The Steel Guitar Forum

Was anyone able to make it to the gathering on 7/31 in Los Osos? Any reports?

I intended my post to be part of the existing thread. Can someone set this straight?

Noooooooo! I am so terribly sorry to hear of Don's passing. I brought him my terrible condition early strip grill Tricone (#169) a few years back and he and crew restored and repaired it magnificently. What a fantastic guy! He gave me and a buddy an hour tour of the facility when we dropped it off, ...

Hi Dennis, You have some pretty wild pieces there! Annie Laura Ceramics products are fairly sedate by comparison. Search "Annie Laura" on ebay to find them. Usually there are a dozen of so or ebay, though there are considerably more listed at this moment. My folks made these in Pico Rivera...

Hello Dennis Smith, do you have any Annie Laura Ceramics map ashtrays? My parents made those!

I saw Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks perform in the gymnasium at Cerritos College in so. CA in the early '70s. He appeared slightly toasted and wasn't afraid to antagonize his audience. After a comment that drew a few boos, he peered at the crowd and said "I see all you guys out there with your li...

Most cones are still coated with petroleum based lubricants from the spinning process. I have removed this with naptha and sometimes acetone with good results. Clean both sides!

I enjoyed that song very much while providing piano service to the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove CA years ago. Nice to hear it again.

I hope that Peter Huggins responds to this thread. I met him several years a go at a steel meet, and he brought several VoluTone instruments to display. I would say that what you have is quite rare though dangerous to use as per the 1930s instructions. I have a VoluTone amp from the same period that...

My brush with greatness: I was providing piano service/standby for the Long Beach (CA) Blues Festival in the early 1990s, working for founder and organizer Bernie Pearl. B. B. King was the headliner that year, and there was concern all afternoon as B. B. was running late. Finally a huge bus arrived ...

Thank you for sharing the sad news, K Maul. I cherish my phone conversations with this fine gentleman in which he generously shared family history and events as he recalled them firsthand. Godspeed, Mr. Dopyera!* *He explained the pronunciation as resembling dough located on a pier, plus "Ah&qu...

Hi Alan, I researched the Dopyera brothers and the history of National and Dobro some years ago. John and Rudy were geniuses! I am fortunate to own National tricone # 069, a very early example and about the 70th built. Don Young put it in great condition for me a few years ago. I also have National ...

Hi Alan, I researched the Dopyera brothers and the history of National and Dobro some years ago. John and Rudy were geniuses! I am fortunate to own National tricone # 069, a very early example and about the 70th built. Don Young put it in great condition for me a few years ago. I also have National ...

I am very sorry to hear the news about Adriel. He used to post on the old IGS forum, sometimes with links to his Dream Indigo Orchestra videos. I didn't realize that he was so young. His links were always enjoyable and a bit off the beaten path, mine anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYGebRXlmr8

Fascinating piece! My guess is that it was some sort of hand out or salesman sample, demonstrating the tool making, Bakelite forming and metal stamping skills of Rickenbacher (prewar spelling) Manufacturing Company. All of these skills were of course employed in abundance in the products of Ro Pat I...

I attended Cal State Long Beach in 1975 and 1976. By then he had established Worthington Ford of Long Beach, after endless TV ads for Worthington Dodge in Downey. At some point Cal Worthington gave a speech in the central outdoor meeting area on campus. Geez, he seemed old then, and that was 37 year...

My thanks to all contributors to this fascinating thread. Please keep it coming!

Another fascinating aspect of that picture is the arrangement of what appear to be holes in the body on the right side below the cover plate. The first thirty-something serial-numbered Tricones generally had seven trapezoidal "diamond" holes in the top, three of them being in this area, wh...

Thanks very much, Richard and Andre!

I've never seen this type of bakelite Rickenbacher lap steel before, but there are currently two of them on ebay, one white one blue. Can anyone comment on their rarity, period of manufacture, etc? They appear to use something other than the double horseshoe pickup; would this also be a string throu...

Really fascinating, Lloyd! It looks as though the loops on the S and the l of Sol may have been melted a bit by the yellowish substance. Might that be flux from the solder holding the screen in place? If so then perhaps the cover plate was signed at the factory before assembly was completed. Or mayb...

This event was just terrific. There were dozens of rare, unique and/or interesting instruments on display. I enjoyed meeting a number of people, and hearing some great live music. Kay Das's playing is really fine! It was fun to discuss guitar history with Peter Huggins and Robb Lawrence. Many thanks...

Mr. Allen I am very interested in the construction details of #112, as I recently purchased #169, a style two square neck. My instrument has a handmade T bar which is made from two pieces of shaped aluminum stock jointed together. The "point to point" spacing of this bar is roughly 6 1/8&q...