Ball bearing changer.

[Johnie King]

Solution too some changer fingers a ball bearing instead of steel friction from aluminum an steel contact by,Jackson Steel guitar Company.

[Johnie King]

[Ian Rae]

Ball bearings are best in high-speed situations such as transmissions, where the viscous flow of the lubricant keeps the surfaces apart.
Where motion is slow and very limited, only one ball will ever bear a load, and it will eventually forge a depression in the contacting surface.
This might actually work quite well, but it's an odd use of the system, and the remaining balls could be replaced with a plastic spacer.

[Gary Cosden]

So... if you do say twice as many raises than lowers (or the opposite - whatever)would not the bearing wind up in a re-indexed position and thus load a different ball?

[Bob Carlucci]

nice design.. The jackson steels sound beautiful, so it sure doesn't have a negative influence of the tone, thats certain... bob

[Donny Hinson]

What Ian said.

(And...looks like there are no bearings on the raises?)

[Ron Shalita]

I would bet the farm that these steels will become real popular ... seems like ya just cant go wrong with an all bearing pull system, I am surprised no one has thought of this before..

[Ian Rae]

Now that I've calmed down it occurs to me that the stock ball bearing is doubtless cheaper than designing and manufacturing a custom component to do the same thing. If it works and it sounds good, who's to argue? Not even me

[Georg Sørtun]

The Infinity had/has roller (not ball bearing) in that friction-point, only it had the roller's axle on the lower-scissor and rolled against the angled finger. Worked well enough to reduce friction IIRC, and I personally would not have used an open ball bearing there for fear of dust/dirt.

[Travis Wilson]

As soon as I read Ians comment, it seems perfectly logical what he said. The bearing will never complete a rotation so the few bearings in contact will get worn because it’ll just be going slightly back and forth. Although, all you would have to do is spin the bearing every time you changed strings if that is possible.

[richard burton]

The bearing adds yet another hurdle for the strings vibration to overcome on its way to the instrument body.

[Bob Carlucci]

The bearing adds yet another hurdle for the strings vibration to overcome on its way to the instrument body.

I can see your line of thinking, but you need to give some credit to the Jacksons who came up with the design... Their experience on making pedal steel guitar that sound VERY good, is second to no one,,

The Jackson guitar is one of the most beautiful sounding guitars built today.
They are not going to install a poorly designed pull system on a steel guitar, just because "roller bearing".

I'm pretty sure if the design was a "tone sucker", it would not have made it into their guitars. bob

[Ron Shalita]

I have to say... I agree totally ..

[Dustin Cook]

Sorry guys, I have to interject here. The design is not new. Ed Fulawka came up with this idea many years ago and every one of his steels I have seen has this design in the changer.

However, there could be vibration deviations through the bearing contact points, depending on the internal bearing design (roller, needle, sleeve, lubrication...). The frequency variation emitted through the changer may actually be divided into several harmonic wave forms and each string will have different results. Whether this has an impact on tone that is detectable by the human ear is debatable.

[Johnie King]

Oh no I didn’t say it was a new idea just a suggestion on how too reduce the friction when you lower strings. I don’t have a clue who was the first person was to design an implement this concerpt.

[Larry Hobson]

Is the bearing even in play except when lowering ?

[Ron Shalita]

Dusten is correct almost like the debate on lacquer and politiester ...

[Georg Sørtun]

Is the bearing even in play except when lowering ?

Of course. Same contact points between scissors and finger for raise and lower…
http://steelguitar.com/maps/changer.html
… and that is where the most friction is found on a regular All-Pull changer – and pretty much eliminated with a roller / ball bearing.

[Dustin Cook]

Sorry gents, I did not mean to imply anyone claimed Jackson's design was purely original, just simply the debate over ball bearings used in the changer and tonal impact is not new. Using ball bearings in the changer is a great application for reducing friction. Anyone who has had to rebuild a changer with some miles on it can appreciate this design.

IMHO, If we are using pickups to amplify the string vibrations, the method and location of sensing and reproducing those vibrations has more effect on tone than the changer design, and 90% of tonal signature and coveted sustain has to do with the right and left hands of the player. Remember Les Paul's "log"?

-Cheers

[Ricky Davis]

Yes John Coop design and perfected these many years ago and they are wonderful,,,, were wonderful,,,rest in peace John coop.
And you can see the pin design in real aluminum finger tops no pot metal to be seen anywhere on these.
Coop was the genius but had tremendous respect for "Harry" Jackson,,,,,that's all.

[Bob Carlucci]

Yes John Coop design and perfected these many years ago and they are wonderful,,,, were wonderful,,,rest in peace John coop.
And you can see the pin design in real aluminum finger tops no pot metal to be seen anywhere on these.
Coop was the genius but had tremendous respect for "Harry" Jackson,,,,,that's all.

Yep, he started to falter when he got old and sick, but for years his Sho bud parts designs were a game changer.. Once in a great while a Bud with Coops parts comes up for sale, and they are gone in minutes and for GOOD money... bob

[Kevin Fix]

Got some parts from him years ago. Heck of a nice guy. Wish I would have bought a set of those fingers when he was making them. Someone on the Forum had a set of them for sale a couple years ago. They were gone before I could buy them.

[Steve Spitz]

Here’s a dumb question. Do these need to be lubed ? The actual bearings ?

I’m guessing they are encased needle roller bearings? Like on a modern skateboard wheel ?

I remember Ed Fulawka put his steels up on a table at the Dallas show, and asked you to press the pedal with your fingers.

I was amazed. I guess this contributes to how little pressure it took to smoothly push the pedal through its travel ?

[Donny Hinson]

Here’s a dumb question. Do these need to be lubed ? The actual bearings ?

I’m guessing they are encased needle roller bearings? Like on a modern skateboard wheel ?

Generally, no. Ball bearings of the sealed variety need no lubrication.

The three types of bearings are needle bearings, roller bearings, and ball bearings. They can be made sealed (requiring no lubrication), or open (which allows cleaning and re-lubrication). Which type is best depends on the type of use, as well as other factors (cost, size, environment, and accessibility).

[Johnny Cox]

This ball bearing idea is nothing new. David Jackson has been experimenting with it for years,long before Mr. Coop. It just wasn't the road he chose to take in mass production. I have played a couple Jackson guitars with this changer and it works wonderfully and the guitars I played sounded great.