Steel manufacturing: practicality vs. perfection

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 15 Jun 2006 6:32 am

I read what Bobbe said about wooden keyheads being harder to make but sounding better than aluminum, and I started to wonder just how much of what's accepted as "normal" and "correct" in steel guitar tone and action is a result of necessities of the manufacturing process. I know that a large part of Leo Fender's design process was trying to figure out how to make a thing that looked sort of like a guitar and worked adequately enough, using the furniture manufacturing equipment that was available at the time.

Now of course people are so used to the sound that they even make up reasons as to why they HAVE to be the way they are to be "right"; Kluson tuners are "better" than Grovers, those funky little bent-metal Strat bridge pieces are "better" than solid ones etc. Leo Fender was actually more of a businessman than a master luthier, at least by his own estimation. I wonder how much of what's "right" about modern steels is influenced by the same factors. (Obviously the carbon-fiber MSA's fall somewhat outside this question).

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 15 Jun 2006 7:17 am

When I saw that pic of the wooden keyhead, I found it very interesting. I think an entire thread could be started discussing a wooden keyhead versus the metal. Virtually none of the high profile builders use a wooden keyhead.

I would also be interested in Bobbe providing the info on why the wooden keyhead is harder to make. Working wood is so much easier than working metal. If you were set up with an overhead pin router, that could be done very quickly. It would also seem that the wooden key head would have to be glued to the top plate of the guitar in order to take the stress of the string pull.

In regards to Fender, part of his genius is his combining manufacturing techniques to work in tandem with his guitar designs. Guitars that were basically put together with screwdrivers by a workforce that could be easily trained. Parts made with stamp presses and pin routers very quickly. When his instruments came out, they were called "plank" guitars by Gibson and some of the other manufactures whose instruments had so much handwork in them. Not expected to be around very long. Boy were they wrong!
I bought a 51 tweed Fender Pro from the original owner who bought it from a store here in Atlanta. They called him and told him he should come down and listen to the amp and that it sounded pretty good but that they did not think the company would make it!

John Fabian · Post by **John Fabian** » 15 Jun 2006 7:20 am

It is even easier to make a wooden keyhead using a small CNC router.

R Crow · Post by **R Crow** » 15 Jun 2006 7:22 am

If the tuners were made flat, instead of 90 degrees, could they be mounted through the body and completely eliminate the keyhead?

Sorry, that's probably a really dumb question.

Rick

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 15 Jun 2006 7:46 am

Interesting idea, Rick. Might work for a single-neck, but the keys sticking out to the sides wouldn't work on a double-neck.

I think what Bobbe meant about the wooden keyheads being harder to make is that you only make the metal pattern once, then you buy them by the gross from a parts jobber. So a steel guitar maker just grabs another ready-made metal keyhead off the shelf for each new guitar. But a new wooden keyhead has to be cut for each guitar.

I think the manufacturing techniques we have today are a mixture of some things that have undergone a lot of trial and error refinement, and other things that are just done out of practicality and tradition. And you have to remember that innovation doesn't always sell. The history of the pedal steel is kind of funny. In the '40s - '50s there was a lot of evolution, from 6-string lap steels, to more strings and multiple necks, then pedals and levers. Then all of a sudden in the late '50s it all stopped with the D10 pedal steel in its classic configuration. Innovations since then (S12U, D12, S14U, keyless heads, body material other than rock maple, etc.) have been slow to catch on.

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Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 15 June 2006 at 08:57 AM.]

R Crow · Post by **R Crow** » 15 Jun 2006 7:50 am

David, The picture I had in my mind is to mount the tuners vertically through the body, past the end of the neck/fret board. Use the same length body, just no key head.

Would the direct mounting result in more vibration to the body of the guitar, and would it affect the sound in a positive way?

Rick

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 15 Jun 2006 8:15 am

The problem with wood is it's so inconsistent. You never know what's inside a piece of wood until you machine it. With metal, the part is usually extremely consistent, and you know that what's 1/2" below the surface is exactly the same as what you're looking at on the surface. Wood is prone to splitting, expansion (in humid environments), shrinkage, cracking, checking, as well as oil absorbtion and yes...even insect damage. All these variables and changes can affect the sound, so what the instrument sounds like today might not be close to what it would sound like 10 years from now. Would we really want that? I don't think so. One of the basics of manufacturing is that until you can control the quality of the components, you can never control the quality of the assembly.

