The Steel Guitar Forum

The Scotty's strings from the Forum store (B, D, E, G#, B, C#, E G# low to high) are identified as a Don Helms tuning, while John Ely's website (tuning shown in my first post) is from Leon McAuliffe which I think someone else pointed out. If anyone has a recommendation on which one is easier to nav...

I always wondered if my triple deluxe color is from the Custom shop or not. It's also got an awesome momentary switch on it. There are some dings in the finish and there's definitely no other colors below the blue other than what looks like black. That is a killer color for sure. Yours seems modded...

I personally encourage anyone to at least try having a low B as string 7 instead of the low E in that tuning (the so-called Vance terry E13th EC#BG#F#DBG#). That low root is sweet, and you need it for some tunes, but for arranging old tunes and chordal playing I prefer having that low fifth. It also...

What a shame that those Cumquat discs are practically unobtanium…

Played through the tab — great stuff, and easy to play! Nice to see you playing in that vid too.
I missed playing through new A6th tabs you used to make in that old, now closed facebook group.
Would love to see more vids from you guys.

Bill, assuming you meant dud, can you expand on the issues you had with it?

Wow that is an awesome finish Bob.
My attempt a few years back with lacquer spray cans didn’t look half as good!
What is that tuned to?

Weird that the color as per the color chart is actually “blue ice” metallic.
Similar misconception with “foam green” always being called “sea foam green”.

I agree that it’s probably down to positioning.
Jerry Byrd used his left foot on the volume pedal, might be worth a try.

Those Gibson custom color birds are so cool. Shame they are so rare. I don't think I have even ever seen a picture of a vintage heather poly guitar. Its crazy how heavily the clear coats Gibson and Fender used on these guitars yellowed. I saw this 1965 Jaguar listed as ocean turquoise metallic on re...

I definitely prefer short scale as the ease of slants on lower frets is appreciable. It can be the difference between being able to play and not being able to play a chord cleanly. For that reason, I also prefer 24" and 24.75" scale on armpit guitars. Supposedly 24.5" and 26" sca...

As someone stated, you are far more likely to encounter 8 string double necks. Having those two extra strings can have a lot of possibilities. You can have extra duplicated bass notes, extra duplicated high notes. Completely new chord tone notes. Reentrant strings, with high strings below the bass s...

Good work! Some things I noticed: This is listed twice: F♯13 F♯ D♯ F♯ A♯ E G♯ C♯ E (1 6 1 3 ♭7 2 5 ♭7) (1 3 5 2 4 ♭7) Herb Remington E13 f♯ d♯ F♯ A♯ E G♯ C♯ E (2 7 2 ♭5 1 3 6 1) (1 3 5 2 ♭5 6 ♭7) Herb Remington and should be: F#13 f♯ d♯ F♯ A♯ E G♯ C♯ E (1 6 1 3 ♭7 2 5 ♭7) (1 3 5 2 4 ♭7) Herb Remingt...

I haven’t tried either tuning exactly as written, but from experience I think the F on top will be much more user friendly. The A is a less useful chord tone (it won’t sound like a dominant 9th chord in that tuning, more like a sus2, or major add 9 sound). It will also will be very high sounding, a ...

When Fender switched to the pedal steel models with Jaguar style claw pickups, custom colors were avaliable at no charge on them (unlike the basses and armpit guitars). Despite this, custom color steels are very rare. I have only seen candy apple red and lake placid blue. You can see beautifully age...

To partly answer your last question: I remember reading an old post, perhaps by Jody Carver, saying that a fire marshal came to inspect the Fender factory. He was shocked when he saw some workers melting the pearloid onto the champ steels by holding them above a burning barrel... They were supposedl...

I also recommend Tony’s tuning but I disagree with balanced tension being the goal. Those bass strings are way too heavy and would sound hollow and plinky, especially at higher positions. 70 gauge D string is way too big, low strings always have lower tension than higher and mid strings. Look at ten...

Only Blonde Customs from 53-55 are ever that pale. The earlier ones are seemingly invariably more yellow, and also have blue grip felt underneath.
Good luck with the guitar!

Benders might be fun to mess with, but I’d second the suggestion to invest in a pedal steel if thats the sound you want; you don’t need anything fancy to start. The steel without pedals is intrinsically a very different instrument from that with pedals. Furthermore, there so much great E9th instruct...

A6th and E13th (either E C# B G# F# D B G# or E C# B G# F# D G# E) is the most “classic” pairing for western swing. For Hawaiian its perhaps: C13th (E C A G E C Bb C) and B11th (E C# A F# D# C# A B, or E C# A F# D# B F# B) You of course can play any style of music on any tuning though! On a D8, A6t...

B11th is my favorite tuning for minor keys too, I use: E C# A F# D# C# A B I think the B11th tunings that are more obviously derrived from A6th and use the A and C# in the bass (and even low F# instead of low B) are much for versatile for playing standard tunes than, for example: E C# A F# D# B F# B...

I was actually your old arrangement of this last weekend, along with your very interesting Blue Moon. I’ll try this updated one. I realized that if I tuned the D# string on my B11th down to D I get similar tuning, I guess Bm11th: E C# A F# D C# A B It’s crazy how much difference changing one string ...

More suggestions (more traditional than above post) I can remember seeing on the platform offhand… So much good stuff not on there. https://spotify.link/IYcIntjssDb https://spotify.link/9CWOKkpssDb Fender 1000 on the cover but most tracks used no pedals… or had minimal use https://spotify.link/zQ2qN...

This would be a great setup if you are already used to A6th hi-to-lo: F# E C# A F# E C# A F# A (low) So, standard A6th in the middle 8, with a high F# on top and a low A on the bottom. I really like the F# string up there on A6th and especially B11th tunings, very pretty. Of course you can get the s...

This clip comes to mind… around 1:31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7nUT91 ... hlIHdvcmxk

The holy trinity since the beginning of the instrument with Kekuku (if that old story is true): 1. strings on a horizontal plane 2. tonebar 3. fingerpicks Getting used to fingerpicks is awkward and can take time. I am skeptical that people can have a physical inability to use picks if they can use a...