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Topic: Remington and Cruz Tone steel guitars |
Jim Waldrop
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2008 8:54 pm |
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| Has anyone had any experience with the Remington and Cruz Tone non-pedal steel guitars. If so which one would you recommend? |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2008 11:35 pm
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The key word there is AND. My Remington S8 would be hard to beat. I'm completely satisfied in every way. The question is probably going to come down to personal preference. They look very different. I'm sure they sound different too. But in terms of quality, I think we're looking at two excellent guitars.
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Amor vincit omnia |
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Mark White
From:
Michigan, USA
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 4:14 am
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Jim, I play a Remington Steelmaster T-8 and it's a great guitar.
It looks beautiful, plays like a dream and has excellent tonality.
Plus, it stays in tune.
I have some other steel guitars, but The Remington is the one I take to live shows.
Mark, thanks for posting that link.
Here are some pics.
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BIG STEEL |
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Bill McRoberts
From:
Janesville, Wisconsin USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 7:04 am
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Jim, I too, play a T-8 Remington. Rick and Ed have summed it up. You're not going to find a better non-pedal steel guitar in current production.
I've owned a D-8 Remington and went to this triple about ten years ago. Here is my baby.
It was also a pleasure to work with Herb on the set up of the guitar. Visiting his (home)shop on completion of the guitar, and to see him play it (Opryland Swing), before I took delivery. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 11:38 am
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Remingtons are well built,good sounding steel guitars and Herb is a grand character and legendary player.To me though,his steels sound like a pedal steel whereas CruzTone steels have more of a bold old school twang to their tone and are right up there with Stringmasters,Rickys and Bigsbys. The reasons for this are the construction methods,materials and differences in pickup design.If one was to change out the GLs in a Remington and put in a pair of Lollar Stringmaster clones it might help bridge that tonal gap to my ears. But I prefer the CruzTone because it's built to sound like that already and plus it has that post modern 60s California Chevy tailfin look and vibe to it without being ostentatious. They're extremely well built and Colin Alder is a heck of a nice guy to deal with.
A lot of the non pedal players in California are starting to get into them and for good reason - they're lean,mean tone machines. |
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Mark White
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 1:14 pm
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If you haven't already narrowed your search down to the Remington and Cruztone (you didn't say if you're looking for a single or double neck), Jason DuMont at Lap King makes a beautiful lap steel too. I have a Grand Rodeo and love it. Here's pictures: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=113274
I just sold everything that isn't nailed down and ordered an 8 string Bel Aire. http://www.lapking.com/ He's also a great guy to deal with. |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 1:19 pm
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West Coast would be a possibility, too.
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Amor vincit omnia |
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Jim Waldrop
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 8:13 pm Thanks for all the info
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Thanks for all the information. I just need a single neck hence the inclusion of the Cruz Tone in my list. I also like the info on the Sierra lap steel but can't find a link where I can hear one played. I am not 100% sure but am leaning toward a Remington single neck in the corn silk color if it is available. Main reason is many , many years ago I played a fender double neck that looked and sounded more like the Remington. As you get older nostalgia takes over. I have only started back relearning rescently and have been practicing on a Asher Hawaiian Junior. It is a great guitar but I miss the look of the Fender, the legs, 8 strings and the sound I remember on my double neck. I am just an amateur but like to play for my own enjoyment and also with some of my family members. This is a great forum and I am sure it will be a great resource for me.
Jim Waldrop |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 9:28 pm
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| Michael Johnstone wrote: |
| Remingtons are well built,good sounding steel guitars and Herb is a grand character and legendary player.To me though,his steels sound like a pedal steel |
Yes siree and that's why I love to play my friend's Remington D8. I can make my old 50s, D8 sound like a peddle steel with enough tinkering with the amp; however, Herb's steels sound like a pedal steel without amp enhancements. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2008 10:56 pm
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| I dunno - To me a pedal steel is one of the sweetest sounds in the world and I've played 'em most of my adult life. Pedals are a wonderful thing and I love what they do. Trying to do what I can do w/pedals on a non pedal ax or even just to sketch out the changes to a pop standard is like the zen challenge of trying to drive across town in a car that can only turn left. But what makes it worth going thru all the slanting,difficulty and harmonic limitations is the tone of the classic non-pedal instruments. That's its saving grace and that tone I'm talking about is nothing like a pedal steel.That's the appeal to me - that mojo is what makes me sit there for hours practicing slants and digging chord fragments out of obscure positions. Otherwise I'd just play pedals and save myself the trouble.And if I am gonna play a non-pedal steel,it better have that classic tone to the bone in spades and it happens that the CruzTone has it and the Remington does not - at least not with stock pickups. If you crave the tone of Fenders,Rickys and Bigsbys,nothing currently available apart from a CruzTone can hang with that august triumvirate on equal footing.This of course is just my personal ravings. Other's views(and ears)may differ.... |
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Ed Altrichter
From:
Schroeder, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2008 12:41 am
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| Not even the SuperSlide ? |
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Mark White
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2008 1:47 am
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| Quote: |
| I miss the look of the Fender, the legs, 8 strings and the sound I remember on my double neck |
Well Jim, you could always hold out for what you're really yearning for, Fenders come up here and on eBay quite often and they (usually) go for less than either the Remington (with paint) or Cruztone's.
