Changer Finger Material

Larry Phleger · From: DuBois, PA

I am planning on building a pedal steel. I have built a number of non-pedal steels and have made the bridges and nuts form aluminum. I have been well satisfied with the tone of these instruments. I was wondering if anyone has used aluminum to make changer fingers. My main concern is how well aluminum will hold up. Will the strings tend to wear groves in the fingers as they move? Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Glenn Demichele · From: (20mi N of) Chicago Illinois, USA

There's a discussion here about grooves. My Franklin has aluminum fingers and I developed a zing problem because of grooves. Rather than sand them down (eek), I opted for a reversible/renewable fix using thin steel tape as a veneer over the existing finger and groove. Looks and works great.
See my pics at the end of this thread. https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=316291&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25
_________________
Franklin D10 8&5, Excel D10 8&5, homemade buffer/overdrive, Moyo pedal, GT-001 effects, 2x BAM200 for stereo. 2x GW8003 8" driver in homemade closed-box. Also NV400 etc. etc...

Dick Sexton · From: Greenville, Ohio

Larry, most modern pedal steels use aluminum in their changer fingers. In my experience, some hold up better then others as far as grooving. There are different grades or compositions of aluminum, from pretty soft to pretty hard.

I suspect there is probably a trade off between Hardness and Tonal Qualities.

Composition/Workable/Weldable

Alloy 2024/Good/Poor
Alloy 3003/Excellent/Excellent
Alloy 5052/Good/Good
Alloy 6061/Good/Good
And many more... https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/what-aluminum-grade-should-i-use/

I think a changer finger with a replaceable cap would be interesting. And may have already been done.

Good luck with your build. Be sure to post pics. Smile

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

ZB had a cap on the top of their changer fingers, it was made of a very hard material.
That could be one of the reasons for the great tone.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Bell Bronze?
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

No, steel.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Bell Bronze is considered to be the most musical metal and is much harder tghan Aluminum. I'd like to hear a guitar made with BB changer fingers.
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps

Jim Bob Sedgwick · From: Clinton, Missouri USA

Williams uses zinc plated steel fingers. Grooving problem solved.

Ross Shafer · From: Petaluma, California

Zinc plating is pretty soft.

Sonny Jenkins · From: Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx

Zinc = galvanized???

Gary Cosden · From: Florida, USA

BenRom has built some with brass fingers I believe. There are videos if you want to search.
http://benrom.com/

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I owned a couple of Williams guitars and the fingers sure weren't galvanized. Whoa!

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Zinc plating is done by electroplating and galvanizing is a process where the part is dipped in a solution where the galvanizing takes place. Zinc plating is much thinner and not as soft.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, NV400, NV112 . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Tony Smart · From: Harlow. Essex. England

Your best bet for hard aluminium (English spelling) would be 7075 or even 2024 grades.

Jack Wilson · From: Marshfield, MO

GFI uses stainless steel

manny escobar · From: portsmouth,r.i. usa

When I completed my first home built pedal steel in 1983 I machined the fingers out of aluminum. I built the second one in 1990 using stainless steel for the fingers. I prefer the tone of the 2nd guitar, but I`m not sure it`s because of the s.s. fingers. Guitar #1 is set up at home for practice. I have not had a problem with grooves on the softer fingers.

Dave Diehl · From: Mechanicsville, MD, USA

Promats use stainless steel fingers and I contribute their nice tone partially to this. They also use stainless steel nut rollers which contribute as well.

Bent Romnes · From: London,Ontario, Canada

Ive had good luck with my brass fingers. Hard enough to withstand grooving, and to my ear, as well as experts' ears, have a great tone
_________________
BenRom Pedal Steel Guitars
https://www.facebook.com/groups/212050572323614/

chas smith · From: Encino, CA, USA

If you go with aluminum pay attention to the T number. Like 6061 T-6. The T number is actually how it was artificially aged, but it's easier to think of it as the hardness number. T-0 is soft and easily bent. 2024 has a lot of zinc in the alloy and is much stronger than 6061, but I don't think zinc is very "musical", and 7075 can be as strong as steel. I have a bass steel guitar machined out of 7075 T-8 aerospace which was not available to civilians. I got it from Lockheed and it's very impressive sounding instrument.

Chance Wilson · From: California, USA

I love cast aluminum over a very hard axle. The axle diameter makes a big difference too.

Tony Smart · From: Harlow. Essex. England

I replaced my 6061 fingers with 7075 T-6.
Much better at resisting grooving and in my opinion no great difference in tone.

Jerry Dragon · From: Gate City Va.

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic