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Topic: Promat - complete setup and tune-up by Henry Matthews |
Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 30 Sep 2016 8:14 am |
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me and my dear friend Henry, who is a very good push pull mechanic, decided to give my D10 Promat a good tune up and set up after sitting under the bed for a few years...here you can see pictures of his work in progress, and ask questions, I can't help much with answering the questions,but I'm sure Henry will be glad to help...at this time guitar is being disassembled...here are first couple of pics Henry took...
to be continued...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 30 Sep 2016 12:59 pm
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damage done by a loose screw....needs to be repaired... things like this are nobody's fault, it just happens in shipping...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 30 Sep 2016 2:03 pm
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Henry says right knee lever is back on, and smooth as silk 
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/
Last edited by Damir Besic on 30 Sep 2016 4:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2016 2:06 pm
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Very interesting, Damir. Keep em coming. Henry certainly has a lot of various talents, doesn't he?
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Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2016 2:43 pm
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This is a very well built guitar and can't wait to get it back together and play it. There was really nothing wrong with guitar, I'm really just tweaking everything out and I had to swap places with couple cross bars on right knee to get get pulls in correct places. One was longer than other. Machine work on this guitar is excellent.
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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.
Last edited by Henry Matthews on 30 Sep 2016 8:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 30 Sep 2016 4:29 pm
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| Rick Barnhart wrote: |
| Very interesting, Damir. Keep em coming. Henry certainly has a lot of various talents, doesn't he? |
Rick, we thought it would be a very interesting project, I know many people are interested in Promat, and they would like to know more, so this is why we decided to do this little "documentary" so to speak... while Promat is very similar to Emmons push pull, it is NOT an Emmons push pull, and quite a few things are done differently from Emmons ... I will leave you in Henrys hands now, and let him explain the process, and answer any questions... we will go through the whole process until Henry gets that guitar on the stage at his Opry, and gives it a test drive... hopefully we will have a video or two as well... interesting stuff going on here, enjoy ...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 1 Oct 2016 7:17 am
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I couldn't stand it any longer so had a few minutes this morning so I tuned up C6th(with none of the pulls working yet) and hooked up to my amp and all I can say is WOW, what tone. Has a very clear bell tone and great string separation. Sorta reminds me of my 66 bolt-on I had. Very clear all way up neck with the zing sound that I like.
Someone ask me about the coating on underside. It's not flocking and looks to be a very thin fiberglass material. The photos make it look a little ragged around edge but in reality, it looks really nice and very neatly put on. Really not sure what material is.
I'm not a polishing expert but worried about scratches on front of end plate. I guess some 800 grit sandpaper and keep working up til it gets most of them out. They look to be deep. Any one have any ideas that have fixed something like this before?
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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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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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John Brabant
From:
Calais, VT, USA
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Posted 1 Oct 2016 2:52 pm
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What would be interesting to those of us who are push-pull fans, would be to hear about what is different about the Promat from the Emmons PP. Looking at the pics, the Promat looks to be near identical. I remember Damir saying that Promat has designed a superior changer. What else is different? Are there upgrades on the Promat that might be applied to an Emmons PP to improve upon it?
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John Brabant
1978 Emmons D-10 P-P |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 1 Oct 2016 2:59 pm
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| John Brabant wrote: |
| What would be interesting to those of us who are push-pull fans, would be to hear about what is different about the Promat from the Emmons PP. Looking at the pics, the Promat looks to be near identical. I remember Damir saying that Promat has designed a superior changer. What else is different? Are there upgrades on the Promat that might be applied to an Emmons PP to improve upon it? |
John, this guitar has a standard changer, not the new one, but even this one is different then Emmons ... Henry would know more I'm sure...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 2 Oct 2016 7:43 pm
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John, there are a few differences. All the cross bars and bell cranks look to be either chrome or polished. Where the pedal rods fit into notch, the notch is deeper and more defined than an Emmons so rods will stay in better. Also, the changer fingers look to be stainless steel instead of aluminum with holes in them. It shows that on the Promat web site. As Damir said, this is the older standard changer so very little difference In it and a push pull Emmons that I can see. The top side is identical as far as I can tell but workmanship is better. Parts, cabinet, end plates fit much tighter.
