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Post new topic Jack-Pak seat with built-in effects - Steel Driver help?
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Author Topic:  Jack-Pak seat with built-in effects - Steel Driver help?
Paul Brainard


From:
Portland OR
Post  Posted 3 Aug 2022 5:44 pm    
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tldr; Anybody have a schematic for a (original?) Steel Driver?

Hi all, I just came into possession of a "Jack-Pak" seat built by Jack and Virginia Heern, in the 80's judging from some of the other stuff with it. It has a power cord wrapped around the legs, with a 4-gang outlet box on the back, and the coolest thing is that in the side compartment are 3 effects wired to input & output jacks on the front and back of the seat. The only documentation I got with it is a hand-written piece of paper that labels the 3 jacks in the front panel as From Pedal, Instrument In, and To Pedal. These appear to mount right into the side of a hacked up or re-housed Steel Driver - the knobs and on/off switch face up towards the top of the side car when opened. Then there is a Boss RCE-10 and a RPS-10 connected in series from the output of the steel driver, then leading two jacks on back labelled as "Effects in either of 2-amps for stereo." There is a third jack labelled "Dry."

The steel driver has a tuner out on the top as well. So far though, the only output I have been able to get from the whole thing is from that jack. I have pulled the Boss units out & tested them alone, they both work (there is a 2-outlet inline junction box in the bottom with a Boss power adapter running them.) The RPS-10 is a killer digital delay! But just trying to get the Steel Driver itself to work is not producing any results. Any combination of inputs & outputs just produce noise to the amp - although as I said, I do get something from the tuner out if I plug in to the right input and with one of the 9v batteries connected. The other has a broken connector, but just jimmy-rigging something for that didn't seem to bring it to life. I'm afraid the Steel Driver may be fried, or perhaps the wiring was switched around at some point. Even going into the From Pedal jack and out of the Dry jack (which look to be directly connected) doesn't work. But since it's not in the original housing (I think) it's hard to tell what should go where. Anybody have a schematic or experience with these things? Maybe just a historical oddity, but a pretty cool idea & I'd like to get it all working before I decide what to do with it.
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Paul Brainard


From:
Portland OR
Post  Posted 3 Aug 2022 5:54 pm    
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John McClung


From:
Olympia WA, USA
Post  Posted 3 Aug 2022 6:21 pm    
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Very interesting and unusual rig, Paul. I know zero about it, but quite the contraption!
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Tim Harr


From:
Dunlap, Illinois
Post  Posted 8 Aug 2022 8:49 pm    
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I recall seeing Jack Heern playing at Scotty's International Steel Guitar Convention in St Louis using this exact set up. He was a really nice guy and a good steel player.
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Tim Harr

Mullen G2 D-10 (9p/5k)
Retired, US Army Band (Steel/Dobro/Guitar)
Kemper Profiler / LW 89
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