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Post new topic Rehabilitation of Eddie Bush's Jon Frye pedal steel
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Author Topic:  Rehabilitation of Eddie Bush's Jon Frye pedal steel
David Ball


From:
North Carolina High Country
Post  Posted 26 Sep 2018 1:18 pm    
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I've been sitting on this one for a long time, and Florence and its accompanying bad weather here in North Carolina gave me the time and excuse to finish it up. I've posted pictures of this before, showing the tilting tuners for lowers and standard pull-release fingers for raises.

When I got it, the tuners were shot, it was set up as an E9 guitar with a George L humbucker. It had originally been a 7 pedal, no knee guitar with a Rick horseshoe pickup. It was a really crappy E9 guitar, and the worn out tuners kept the lowers from working very well.

It's now in A6, with three pedals and three knees. The pedals are the standard pedals 5, 6 and 7. The left knees lower and raise the 4th string (F#) a half step. The right knee lever lowers the third string (G#) a half step.

I contacted Todd Clinesmith about getting a proper pickup, and he happened to have a 10 string horseshoe that he had built some time ago for a project that didn't happen that fit the guitar perfectly (thanks Todd!).

All back together and setup, it sounds absolutely wonderful--the rosewood body, long scale, horseshoe pickup and low tuning give it a woody growl like I haven't heard before. It's nice for early jazz, but absolutely excels at Hawaiian stuff (no surprise I guess since it was built for Eddie Bush). It was a pain in the tail to set up, but once it was set up, it holds tune great, and the playing action is extremely good. The new tuners made the peghead lowers work really well. They were a pain to tune, but again--they stay that way once they were done. Not any worse than most old pull release guitars.

Anyway, I'm thrilled with it and thought I'd share.

Dave




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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 27 Sep 2018 12:03 pm    
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Very interesting, unusual guitar.
That keyhead is something else again. Very Happy
Erv
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Lee Baucum


From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Post  Posted 27 Sep 2018 12:56 pm    
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Here is a link to his older post about this guitar:

Click Here
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David Ball


From:
North Carolina High Country
Post  Posted 27 Sep 2018 2:11 pm    
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Looking back on that thread, I think I was wrong on the "originally a console." I think it was definitely built as a pedal steel originally, but I still do think it was 8 string at first. The first and tenth strings don't have the tilting tuners like the middle 8, and actually the tenth string tuner gets in the way if you hold the bar at the first fret.

The new tuners worked, but did take a little modification. The screw holes aren't located exactly like the originals were. But they have a finer gear ratio, which makes precise tuning a lot easier.

Being a banjo maker and player (sorry b0b), I've always been very fond of the sound that a banjo made entirely of rosewood has. This guitar has the same tone quality--a certain very clear growl that I've only heard out of the rosewood family.

Dave
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Andy DePaule


From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
Post  Posted 27 Sep 2018 10:57 pm     Amazing unique design
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Hi Dave,
Amazing unique design. Very cool looking keyhead.
I'd love to see a close up of the underside of the keyhead to see how it works.
Maybe help in a project I'm working on with a 50's Blankenship?
Best wishers,
Andy
_________________
Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project.
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David Ball


From:
North Carolina High Country
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2018 3:19 am    
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Andy,

Here are three pictures of the keystock changer--the third shows the tuner mounted to the plate, and you can see the little slots that the end of the finger go through to the underside. The tuners are put on "the wrong side" of the keystock from normal, so that the strings wind underneath instead of on top (but the tuners still twist in the direction we're all used to unless we play keyless). Wound on top, these would act as additional raises instead of lowers,

The first two pictures show the underside--the long screws running parallel to the top of the guitar are for tuning the lowers. They're a pain, but they are solid as a rock once set. The return springs keep the tuners snug against their home position.

Since the tuner shaft itself doubles duty as the axle, the hole through the keystock has to be kept lubed for it to work correctly.

Hope this helps.

As a footnote, an earlier owner of this guitar actually spoke to Jon Frye about it, and Jon said that it was built as a 10 string pedal steel originally, so that settles that question!

Dave



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Chance Wilson


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 28 Sep 2018 9:53 am    
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Nice to see that thing's still around. I remember it in Jon's garage and he gave me a tour of it. I wish I could remember more of the EB stories he told me. He had LOTS of other interesting steels from primitive to modern. His castings & Mill work were good. I remember one time passing on a Madison Sho Bud for $200 (whoops). He had great stories about PAB,Semie, etc. I talked with him in more recent years and he wasn't doing very well. I hope he's still hanging in there.
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Andy DePaule


From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2018 2:34 am     Thanks David
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Thanks David,
Sent you an e-mail.
Best wishes,
Andy
_________________
Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

David Ball


From:
North Carolina High Country
Post  Posted 29 Sep 2018 3:10 am    
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Andy--I replied to your email. Hope it helps!

Dave
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