playin' around…

…making noises #3…

Dekley restored and expanded…

In March 2010 I brought my old Dekley to a steel-building friend of mine in Canada, to replace worn out parts and add the mechanics for 2 more pedals. It may sound like madness to take an old steel across the Atlantic ocean for service, but not many who can service such a contraption in Norway and I was taking the trip anyway.

On the picture the old steel is back up on its feet and in playable condition. I have no sound-bites, but I can assure you that it sounds just fine.

My friend, Bent Romnes, did an excellent job in making new parts where necessary. I'm not particularly interested in keeping this steel guitar in the condition it had as new, so we improved on it wherever we could.

We also scavenged parts from another Dekley for this one. “Scavenging” sounds a bit brutal, but for a brand that was discontinued back in 1985, it is the only way to get hold of vital parts to keep at least a few of them going.

So now my old 10 string Dekley has 5 pedals and 4+1 levers, and covers a tone range that few if any 10 string steel guitars do – just as planned when I brought it over.

servicing an old steel:

First the steel's inner mechanics was stripped a bit and cleaned, the condition of old parts assessed and some new and lots of used parts put back in along with a couple of new bellcrank axles for the extra pedals. Improved stoppers for knee-levers was put in, and all bellcranks sjekked and tightened to avoid slip on the round axles.

The steel showed clear signs of having been played hard for years, and the 4-5 years of total neglect showed too. Almost 18 years since this steel was last given a thorough check-up and service – blame me for that – so it was about time it was put through proper service.

Took a while – days actually – to go over everything and make sure it was all good. The top-plate, or sound-board, was cracked down the middle, which for this particular instrument has no negative effect on tone so we left that as it was. A bit worse that the screws holding the keyhead couldn't be tightened properly, so we put in a profile to tighten it up against.

Slowly but steadily the parts went back in again, and it started looking like “something.” Pretty hard change-pulls in this steel because of the unique “Twin Tuning” I have on it, so extra care, testing and tightening was necessary to make it all work.

Bent didn't quite agree on everything I had and wanted built into my steel, but he is professional and a good friend so he helped me get it done no matter what he thought about my weird ideas. That's the kind of attitude I appreciate, and I am really grateful for all the work he put into fixing up my old Dekley.

Bent also made sure I had the necessary parts and tools to maintain and continue refining my copedent on my own in the years to come. That is another thing I can't thank him enough for, since steel parts are hard to come by in Norway.

almost there…

One day I will probably find time to add helper-springs on the three G# strings this particular steel has, to ease lowering. Most steels only has lowering on one of their two G# string, so with three string lowering the lever is pretty hard to pull.

This old Dekley is just one of my steels, but it is my favorite because of its unique sound and tuning and will probably keep that position for years to come.

sincerely  georg; sign

Spring Hill 17.dec.2010
last rev: 19.dec.2010

playin' around…

…oh no, he has done it again…
— Molly 'the cat'

today's menu…

…hope you like the dish…
— Georg

a look underneath:

Cleaned up, and with a few additional parts and improvements.

If you have seen a longer lever than the one pictured below on a steel guitar, let me know.

That lever switches the half-tone/full-tone stoppers for E strings raise and lower – lower-parts shown below, and has been on my steel since 1988.

additional remarks…
no woody sound:

Some say it's the wood in a steel guitar's body and neck that creates its sound.
Maybe so, but there's not much wood in my steel guitar and it sounds just fine.
— Georg


music…
…2010 - 2011