The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Jean-Sebastien. Sorry, I neglected to take this posting down in the spring. The guitar was sold through The Twelfth Fret in Toronto.

If you case your guitar either way, cable or adapter, it has to come off to close up, so you're taking it off and on every time you case or uncase it causing those contacts to wear down or otherwise make poor contact.....or maybe that's just the old Chicagoan we have....😩 Nope,it's not just your Ch...

Great guitar. If anyone (Rick Aiello? Jason Lollar?) is still making replacement magnets it's a worthwhile investment. Having owned a number of Valco instruments with the amphenol connector, I'd lose that thing in a heartbeat. As Nick and Jack say, replacing these things can be a headache (as I reme...

SOLD. DONATION TO THE FORUM FORTHCOMING. Up for sale is a single-owner long-scale 8-string Clinesmith frying pan, serial no. A25021 in as-new condition. Simply put, this is the best steel guitar I’ve ever played, and one of the most beautiful. Unfortunately, shortly after purchasing the instrument I...

Thank you, Bob. I'm forever grateful for the knowledge, joy and sense of community this site has given me.

Thanks, Mike. I still have the Rickenbacher Bakelite I bought from you almost twenty years ago. Hope you're doing well.

Up for sale is a 1929 National Style 2-1/2 square neck tricone (same rose-themed ornamentation as the Style 2 but with additional engraving on the handset) in excellent overall condition. The guitar is all original and comes with the original chipboard case, also in excellent condition. The German s...

I owned both an NS and a Model 59 and didn't hear a great difference between them. The enamel finish on the NS is maybe a bit heavier than the crinkle paint on the 59, but I don't know that should affect the sound all that much. My 59 was a better instrument than the NS, but I think that was primari...

I'm your height, Ryan, and have encountered the same problem. I bought a keyboard bench (a Yorkville, but I suspect you could probably find the same item with a number of different brand names). Even at the lowest setting my feet didn't sit flat on the floor, but repositioning one of the mounting br...

I just did a quick count. I currently have two Deluxe 34 stands, three full sets of brackets and an additional four body brackets. I've also had a couple more sets of brackets that I've included with instruments I've sold. I'm so grateful for your wonderful work, Mark. Thanks, and enjoy your retirem...

First, assuming your tuners aren't badly worn, there's little chance you'll damage the instrument with any strings you're likely to choose. The choice of string gauges is subjective, but in general you'll want thicker strings than you'd put on a guitar in a similar tuning. Go to the Stings section o...

Great back story, Billy. Your grandmother had excellent taste! Dynamics are one of the most popular Valco (i.e. National - Supro) models, especially with blues players. As proof of how well suited they are to that style — and that finger picks are optional — Freddie Roulette plays a model that i...

Just got back from my gig with my new frypan…it sounds amazing and I have no regrets about the purchase ! I’m thinking about getting a stand for it. I've been using Mark Roeder's Deluxe 34 stands for years. His brackets for frying pan are perfect, and work equally well for Rickenbacher Bakelite...

Congratulations, Pete. You'll love it. Like Jim, I have a long scale 8-string. Of the dozens of steels I've owned it's the best of the bunch, perfect in every way.

The great Indian players V.M. Bhatt and Debashish Bhattacharya both use narrow bars — at a glance I'd guess about 9/16". I've certainly not seen a bullet nose as narrow as 1/4". I have this 9/16" square end bar and it's about as narrow as I can comfortably hold. https://bb.steelguit...

The prewar Gibsons are fine instruments. I had a couple of EH-150s and loved them, the only limitation being that the semi-hollow body limits sustain somewhat. I also prefer the Christian pickup to the ES-300 style that's in the ES-185 you're looking at. I'd certainly take the ES-150 at $1300 over t...

On Bob Stone's recommendation, about a decade ago I purchased a 34" Bulldog tactical rifle bag. I can't imagine a better choice for most lap steels. I use mine for my Rickenbachers but have also used it for Supros and a number of other steels (I think there may be a longer version, as well, whi...

The Rickenbacher Silver Hawaiian is actually plated with nickel rather than chrome and the body may be either steel or brass (you can check with a magnet). They're wonderful instruments. I've had a steel-bodied one for almost thirty years. It has a remarkably mellow tone but overdriven through a tub...

Mark, I see you also have a post asking about replacements for both the 3- and 4-strip tuners. Assuming that the tuners are in good condition except for the missing tuner button, I'd definitely try to keep them. From experience, I don't fancy your chances of coming up with a suitable replacement for...

Mark made me brackets for my Supro D-6 that worked perfectly. Sorry, I don't have the widths anymore as I included the brackets with the instrument when I sold it a couple of years ago. Because the back is flat almost all the way to the neck, the brackets don't need to be contoured. Just measure the...

This isn't a one-off. I don't know how many were made, but they do come up occasionally. According to Gruhn production started in 1940.

So sorry for your loss, Todd, but glad to hear you and your family are safe. As you rebuild, I hope you take some consolation in knowing how much joy you bring to those of us who are lucky enough to own your beautiful instruments.

Here's hoping you and your family remain safe and well, Todd.

Christine Bougie, a fine player from Toronto, uses a Skylark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXE2P6hAJhU

Check your pm, Joe.