Stringtone Oahu Tonemasters

[michael murray]

Hi everyone.

What it says. Anyone familiar

[bazzrd9th]

Hi
If you google 'Stringtone Oahu Tonemaster' there's a load of you tube demos and info, pretty well all you need to know. The Oahu was a cheaper line of instruments in it's day, made by various makers, but still a great instrument by todays far eastern instruments and you'll never lose money on them
Cheers
Barry.

[michael murray]

Thanks Barry.
I am now in a position to answer all of my own questions regarding this instrument.
I bought it on Christmas Eve from an eBay store in Florida and received it last week.
Photos and further details will follow...

[michael murray]

Anyhoo, as I was saying....

I had written a more detailed question to ask you all but it was Christmas Eve and I had been generous with the Eggnog and, consequently, the post was lost. I hadn't the will to retype it, therefore the brevity of my opening post.

What I was really looking for information on was the Stringtone tuning changer. I had, as Barry suggested, read everything I could find online. As it happens, there isn't a great deal of info. I had asked the vendor to supply info regarding tunings. What he gave me had been cut and pasted from a forum which I had already seen. Although I knew nothing about the mechanism, I knew enough to dismiss it as nonsense. We are talking about pitch changes of 7 semitones here!!

The model I have has 3 positions : A maj Low bass - E.A.E.A.C#.E (low to high) ; Emaj - E.B.E.G#.B.E - E6/C#min7 -E.B.E.G#.C#.E. As you will observe, the 1st, 4th and 6th strings are all tuned to E and do not change. The 2nd changes by 1 tone - B to C#. The 3rd by a semitone - A to G#. The 5th by 1 tone - B to A.

The mechanism is very simple - no cams, no rollers, no friction! The 2nd, 3rd and 5th strings pass through little bars/levers which are activated by flat areas which are machined into the central lever-operated shaft. As you rotate the shaft, one or more of the flats come into play changing the string length/tension. The travel of the little bar/ levers is regulated by a set screw. Set up consists of tuning to the "home" (i.e.-unaffected) pitch, then moving to the changed pitch and fine tuning with the set screw.

I had it apart. Gave it a good clean. Back together again. (I also sprayed the pots which were a bit scratchy) New strings- I wasn't sure whether to go for custom gauges or just a set of regular 6 string guages. In the end, I decided to go light and put on a set of Ernie Ball Cobalt (Lah-di-Dah!!) Slinky. 48.38.28.18.14.11.

I tuned it up to Emaj and played for a bit. Got a wee screwdriver out and fine tuned the set screws. Bada Bing Bada Boom! It works! I had read a few reports saying how useless it was, how unstable etc. Works for me.

The pickup is amazing! Very bright and sparkly. And hot!!

[michael murray]

I have photos which I tried to post without success. Any advice in this department will be gratefully implemented.

[Arcada]

I have photos which I tried to post without success. Any advice in this department will be gratefully implemented.

See Resizing and Attaching Pictures to Posts

[michael murray]

Thanks Mod. will have another bash in the morrow. Probably the file was too big.

Too busy playing My Oahu Tonemaster at the moment.

I should add that it is one of the early ones. Made by Valco/Supro in Chicago (?) around 1947. Serial No.-1137.

Stays in tune really well. You can change it on the fly too. The A tuning has 3 5ths, 2 Roots and a Major 3rd - great for Rhythm and vamping chords. E maj has 3 Roots, 2 5ths and 1 maj3rd- great for melody. then you can add the 6th.

I read about some old school player who used it to emulate pedal steel licks. Not quite there yet......>

[michael murray]

From top to bottom. the central shaft with flats machined into it.
An exploded shot of the whole assembly.
How the levers are activated by the shaft

[michael murray]

The pickup.

The guitar.

[telboy]

nice looking geetar...howsabout a sound clip?