The Steel Guitar Forum

The integrated pickup and bridge assembly look a whole lot like the Holiday non pedal steel guitars that were made in Winchester. Wonder if there might be some connection there.

Dave

Up where I live, the local UPS service to the house is the best, though they're all good. Post office doesn't deliver to the house here. Like someone said earlier, UPS guy always has dog treats and knows his constituents on a first name basis. USPS is really the same way, though it's pick up at the ...

I use an old Shopsmith bandsaw for aluminum--the variable speed control lets you slow it down.

I also have a cheap portable Harbor Freight "Bauer" saw that works great for smaller pieces. I have a table attached to it, but sometimes I use it as a handheld.

Dave

I've always been a bit self conscious when playing in front of other players too. But when you have one of those players come up afterwards and give you a thumbs up, it feels good. I've been mostly a banjo guy for 50 years or more. Several years back, I was teaching at a banjo camp, when I had Sonny...

This is pretty incredible. I understand how they cut player piano rolls straight from a player. How they did the banjos, I have no idea. And pretty danged close to the original recording...

But pedal steels are really simple and primitive!

Dave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnB7x7CmfBw

Just ran across this Youtube video. Harry Reser, the great tenor banjoist and leader of the Clicquot Club Eskimos among others playing a 7 or 8 string frypan with a Rick amp. Pretty weak tune, and doesn't show what a skilled and musical virtuoso Harry was, but it's really interesting to me just the ...

Nowadays I'd say they're not worth buying new and often don't sound better than a well built solid state amp, that being said there a lot more bad solid state amps than there are bad tube amps I think you're right. Sort of the opposite of home recording equipment--it's a lot easier to get a good so...

I think that the neck on a pedal steel might serve the same kind of function as bracing on a flattop guitar or tone bars in archtop instruments. Loosening screws on the neck, the material of the neck--the stuff we're talking about here can equate to scalloping bracing, using different materials for ...

I'm like Bill. Played guitar with my nails for years, but age has made my nails fairly useless. I played banjo with picks for years, as I did with guitar playing ragtime and the like. I use the same picks on steel as I do on banjo and 6 string, but I bend them a little differently--a bit more right ...

Thanks! I make the guitars, and they are stainless steel. The guitar weight is 7 lbs, and the case is 10, so I'm looking at other materials for the case. Maybe I'll try vacuum forming plastic. CNCing foam board just like the wooden one might work. Some kind of epoxy coat on the outside maybe, or ma...

Up until a couple of years ago, I had never had a social media account of any kind. The whole scene just never did anything for me, and I was also puzzled about why some companies only marketed on Facebook. I'm still puzzled. But a few years ago, I was moving from Tennessee to North Carolina and had...

I've built and used tube amps for decades. I've had ridiculous home HiFi setups with big modified Altec multicell theater horns with low powered direct heated single ended triode amps that took up entire rooms. Best sound I ever heard. I've done all kinds of tube musical instrument amps with great c...

Beautiful! As a builder, I can completely relate to the tolls of age making life more difficult for building. But kudos to keeping on keeping on! At least it doesn't look like age is hurting the quality of the finished product! And arthritis, neurologic issues etc. don't usually affect the eye, ear ...

I've had a bunch of Buds and a couple of Jacksons over the years--the Jacksons have all of the good Bud stuff going for them, but have a lot of mechanical improvements too. But my favorites are still the couple of old Madison permanents I have. Not the easiest or more flexible to set up (though real...

It's interesting but somewhat depressing that old tube amps are still easier to source parts for than their later solid state successors. I'm afraid it's all part of the planned or unplanned obsolescence that took over in the 60's. Early transistors are far rarer than tubes. Early chips probably eve...

I have the Little Machine Shop Hi Torque mini mill, and I have converted it for CNC. I also have a manual Harbor Freight mini mill. I really prefer the LMS mill since it doesn't have the tilting column and does have a bigger table. The tilting column seemed like a good idea, but I've had problems wi...

I've had a couple. They sound OK--thin sounding but not unpleasant. They're still pretty loud, but you're hearing nothing but the cone--the body doesn't really do anything to affect the tone.

Pretty cool instruments in their own special way!

Dave

Not a lot of steel playing going on around me, but in the part of North Carolina where I live (the "High Country" near the Tennessee and Virginia borders), live music is everywhere and the demand for live music is high. I think Covid might have even increased the demand now that things are...

Retrieving a flat pick from inside a flattop guitar has always been an exercise in futility.

Guess that's why the classical players rely on their nails. They don't tend to play in dives. When you drop their 'picks,' it's a bigger deal...

Dave

Bad week for the Mandolin world for sure.

I also raise my guitars and seats 2”, and instead of using dowel or tubing to raise the front legs, I use 5/8” collars to hold the pedal bar down and the leg clutch to set the length. Infinitely adjustable. You still have to deal with pedal rod length as mentioned above. https://bb.steelguitarforum...

Years ago, our band was hired to play a private gathering--a friend of ours was arranging to have music for an individual who did not want to be named. Our friend just said, "you want to play this job." So we did. Turns out it was an annual get together that Harry Belafonte organized for a...

I think the lateral swivels are probably for lowers. Some of the older Sho Bud permanents do their lowers this way as do some Marlens and other pull/release instruments. Very cool old guitar!

Dave

guys, your Williams and Jackson guitars are absolutely gorgeous. Do they play as good as the look? What is the string spacing? I want one set up with my Sneaky Pete tuning. probably have to sell a kidney to make it happen. My Jackson plays great. The string spacing is about 3/8 at the changer and 5...

Think they were mostly from the 70's, but I don't know for sure. There's one in the photo gallery on the Holiday page that looks a lot like yours.

Dave