The Steel Guitar Forum

Bob! Don't be so hard on yourself. Yes, it takes a long time to grasp this monster of an instrument. I'm about 4 years in, and made the mistake of changing guitars so that has set me back a year or so. But I'm slowly becoming one with the instrument. The only thing I can compare it with is learning ...

Bob/Jim: I don't exactly know what you mean by using a side-cutter to loosen the springs. Can you explain to a dummy? Erv, thanks -- I've seen Al many times but I thought he mainly had Carter parts and not MSA. I've ordered my MSA parts from Michael Yahl and while his service is first-rate, the cust...

Thanks guys for all of the great suggestions. I do observe that the lower fingers for 3 and 6 move at the same time and at the same rate, so I don't *think* that is the problem. I checked that the fingers are all lined up when in neutral position, but I will check again after messing around with the...

I recently made some trades and ended up with a nice MSA Classic S-10 from about 1974. 5 pedals, 4 knees. Cosmetically everything was fine, but the mechanics hadn't been well-maintained. I gritted my teeth, took the plunge, and took everything apart. I even took the changer apart, soaked everything ...

Thanks, Al. Can you explain why the Franklin change works for you on P0?

Mike

I decided to sell my old Sho-Bud D10 and trade it for an MSA Classic S-10, because my poor old body can't take the weight any more. Anyway, the MSA is cosmetically in great shape. It's the formica type, with double-raise, double-lower. The mechanics look like they could use a little TLC to tighten t...

I'm sure you are going to get a thousand replies, just as any other tuning thread... I am no expert (and I haven't tried your tuning) but we all have different requirements for our tuning. Often we need to find one that works with a given band setting or recording requirement. Or one that works well...

Here's a great story from when I was a teenager living in Toronto (sounds like a fairy tale but my friend swears it is true): I had two bandmates that had summer jobs at Traynor (now Yorkville Sound) in the east end of Toronto. One of them fondly recalls when Steve Miller was in town for a tour and ...

I took the low C off of my C6 neck, because it sounded like mud. And, I never use the low F, so I basically play my C6 neck with the top 8 strings. Although I do use the pedals sparingly.

I don't know EVERYTHING about Rush nor YYZ, but here's a few things I CAN tell you: 1. I grew up in Willowdale (Toronto) 4 blocks from Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson 2. (C)YYZ is the international aeronautical designation for the Toronto Pearson International Airport 3. The Morse code for the letters Y-...

I tried a number of mics on my Nashville 112 (SM57, AT4050, AKG Solidtube) but was not able to capture the sound I was imagining in my head. Then I tried my CAD Trion 7000 ribbon mic and it was perfect. Nothing fancy, just 4 inches back from the middle of the cone. I was quite surprised but you neve...

If what you are seeing is "W" or "P", then it stands for "Wound" or "Plain". Every guitar is different, and certain pulls work better on certain guitars with wound or plain strings (different amounts of tension are necessary to change pitch on wound vs. plain ...

Here's one that doesn't get much attention, at least in North America: http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=41 I have NOT used this pedal myself..however it is based on the algorithm used in the same manufacturer's VB3 organ simulator application and plugin that I have used, and in m...

It is a neat way to notate.

Just curious...I see a whole tone raise is a filled circle, and a semitone drop is a filled down arrow -- how do they notate whole tone drop and semitone raise?

Mike

Robert is right. There is no current provided by the amplifier to power the pickup. In theory this would be possible, but it is not too practical. Much easier to provide a nice, even magnetic field with (cheap) permanent magnets. There are "active" pickups normally found only on 6-string g...

First time I've heard the word "woodle", and I love it!

I, like most new students, am dying to emulate the sound I hear and so desperately want to be like. But I agree; it's hard enough to play this thing with good intonation for the first n years, never mind get the vibrato right.

Mike

Lane is a great resource for sure. If you are interested in Skype lessons, I can recommend John McClung from whom I took lessons for a while. He can customize a lesson plan to go from where you are to where you want to be, and have a lot of fun in the process!

Mike

Quentin! He already stated what head he is using.

Sorry, I get angrified when people don't read through the whole thread.

Thanks! It is an original '68 Twin Reverb in a head cabinet through 2 Eminence 15's

Can't somebody with a computer and a MIDI interface dump the patches and send them electronically???

I'd love to be able to do ANYTHING PF does. Or even close.

Mike

Here's a good one you electronics experimenters might appreciate...when I was a "kid" playing with electronics in my bedroom (that's a lot of years ago) I got my hands on a Philips bucket-brigade delay chip and decided to build my own delay pedal. I couldn't be bothered with an anti-alias ...

I don't know how to recommend a "dirt box" to anyone. In my experience everyone expects something different from plugging in to one. One person might want David Lindley, one guy might want Larry Carlton, one guy might want Jimi Hendrix... But with my Sho~Bud, I use an Earth Drive. Keeps th...

And a 12AX7 at idle doesn't burn much.

And seeing as it's operating Class A, it doesn't burn any more when it's running either!

Hi Michael: There are a ton of great keyboards out there. I happen to have a Korg M50. I use it for (live) playing of piano, organ, banjo, and bagpipe parts in my band when I'm not playing 6-string or pedal steel! It doesn't have the *best* sounding piano samples, but good enough, and it has a fairl...

I have a POD XT but have never used the M9 (or its relatives). I have always found the effects in the XT to be rather "meh". They are okay; there are certainly a good variety to choose from, and are good enough to emulate things well enough when playing live. I *believe* (but could be wron...