The Steel Guitar Forum

how about that-
I've been sitting here trying to play All the Pretty Horses on my open G dobro- but it's got that minor in it...
guess I'll have to try C6...

Hey Rick- sweet!! Speaking of HUMS, I got a chance to do some recording- here's my report: I have acoustics, antiques, and modern electrics- and like the live sounds in that order. In the studio, the opposite was true! Acoustics were a nightmare of pick and bar noise (gotta work on that), contact mi...

What ever happened to the concept of band LEADER? I know it's not very democratic, but the best bands I played in always had one person (usually the songwriter or arranger- and typically the keyboard or rhythm player) calling the shots. Even in a jam situation you look to him for a wink or a nod...

Bill-
I''m also interested in Celtic DADGAD, but I only know about fingerstyle players- could you suggest any artists that play steel?

Ian- the most remarkable thing about my SH is its LOW end- sounds like it has an octave splitter on it- rich and full . My only complaints are the tuners don't hold all that well, and you can't play a silver guitar in a room with overhead lights!

I've always felt naivete can be a significant ingredient to finding your own sound- the more you know the more polluted you get! Yes, you need to "know the rules" before you break them, but part of the reason everyone sounds alike is because no one is working in a vacuum like the Originals...

Oops- I hadn't read your previous post, I'm on 8 strings. I assume DH E6 (6string) is DH E13 (8 string) with the bottom 2 strings dropped:
G#,E,C#,B,G#,E
I can see how Leon's might be preferable for 6 strings

Jesse- I got the Don Helm's book&tape, so I strung up my short scale Sierra to his E13 for the first time. First thing I did was pop two 13's trying to reach that G#, so I used an 11; man, that's a thin sounding little weasel! I then noticed the relationship was the same as C6 with the hi G drop...

I've heard dobro players resort to "doglegs"- is that hitting the 2 notes, quickly blocking, then moving to the 3rd note? or something else entirely?

So why is it Gibson didn't win this horse race? They certainly excelled at building non-steels.
(How did we end up with this vernacular, anyway: "non-steel" and "non-pedal"? In printing, non-blur is known as "unsharp masking")

Playing a theremin is not all that comfortable- you can't move around freely since that affects the sound field and will throw off your scale- no foot tapping , you can't "rock out"- and your arms get tired from constantly holding them up.You have to really pay attention to your pitch sinc...

I had an original non-operating theremin back in the late 60's- the only person who even knew what that was at that point in time was Bob Moog. I got in touch with him, and he offered to restore it- he did a beautiful job; re-finished the wood, re-chromed the poles, built a matching speaker- but mos...

Bob-
I actually met Clara Rockmore- and watched her perform in her apartment in NYC! A high point of my life... but now we're off topic

That's GREAT! I played Theremin years ago, and I've always thought of steel as being a member of that family...

It was always my understanding that Appalachian music was originally termed "Hillbilly", but as it started to become a viable genre, that term was considered denigrating and it became "Country". Of course, anyone successful in Country now wants to be considered "Pop"- s...

You nailed it- it's the bare fingers! That allows you to keep the gain absurdly high. Not easy... I hadn't thought about it, but of course- it's imitating a blues harp- that's exactly what's going on. I picked up this little tidbit: Lowell George used 2 compressors in series- gets a little noisy, bu...

Rick- yes, thats it- but with a really strong attack that causes that little yelp- possibly a harmonic from the pick or tube distortion? It's a really raw bluesy thing, Jerry would NOT approve, I'm sure...! Steinar- yes, he had a red SG at that point. I remember now. But, like I said I saw a guy doi...

That worked! Thanks David- yes, that's the sound!! Though he hits some better ones a couple of bars in- so what's going on there, and how do you get that with a lap steel?

Joey, I get this message from your link: "Directly downloading images is not permitted on the Netfirms FREE plan..." and can't get any farther. Yeah, this is a tough one to describe in words- what I DON'T mean is the volume swell thing Betts does, I know that one. Duane would hit a note wi...

Joey, I couldn't get your link to work- but thanks for the effort. I think you know what I'm gettin' at... do you think a volume move is part of it? It seems like it's minute timing of a short slide and a hammer-on, and you have to catch the picked sting in just the right way- and somehow tube disto...

An example would be the opening riff in Statesboro Blues (or is it the solo? don't have the record anymore)- it's definitely Duane, I remember watching him do it from about 10 ft. away... 30 yrs. ago!!

There's a certain sound electric slide players get that I can only describe as a "squawk, quack, or mewing"- Duane Allman made it famous.I always chalked it up to something to do with Les Pauls and bottlenecks- so I was surprised to watch a guy get THAT SOUND out of a lap steel- It was a 4...

Basil, is there a story behind "Mr. Blobby"..?

Nice! Thanks Jeff and Rick- love the song, love the playing- but I really like... HER!
MORE...!!

Absolutely positively Fedex. I've had to sue UPS twice for damage, USPS just says' "gee, we lost your package. Sorry".
Never had a problem with FedEx in 20 years. Don't even get me started on Airborne Express...