tuner cleaner might get rid of the smoke crud and get it working again. They're not very hard to take apart either, so you might want to try cleaning it manually too.
If you never play both necks at the same time, you could replace it with a simple DPDT switch with or without center off. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 2 Jun 2014 11:25 am
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Not hard at all. Radio Shack has them.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2014 4:57 am
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I just replaced with a regular DPDT switch. Had to get a local electronics place, Radio Shack didn't have long enough shafts. Thanks ya'll.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2014 7:34 am
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Got her finished, set up and playing. Guitar sounds really great. It has sorta a growl to it. Reminds me of the Emmons P/P's. Here's some under carriage pics. I replaced the pedal stops with set screws. It had sorta bolts in them which rubbed on the pedal rod. Its got 9 pedals and I left pedal 4 not hooked up because want to put something exotic and new on it, either for C6th or E9th. Also I didn't have the RKL C6th hooked when I took this pic. Anybody got any ideas about pedal 4? I could Franklin pedal it but haven't found much use for it.
By the way, the owner of this steel doesn't play a lick of steel. Maybe he will learn.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Jim Smith
From:
Midlothian, TX, USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2014 9:14 am
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It looks great Henry, you could have worked for us!
My D-12 went through a club fire too when the club owner decided he could use the insurance money more than the club. I laid it on a mat in a coin car wash and ran degreaser through it to clean off the smoke smudges. Later I disassembled and cleaned the changers and the only signs that it was ever in a fire are some yellow discoloration on the chrome.
I see that you don't have the steel changer support strap on. If you have it, I recommend putting it back on, as it adds back some strength for where the changer cutouts are. Here's a picture of a chromed one if you need to reproduce it. It's pretty easy to make with a big vise and hammer.
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2014 10:19 am
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Thanks Jim, I have it and just forgot to put it back on. Took it off to do the wiring on pickups. I really like the floating type changers, easy to work on and am sure they do a lot for the tone.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Paul Wade
From:
mundelein,ill
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Posted 14 Jun 2014 5:34 am dekley
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henry,
is the dekley up and ready sure would like to see some more pictures....
p.w |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 14 Jun 2014 7:02 am
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Yes Paul, got her up and running with 8 & 4 hooked up. I played it Friday a week ago on show and sounded really good and played smooth. The guitar had a rough life so some of the aluminum was scratched but did best I could to polish out. Fret board on E 9th a little scruffy too. Other than that, turned out good considering condition it was in. I haven't got any after pics but going to get it back in a couple weeks and add an up knee and hook up the extra pedal and I'll take some pics.
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Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Dwight Lewis
From:
Huntsville, Alabama
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Posted 14 Jun 2014 7:09 am Dekleys, bring them back somebody
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These were mine, still got the Red S10 and it sounds amazing. Both slimlines and tone is through the bone on these.
Dwight
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Dekley (PRS-10C), BMI S12 |
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Thiel Hatt
From:
Utah, USA
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Posted 14 Jun 2014 3:12 pm
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Dekley's are great instruments for their day. There as good as the best . They're reasonable easy to work on in the under-carriage with the expection that you have to pull the cross shafts to add or remove a pull fingers. They are well build and stay in tune very well . With the round cross shafts you have to snug up the set screw on the pull finger so they don't slip. I'm a happy owner. Here's mine.
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