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Steel guitar repair

Brett learned steel guitar repair through apprenticing Jerry Fessenden at Fessenden Guitars in Montpelier, Vermont. He now does repairs out of his shop in Nashville, TN.

He works on all types of pedal steel changer mechanisms: all-pull, push-pull, pull-release and cable pulley. The work runs from setups and tune-ups to changer and undercarriage rebuilds, copedent changes and conversions, and wiring pickups.

As a working steel player himself, he knows what a guitar needs to feel right on the gig: pedal and knee levers that pull smooth and even, and a guitar that stays in tune night after night.

The underside of a pedal steel: pull rods, cross shafts and the changer A Sho-Bud double-neck in dark red with card-suit inlays, on the bench Close-up of a pedal steel's bell cranks, pull rods and return springs A Weissenborn-style hollow-neck guitar on the workbench A pedal steel with a green felt underside, turned over on the bench under the window A Fessenden single-neck pedal steel in the workshop Pedal steel parts laid out on newspaper: pedal arms, knee levers, changer fingers A pedal steel's mechanism on the bench, with its copedent chart taped to the wall above The workshop: a pedal steel upside down on the bench under the pegboard A birdseye-maple double-neck pedal steel, its pickups and changer up close Knee levers and pull rods on a pedal steel turned over on the bench A pedalboard on the bench: amp modelers, drives, delays and an Eventide H90 A red EMCI double-neck pedal steel on the bench A pedal steel upside down under the workshop window, its pedal rods hanging from the rack A resonator guitar with its cover off, showing the cone inside A pedal steel opened up on green felt, its pull rods labelled with blue tape A Sho-Bud double-neck in birdseye maple, set up on stage A pedal steel body stripped down to its cross rails and return springs Three Marrs double-neck pedal steels lined up in front of the amps Knee-lever bell cranks and pull rods up close, lit with a flashlight Brett at the bench fitting parts to a pedal steel's changer, its pull rods labelled with tape A pedal steel upside down on the bench with its pedal rods attached and the mechanism showing A maple double-neck steel guitar with its pickups and changer showing The same mechanism from the pedal end, rods running the length of the body Rewiring a pedal steel's jack plate: output jacks and volume pot A silver Sho-Bud single-neck pedal steel, back on its legs Another pedal steel upside down on the bench, its mechanism exposed A double-neck steel guitar opened up on the workbench A pedal steel turned over: rows of return springs, pull rods and bell cranks on green felt