The Steel Guitar Forum

Ahhh…one of my favorite Steel Guitar stories! In 1970 I was walking down Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles when I passed a music store, looked over, and low and behold…there was a brand new red Sho-Bud Professional 8X2 in the window. I had sold my rig a few years before, but I had a good job in radio and ...

…So I am standing there at work one day, trying to deal with a store full of customers, and my old friend Al Michalczak walks in, slaps this CD down on the counter and says…”I know you don’t have a lot of time these days B., but when you get a chance listen to this!” I look at the thing and think “B...

Ahhh...yea...ME too! I think Drew got it right! It is probably some virus and not Terry's fault. Call in the "Virus cops" Terry!!

B. Bailey Brown

<SMALL> Ricky, it sure is beautiful, but tell me this, aren't these old steels just too much of a pain to deal with. </SMALL> Stephen, The answer to your question is yes, and NO! I owned one of the early Professionals back in the ‘70’s and I can tell you that it was probably the sweetest sounding s...

<SMALL> Fender being an international company opted for the wider sales that the steel guitar just didn't offer. </SMALL> I think Carl is right on target with this. Additionally, as Carl mentioned, Fender lap Steels are very good instruments and still very much in demand to this day. The Fender 400...

I have owned a C&W for the last five years and as Ricky said it IS an awesome guitar. It is the best sounding guitar I have ever had and remarkably easy to work on, although it has seldom needed anything done to it. It is very reliable and sturdy and stays in tune well, which for one of the newe...

This topic came up last year and several of us responded. I think the definitive response was this one… <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL> There are three Bobby Helm's versions that I know of, possibly more. The original does not ...

Years ago I used to use a home built effects contraption with four stomp boxes mounted in it. Some drunk was leaning over the bandstand attempting to request a song and dumped a Rum & Coke all over everything. Three of the stomp boxes survived…one was DOA! The drunk? Oh yea, he survived only bec...

I’ll have to echo what my friend Tommy Detamore said with kind of a funny story…well, at least to me it was! Years ago I needed something for one of my old Session 400’s (I know it was years ago because I haven’t owned one for at least 10 years!). I was sitting around on a Saturday afternoon and I p...

I think the Herbster said it well! I have always been more comfortable on the C6th neck, especially when I first started playing. I am not sure why, but it was easier for me to hear, and play “things” on that neck. As I sat on more bandstands, in different situations and got more experience having t...

Jason, I think Louie Hallford may be right on this one. Denny Mathis is defiantly one of the legendary steel guitar players in Texas, and he has been in San Antonio for many years. If my memory serves me correctly he did spend some time on the road with Ray Price, and maybe Hank Thompson (I am not s...

Well said Donny! I also feel that the “tone” discussion comes up way to often, and is fairly meaningless when it does. As others have said, “tone” is far too subjective a thing to really pin down a right or a wrong, or a which and a why. With almost any steel guitar and any type of decent amp and mo...

Good question! I think the best advise I ever got came from Jerry Blanton, who was one of my early mentors, a great steel player in his own right and a guy that always “tells it like it is”! He mentioned to me one day that “So and So” was looking for a steel man for his band and maybe I should call ...

Tom, The Rusler steels were very well built excellent guitars from everything I have ever heard. I have never owned one, but I did see one that Butch Cornwell had when he came back to Texas. It was very old and pretty beat up at the time, but it sure sounded good to me. The “three pedals in the cent...

Dave, As the others have said, the jobs are few and scarce these days, even in Texas! Yea, we probably have more jobs down here than a lot of other places, but even at that there are not a lot to be had. If you are lucky enough to get on with a band that works a lot you might work a couple of nights...

I have to agree with what most of the posters have said. Sustain is really much more of a learned “technique” than anything else. It involves both of your hands, the volume pedal, the way you set your amp, the basic attributes of your guitar, dynamics of the room or hall you are playing in at any po...

A couple of thoughts, not that I am an expert or anything. As Brandy mentioned, IF an Internet site has a “secure” page where they ask for your credit card, you are very safe. I have spent many years dealing with computers and even several years in the Internet business. Be sure to check the level o...

Jim, Thanks for the re-post because that is a statement I must have missed, however I could not agree more! The really outstanding players have reached this level, and it gives the rest of us something to work toward. It has been said before, but “equipment is just equipment…nothing more, nothing le...

Tony, For an advanced “beginner”, I agree that you showed a lot of wisdom in your post. Do you suppose Tony is really a better player than he is letting on??!! http://steelguitarforum.com/smile.gif That was about as accurate an answer as anyone could give. The one single thing I have learned over th...

I think that we have to remember that there are several ways to “chime” a note. I first learned the “palm” chime with the back of my right hand. I picked that up by watching Jimmy Day. Some years later Rick Price taught me to do a chime with the first knuckle of my ring finger (Fourth finger, right ...

I have either cut, or nicked my thumb or fingers on a kitchen knife over the years. I don’t remember missing a job, but I have played a few with a band-aid under my picks. There is something about bloody picks that turns my stomach! I hate the sight of blood, especially when it is MINE! http://steel...

I was thinking about a basic question this afternoon. Why is the Steel Guitar SO confusing to people?! Well, first of all it LOOKS funny! It IS a guitar, but it sits on a frame, has a bunch of pedals hanging down underneath, and you play it with a steel bar and some finger picks! It doesn’t look any...

Well said Mike! I also agree 100%. Additionally, I had the great opportunity to speak at length on the telephone with Jerry Brightman several months ago. I discovered that he and I think alike for the most part on the “Which where and why” about a steel guitar, where it might go…and how to advance t...

It is certainly “OK” to use a .012 on the third string! I have used .012’s for more than 20 years, and I would not use anything else. I have a “heavy” attack with my right hand. Many years ago I had a problem with breaking .011’s way too often, and I could not get the sustain out of the 3rd string I...

<SMALL> Dude, would you believe it still has those same strings on it?!? HA!… and it's stays in tune for the most part </SMALL> Ahhhhhh…Bobby, it might stay in tune even better if you would change the strings! http://steelguitarforum.com/smile.gif http://steelguitarforum.com/smile.gif <SMALL> and h...