Quality control with wood is extremely difficult, and that's one reason most furniture today is made from wood composites, aka particle board or fiberboard. If you make a part (such as a keyhead) from aluminum, magnesium, or a plastic composite, you know it will be a good and consistent part. If you made the same part from wood, you might have to throw away every third or fourth piece, and that kind of scrap ratio can be very expensive to a volume manufacturer. The stresses on keyheads are also much greater than those on a body, so the splitting of a keyhead in a few years might result in down-time for the player, whereas a split in a body is usually a cosmetic thing.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 15 Jun 2006 11:07 am

If distribution of vibration is the element of this discussion, I wonder why the entire neck, indluding keyhead and changer mount, is not cast in one piece.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 15 Jun 2006 12:05 pm

The one-piece aluminum neck guitars like Travis Beans and the early Kramers had serious problems with temperature-induced tuning "variation." Body temperature or stage lights would get them off, you'd retune, then step out of the lights, or take your hand off for 45 seconds, boingo, off you go again.

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 15 Jun 2006 1:51 pm

It is even easier to make a wooden keyhead using a small CNC router.

Couldn't agree more here John.

With metal, the part is usually extremely consistent, and you know that what's 1/2" below the surface is exactly the same as what you're looking at on the surface.

Not always true.I have seen people using aluminium on a CNC machine that didn't look that good after they finished it.
I don't disagree on much with you here Donny...but this time I do.

Ron

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 15 Jun 2006 3:07 pm

I have seen people using aluminium on a CNC machine that didn't look that good after they finished it.

Disagreeing with me is encouraged, Ron, but are you saying the fault was in the piece of aluminum? Don't you think it could also be the machine program, or the guys who set-up and ran the parts? Were they using the right coolant and good cutters? Were they using the right spindle speeds and feed rates? Were they machining quality U.S. made billets, or imported sand-castings?

There's lot's of reasons for bad parts, but at least with metal and some composites, we can take Mother Nature's many flaws out of the equation.

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 18 Jun 2006 2:05 pm

why would anyone want to make a steel sound better than it already does ????

i don't think it can be done

calvin

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Mullen SD-10 3&5 / nashville 400

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 18 Jun 2006 2:45 pm

If you make a part (such as a keyhead) from... magnesium...

Pardon my ignorance, but isn't magnesum highly unstable and prone to catch fire easily? Or am confusing it with some other metal?

Colby Tipton · Post by **Colby Tipton** » 18 Jun 2006 4:42 pm

Mike,
Manganese is a reactive metal and will burn under the right conditions. Magneseum is the stuff car wheels are made of. Did I spell magneseum correctly?[This message was edited by Colby Tipton on 18 June 2006 at 05:43 PM.]

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 18 Jun 2006 5:53 pm

I've always used wood for the peghead on every instrument I've built. Having started off as a luthier building acoustic instruments, wood was the natural thing to use. With a solid guitar I don't suppose the sound is going to change with different materials, since the sounding length is from the nut to the bridge, both of which are metal on a steel. I have a jig set up and can produce a peghead using a drill press in about two minutes. I don't have a metal shop. I've never had a machine head collapse because of imperfections in the wood, and I've built 16-string citterns, which have quite a weight of strings on them. At the moment I'm building a double-course instument, 12 + 12, and it's all wood. I agree about the consistency of metal. If I were going to build 500 identical instruments I would prefer metal. Aluminum is easy to work with.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 18 Jun 2006 6:07 pm

Magnesium made into a keyhead would not ignite easily.Easier to ignite at lower temps in a powder form or very fine strips.

You would not be able to just light a match and hold it to the magnesium keyhead and ignite it. A match is about 270C degrees and mag ingnites in block form about 473C degrees.

Info is from a Google search.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 19 Jun 2006 4:12 am

Pardon my ignorance, but isn't magnesum highly unstable and prone to catch fire easily?

No, I believe you're thinking of sodium.

Magnesium (in it's pure form) will ignite if you can get it hot enough. Small pieces (like powder or ribbons) will ignite easily, and burn with an extremely hot blue-white flame. Larger pieces require tremendous heating (as with an acetylene torch) to make them burn.

All that said, magnesiuum is usually alloyed with other metals, like aluminum, to make it more stable, stronger, and easier to machine. The frames on the old Fender pedal guitars were an Al-Mag (aluminum-magnesium) alloy. Magnesuim's big advantage is it's low weight, about 30% less than aluminum.

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 19 Jun 2006 10:30 am

And it has the highest strength to weight ratio of all of the "normal" metals, including aluminum and steel.

Bob Smith · Post by **Bob Smith** » 19 Jun 2006 2:51 pm

Just a random thought on magnesium. As kids sometimes we would take our old slot cars(cox) and light them on fire. The frames would burn hot like a sparkler . I always thought they were made out of magnesium? ( im pretty sure we lit those with matches.) bob