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Topic: Upgraded my old 8 string Morrell |
Andy DePaule
From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
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Posted 7 Feb 2018 7:10 pm |
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I upgraded my old Morrell 8 String Steel. made a new pickup plate and installed a Wallace True Tone Pickup I had.
The older Kent Armstrong Lipstick worked well but was brighter than I liked. I prefer a warmer and darker tone like some of the older steels from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s… The Wallace is not that kind of tone, but closer than the Lipstick PU.
Also replaced the old bridge/string hold down with this bridge I’d made some time ago for another project that never did get done.
I liked the Morrell but was not happy with the string spacing.
Made a wider 2.5†nut with 5/16†string spacing.
The new bridge also has wider 3/8†string spacing. Much more to my liking.
This is still a work in progress so... Also planing to replace the fretboard with one of my roman numeral ones in polished silver with the flat black background.
Don’t need or want the three octaves so I will have another pin up girl* at the bottom of the new fretboard.
*Can't have too many pinup gals! 
Looking to sell the used Kent Armstrong Lipstick Pickup along with the steel mounting plate with good black finish. Have put it on the For Sale: Amps and Accessories Page of the Forum soon.
Will also be selling another of these new Wallace True Tone 8 string pickups and a Telonics 10 string 409 Pickup.
_________________
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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Tom Cooper
From:
Orlando, Fl
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Posted 9 Feb 2018 5:46 am Morrell
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| Hey Andy. Wow! I have the same generation Lil Roy, I upgraded pickup already, Look at Gibson grand, but I didn't know I could change string spacing. Really want to do that. I am playing my Hudson 10 string right now most of the time but I could totally do with an 8 stringer for certain situations where I don't want to take my Cadillac rig. String spacing was main reason I quit playing it. Where did you get the nut and bridge? I would like to change mine out like yours. Any help appreciated. |
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Andy DePaule
From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
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Posted 9 Feb 2018 6:09 am Thanks Tom
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Thanks Tom,
The nut I made here out of bone a few weeks ago.
The old one was seated into a pocket that was routed out so I had to open up the routing a little to get a longer one in there.
The bridge I'd made a few years ago when I had a milling machine I could use.
It was for another project that I never got to.
Was also a little too tall so I had to route out a pocket to set it down into the face.
No longer have access to that milling machine, but hope to buy one some time soon.
I think it would be easy to make another bridge like the one on your Morrell but with wider spacing.
You just need the flat metal,. drill the holes to the spacing you like and then bend it to shape in a vice. That should work fine.
Good luck,
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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John Kwasnik
From:
California, USA
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Posted 17 Feb 2018 6:04 pm Morrell lap steels
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hi, Andy --
I have the Morrell Pro 6-string. It's OK, but as you say, the strings are too close together (I have big fingers). My biggest beef is that the middle strings, between the nut and the tuners, rub up against the edge of the slots. This makes it hard to tune because of the friction.
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John Kwasnik
Sacramento, CA
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Andy DePaule
From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
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Posted 19 Feb 2018 6:15 am Poor design....
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Yes thats is a flaw in the design.
I've seem many similar things in lots of guitar with poor design in one way or another.
My 8 string Morrell is the same way, looks bad, but in the case of mine it does not cause a tuning issue.
_________________
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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