I have both a single neck Deluxe 8 and a double neck Fender Stringmaster (both early 60's) and the tone of the double is superior to the single to my ear, something you might want to keep in mind if you're going for that 'tone you remember'. |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2008 10:11 am
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What Mr. Anderson and Mr. Johnstone have said serve to underline my original statement that the choice here is a matter of personal taste. But it's also a matter of setting. The Remington tone is the right sound for the situations in which I currently play. But I can understand what Mr. Johnstone is talking about. Could that be why so many of us have more than one guitar? I think I should consider that myself. I certainly do have hopes of broadening my horizons.
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Amor vincit omnia |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2008 12:21 pm
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| Not even the Superslide? |
I don't wanna sit here and bash a bunch of steel guitars cause I like 'em all,but....
Yeah Superslides and Sierra Laptops both kinda suffer from sounding like a pedal steel although both have more metal in them than a Remington - especially the Sierra and that helps a lot towards the tone I personally crave. The thing is that humbuckers just cut the guts out of a lap/console steel - they just totally neuter the tone IMHO.
I once saw a Sierra 8-string lap where someone had pulled out the stock GL,put in a Rick Aiello horseshoe pickup and suddenly it sounded tremendous to everyone who heard it. |
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Jim Waldrop
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2008 4:18 pm Used Fender
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| Thanks for the used Fender suggestion. I may just wait and pick one of those up and really go back in time. |
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Mark White
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2008 7:13 pm
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A vintage Fender will hold it's value nicely too  |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2008 4:52 am
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MJ,
I couldn't agree with you more !!.....I don't want my lap steel or non pedal steel to sound like a pedal steel ....I like the vintage tones of non pedal when I'm playing my NON pedal ...This is why I have one of Rick A's Potbelly pickups in my Sierra ...It has the tuners, and mechanics of a newer steel , but the tone to the bone of a vintage ax in spades !!.... Best of both worlds ....Jim |
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Gary Stevenson
From:
Northern New York,USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2008 2:05 pm Humbuckers
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| I wonder if Mike J. could explain a little what he means on the tone of Humbucker p/ups. I have used them on a few of my lap steels I built and am just curious how others view them. I do notice that single coils are brighter with certain type of strings and humbuckers with same strings do sound different. |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Iain Carmichael
From:
Scotland
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Posted 31 Jan 2008 4:59 pm
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| I've recently spent dozens and dozens of hours in pursuit of what was right for me, but I'm a complete rookie and can have no opinion here. However, may I suggest that you pay a visit to the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association website and click on "The Music", then on "Online Audio by Members", and listen to the West Coast guitars in the hands of Kay Das and Terry Miller. It's the only place I know where you can hear those particular guitars played. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2008 8:41 pm
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| Quote: |
| I wonder if Mike J. could explain a little what he means on the tone of Humbucker p/ups. |
Well,what humbuckers do is thru the 2 coils being wired with reverse polarity,line hum,RF and other noise is summed together and phase cancelled.The trouble is,certain frequencies and overtones are also cancelled out along with it. A humbucker can sound full and fat but when you compare it to a single coil,you'll realize a lot of clarity is missing. There is a sizzling treble edge to bass strings w/a single coil that you just can't get with a humbucker and when you try to dial it in with EQ,the treble strings sound shrill. I find this to be true with a single pickup pedal steel too but the realities of trying to play pedal gigs in clubs with a lot of neon signs and bad wiring etc compel one to resort to the brightest humbucker they can find and go with it.Stringmasters get around this by basically having two single coils mounted apart from each other yet wired like a humbucker giving you the best of both worlds while Ricks and CruzTones use horseshoe style pickups to achieve the same result. |
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Colin Alder
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2008 8:46 pm
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Thanks Mike for the good words. Just a reminder y'all that this pickup in the 8 string is a flattened version of the Lollar/Aiello horseshoe p'up (no longer available). It has the super powerful NiBro magnets that Rick puts in all his pickups and the vintage winding from Jason. The magnets are layered in the epoxy under the cover and in a sandwich under the coil. This combo sounds like a "Ricky on steroids", I've been told. It can be played with the top off as well in the Aiello conceived "convertible" configuration. Sounds like a "hot P90". |
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