Can't wait to try this guitar out.
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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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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 2 Oct 2016 8:16 pm
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I was going to order another D10 with the new changer, but Im afraid to change the tone of the guitar, but Mr.Papic says that guitars with the new changer have even better tone... so I'm still thinking about it...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 2 Oct 2016 8:31 pm
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almost 20 years ago me and good friend of mine Nick Reed compared his '66 bolt on and '73 cut tail with the Promat D10 ... our conclusion was in the favor of the Promat... tone was better, and guitar played tight,smooth and solid...
after the trip across the ocean Promat received the first thumbs up ...
after playing for a few minutes Nick stopped, looked at me and said "does Bobbe knows about this?"
Bobbe didn't know about it at that time, but he soon found out...
and he couldn't believe his eyes and ears...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Wayne Ledbetter
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Posted 2 Oct 2016 10:08 pm ðŸ‘ðŸ»
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Interesting project. You can tell by looking at the pictures that the machine work in quality. Guess Henry and Damir will keep us updated.
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Sho Bud Super Pro, Fender Twin Reissue, Martin HD-28, Gibson J-45, Gibson RB-250,Stelling Bellflower,Regal Dobro, Takamine and Alvarez Classical, Fender Telecaster, Peavey Studio Pro 112. Mainly played Gospel and some bluegrass. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 6:31 am Re: ðŸ‘ðŸ»
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| Wayne Ledbetter wrote: |
| Interesting project. You can tell by looking at the pictures that the machine work in quality. Guess Henry and Damir will keep us updated. |
Wayne, you are right, very interesting project for me and Henry both... so I thought few other guys may be interested in it too, so I decided to follow the whole process here for everyone to see if they wish to...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 8:16 am
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Here's couple close pictures of the top side changer and key head. As you can see in the photos, changer looks just like Emmons from top as does keyhead with the exception of the keys being gold in color.
Tolerances are near perfection on this guitar like the changer is exactly in middle of neck, same opening on both sides. Also, another little difference is Promat uses a very small angle shaped piece of aluminum between the two necks. Looks very nice.
E9th neck is all together and playing great. Will have to use Locktite on the pedal stop screws and the E raise tuner and E raise lever stop. They turn so easy that they could drift easy so going to use Locktite for a fix.
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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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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 9:39 am
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Henry texted me some stuff he recorded with this guitar, and I'm absolutely amazed by the tone of this instrument...Henry does a great job on Buddy's "Blue Jade" , and tone of the guitar takes me back to the time I discovered steel guitar, and first Buddy's song I ever heard "Sundown In Dixie"...amazing experience for me taking me back the memory lane, 30+ years ago...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 12:48 pm
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just got this email from Promat
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From now on, all Promat PSGs that are Standard Professional models, will be equipped with the new APC (advanced Promat changer). After four years of testing on PROMAT PSG S-10 and on a PROMAT PSG D-10 in Spain, it has been proven that this APC changer is operating flawlessly and boasts the tone of the instrument even more
~Promat~ |
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 3:48 pm
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I can't wait to get my guitar back, and play it after Henry is done with it... I received couple emails from some gentlemen wanted to purchase this guitar, but at this time it is not for sale...
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 7:19 pm
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What guitar?😀
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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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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 7:25 pm
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| Henry Matthews wrote: |
| What guitar?😀 |
you remember my uncle Tony we talked about , one that just got out of Sing Sing...who was in "protection " business...the one that lives in Arkansas 
very nice guy...loves steel guitars
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https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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Henry Matthews
From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 4 Oct 2016 8:24 pm
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😂😂😂
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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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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 5 Oct 2016 5:55 am
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| Henry is not exaggerating when he described the workmanship of a Promat. I have played one since 2008 and it is a very smooth playing guitar. When you look down into this guitar from top side or bottom side, you can see the fine work that went into it as everything fits the way it should. The parts on mine (after 8 years) looks as bright and new as they did when I first received it. Mr Papic (builder of this guitar) is one of the most detailed persons I've every worked with on guitar building. I have worked with him to make improvements on my Emmons push pulls and his recommendations are always spot-on. Damir, I believe you may have just lost your guitar to Henry. |
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