The Steel Guitar Forum

The musician on the right is actually Hillous Butrum who played upright bass with Hank and later on was replaced by Howard Watts (stage name Cedric Rainwater). Don told me he played that Fender steel on his first recording session with Hank, which included "Why Don't You Love Me". The song...

Al was my 3rd cousin and we grew up just a few miles from each other. Through the years we had lots of opportunities to perform together, including his lovely and talented family. We all even worked together with Don Helms at a number of south Louisiana performances. As it turns out, Al died just a ...

This steel guitar is in good shape and plays well. When I purchased it on-line about 6 years ago, I noted that the strings on each pickup did not seem balanced. At some point I contacted pickup guru Rick Aiello and sent the guitar to him. It turns out the original horseshoe pickups had been previous...

Don Helms

Just wondering, how does Sarno's Black Box compare to the Demeter tube direct boxes?

This post brings to mind a Don Helms original he liked to tell.

He said something like, "One time someone asked me if I thought Hank III really sounded like Hank Williams. I told them, 'I don't know, but their ponytails are totally different.'"

Lee,

You sound as excited as I was when I bought my Console Grande. When you get it, share a picture with us.

Once you tune the stings and strum that E6 neck just one time, you will hear that Don Helms sound.

There is nothing quite like it.

Enjoy!
Terry

Don Helms told me his tuning and string guages were: E6 (on the outside neck of the steel) G# .010P (Later he told me he would use .011) E .014P C# .017P B .020P G# .024P E .030W C# .036W A .042W B13 (on the inside neck) E .014P C# .017P A .024P F# .028W Eb .030W B .038W A .042W F# .054W For a long ...

It was at about this time a year ago that I received the call about Don's passing earlier that morning. He was a very precious and gifted person and, like many of you, I think about him and pray for him often. I am fortunate to have gotten to know him and play music with him. He also had some of the...

I am interested in the Black Box. Please e-mail me and we can finalize the deal.

Brad, I received my Freeloader from you late this week and used it for a performance last night without even checking it out in advance (that's trust, isn't it?). It worked very well in getting me the tone I wanted. My steel really sounded clean with it. Thanks for developing such a good product. Te...

Thanks for the help. There are no apparent platers in our city, but there are some about 80 miles away. I'll also check with some of the local bikers I know.

Merci Beaucoup!
Terry

I need to get the top half of 3 Fender Trapezoidal pickups cleaned and rechromed. I also have various parts that could use similar treatment.

Do any of you have any recommendations where I get this done cost-effectively?

Thanks,
Terry

One of the early masters of Cajun steel guitar was the late Phillip Alleman. He was also a very good singer - who sang and played steel at the same time. His most well-known recordings were with Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys which were significant stylists of their era (1960's). Most Cajun ...

Don Helms used his Gibson Console Grande D-8 and a 1949 Fender Pro Amp for all his recordings (starting with Ernest Tubb in 1949 and including all his Hank Williams recordings) until the late 1950's when the amp was stolen.

Michael,

That is the exact device I have. I set it to the middle attenuation option and have all the flexibility range I need on the board - with no loss of quality. In order to not have this device stick out, I attached it to a short XLR cable from the amp. Works great.

Terry

The Nashville 112 XLR DI output is indeed very hot. The gain on the main mixer must be set almost to "0" to keep the signal at a suitable level. I finally purchased a Hosa in-line XLR-XLR attenuator to bring the output level low enough to where there was adequate range adjustment on the ma...

That is the cable I bought...and I bought it for an old Electrovoice mike, also. The mike is not the best sounding - but it does sound old. Those old mikes were made in the pre-monitor days, so their voice pattern will cause feedback if you put very much of it in the monitor system.

Scotty's Music sells these already made. I bought one while in St. Louis several months ago. It works great.

http://www.scottysmusic.com/cables01.htm

Terry

I have 2 Peavey EDI boxes I no longer need. I would be willing sell them for $30 a piece, plus shipping -then I would send bOb a commission.

Don Helms told me that when Hank Williams left Montgomery to join the Louisiana Hayride, that Hank asked him to go with him. Don replied that he still had good playing opportunities in his native Alabama, so he would prefer staying there. Hank promised Don that he would be contacting him again if he...

Don told me he bought a 1948 Fender Pro Amp ("TV" version, with 15" Jensen) when he moved to Nashville to join Hank Williams in 1949. He said he used that amp for all his recordings and performances from that time on, until it was stolen in the early 1960's when he was playing with th...

Rick, you certainly have done it! I have been finally to spend enough time with the unit to get the pickup heights adjusted correctly - and it SOUNDS GREAT! Full tone, lots of adjustment room, the volume of all the strings sound even. Thanks for all you have done to bring this steel back! I look for...

I'm the poor schmuck who bought the Rick T8 described in this post. Fortunately, this saga had a happy ending. The first part of the road to success was the tremendous effort Rick Aiello made to bring these pickups back to life. He did a great job of communicating with me and although we never spoke...

Don told me that the first time he used a volume pedal on a studio recording was on Hank Williams' "You Win Again" - that recording was made on July 11, 1952. Hank's TV performances on the Kate Smith Show were on March 26, 1952 (when he sang 'Hey Good Lookin' and one verse of 'I Saw the Li...