The Steel Guitar Forum

Talked to Mike and had him all set to fill in this weekend and then Phil calls me a few minutes ago and wants to play with us this weekend. Thought he was joking but he was serious. Phil told his Dr. it was physical therapy and the Doc went for it. WOW... 10 days after a triple bypass and he's back....

Our Steel Player (Phil Perry) had a heart attack last week. I've got all dates covered except for Friday August 8th in Georgetown Ohio. Festival event. Pays you $300 7PM till 10. Classic Country Music- Nothing new. Contact me at 740-837-0136 or keith@smokinham.com Keith Howard Smokin' Ham Band www.s...

Mickey,
Are they using a tip, ring , sleeve stereo cord/jack or does it have two output jacks for two amps?

Just another point of clarification here. Pete says he had a George L that had intermittent Loss/Gain once and he redid the connection and it was fine. In my case there was no Loss of volume. When it spiked, it was going 2 or 3 times louder than I had the amp volume set at with the volume pedal full...

Doug,
Not sure what happened to GD's website but I talked to him last week. I also ordered and received product from him last week. Email me if you don't get him and I'll send you his phone number.

Pete, You offer some great tips and advise. I should point out that my volume spiking problem began before I made up the George L Cables. I should also point out that I tested the George L's thoroughly with other instruments (guitar etc) to ensure that I had the connections good. Pulled, tugged etc ...

Stephen, The original problem was VERY intermittent. There was times it would go 2 weeks sounding great (playing everyday) and then just suddenly have a horrible volume spike. Sometimes it cleared right up and sometimes the spike was followed with a light distortion or overdrive tone for the next 5 ...

I've heard allot of players talking about how their steel came alive when they switched to low capacitance patch cables such as George L's or Bill Lawrence. My rig consist of a 1989 Mullen D-10 with BL 705's, GD Walker Stereo Steel Amp, Walker 15" cabs with JBL D 130's, TC Electronics M one XL ...

One day when I was changing strings my cell phone rang right after I had placed a string on the pin. Not wanting to loose what I had, I took the cigarette from my mouth and placed it in the changer as to hold the string onto the pin while I answered the phone. To date, the best "tool" I ha...

Jim, I have a Profex II that I don't use. It has the batteryless mod and checked out/updated by Ken Fox about 18 months ago. Also have the big midi controller/footpedal unit with it. Has Newmans presets loaded. Works well, I currently use a Walker Stereo Steel and a M One effects unit so this is jus...

I saw Dwight answer this recently in an interview. I don't remember it word for word but basically..., He said it was shortly after he moved to California. He witnessed a homeless man die in the streets of Los Angeles and was missing home pretty bad at the time which was the inspiration for writing ...

I really wanted to post something here but after reading this entire thread, decided that I should practice instead.

Yanick, Not sure that anyone really answered your question about knee levers (2, 3 or 4)but I believe it is a very important thing to consider. In a very basic setup with only 2 knee levers they will most likely be 1 that lowers your E strings 1/2 step to D# (strings 4 and 8) and one that raises you...

Rick,
I sent you a PM with Steve's number. I bought the Stereo Steel from him so I had the number in my phone.

Gary,
Just want to say that I think what you guys are doing here is GREAT. Seems my band is playing every time you guys get together but I'd really like to attend sometime.

Keep it up and I hope it grows even bigger in the future.

Truly a matter of getting what you are willing to pay for. I obviously do not have a dog in this race. Just trying to answer the question you asked. When you get completely frustrated with your sound, save up and buy a BJS bar and then you'll be inspired to play again. at $75.00. It's about the chea...

Dave,
I assume that these are used units...?? I may be interested in the MPX 100 but would like to know its age etc...

A little off topic but... I've bought 5 steels in my first 12 months of playing the darn thing. Bought them all sight unseen (all used). Not a dud in the bunch but certainly different characteristics. The newest was a one year old GFI. My last purchase was a 1989 Mullen D-10 from Mickey. I bought it...

Early in my playing (about 4 months in) a local steel player played my steel at a jam session. He used my bar for a minute and then pulled his BJS out oh his pocket. It sounded like a different guitar. Smooth, quite and no bar drag. I ordered one the next day and was probably the best thing I did in...

PM sent

David Hartley, I just ordered a new Peterson Tuner per your suggestion (using a Peterson Strobo Flip now). I agree! No more threads on how to tune a steel guitar. I propose that you come to my house and show me how to use the new tuner. While your here, you could teach me some really cool licks. Thi...

Dick, Nice post and you make a great point. I Knew that Lane drives over the road but didn't realize that he made it to Ohio. For some reason, I thought he did a dedicated run out west. I've really enjoyed reading Lane's postings and bet that dinner with him was a great time. I Live and London Ohio ...

Karen, You have presented a fascinating question and the responses on this thread have been equally interesting. For me- playing steel is a HUGE commitment in and of itself. Changed my life entirely when I got addicted to this contraption. Second, when there is a lead break coming up and the singer ...

For whatever it's worth, I had the exact same problem, did all the things you mentioned in your original post and not until I changed the direction of the string winding did it improve. Then... I installed gauged rollers and got rid of all the buzz. I would also add- I've always tried to place the b...

Assuming that you wrap strings on the tuner like most folks do, that is, over the top of the tuner shaft... Try winding the 5th and 6th the opposite direction so that the string is on the bottom of the tuner shaft. This will result in more of the string "touching" the radius of the brass r...