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Topic: The unique SOUND of an all aluminum neck...... |
Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 6:51 am |
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In the early days, Speedy West probably contributed more to the image of the BIGSBY Steel Guitar than anyone else. His great instrumental releases on Capital Records were sensational! One of his first, "STEEL STRIKE", was my all-time favorite. His TONE and simple playing style made it a pleasure to attempt to copy. This was not always true in many of his later releases.
One of his better recognized signature sounds was his slide down the neck to an open string situation.
A classic example of this can be heard in "TRUCK DRIVER's RIDE"........where the resonance(sp?) of that all aluminum neck gives the affect some 'special meaning'.
An example of Speedy's Bigsby SOUND can be heard today on "RAY's CD" page of the jerrybyrd-fanclub.com
web site. Nothing like Speedy's rendition but if you listen carefully, I think you can get the idea.
So where's YOUR VOTE? All ALUMINUM NECKS or wood? |
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Mitch Druckman
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 8:16 am
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| Sweeeet Tone. If that's the sound of an aluminum neck, it has my vote. |
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John Burton
From:
Manassas, Va
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 9:26 am
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Ray, I can't get the file to play.
How do I listen to it?
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 10:03 am I'm at a loss for words.....................
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There's a way to do it..........
I'm just not home now and can't look up the steps to do so.
I have written down at my office but that's some distance from whereith I'm enscounced at the moment. |
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Twayn Williams
From:
Portland, OR
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 10:31 am
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| John Burton wrote: |
Ray, I can't get the file to play.
How do I listen to it?
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Try Internet Explorer 7 instead of Firefox. If you're on a Mac 
_________________
Primitive Utility Steel |
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John Burton
From:
Manassas, Va
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 11:23 am
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AH! Got it!
I was indeed using FireFox!
I switched to Intermess Explorer and it works fine.
And....
Wow! I loved it!
Thanks for posting it. I love that kind of stuff! Very "Speedy" like. |
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Chris Drew
From:
Bristol, UK
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 11:33 am
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That's some sweet playing, and a cool effect!
But why do we have to choose between wood & ali?
Either or both sound beautiful to me!
But hey, if you guys start spelling aluminium right maybe you'll sway me! 
Btw, the audio works for me...
If you're using Firefox there's an add-on you can get called IEtabs which means you can still use IE-specific site stuff like the audio-player on that site.
Really great site by the way, Ray..
Just spent a good while on there & will go back for sure.
It just sidetracked me ( via the guestbook ) onto a nice set of youtube clips from our good friend Basil, like this one... classic! |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 12:41 pm
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When you lightly hang from your extended finger a loose Bigsby neck without tuning keys attached to the keyhead portion, and then tap the neck with a wrench, it rings like a bell and has a long sustain.
When you add tuning keys to the keyhead and try the same experiment, you get nothing but a dull clunk.
Just relating a personal experience -- no peer-reviewed science here. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 6 Oct 2008 6:17 pm
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We have a multi-million dollar laser plasma cutter at work. They won't let me cut aluminum on it because it upsets the chemistry, but I'm planning on making an all-steel instrument at some stage in the future. I have the plans: I just need to get one of our programmers to put in the time to program the machine to cut it out.  |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 7 Oct 2008 8:29 am
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I have several guitars with aluminum necks, even including a bolt-on push/pull.
Right now I am in the process of restoring a D-10 Excel.
What I find rather unusual about this guitar is that the changer mounts are actually an integral part of the necks, all one piece.
I have some parts on order with Scotty and I am anxious to get it completed to hear what it sounds like.
I will be posting some pictures.
This is what it looked like when I started on it.
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 7 Oct 2008 9:34 am
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| I like wooden guitars. |
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Steve Waltz
From:
USA
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Posted 7 Oct 2008 10:34 am truck drivers ride
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Ray,
I was playing along with Truck drivers ride last night. I've got it all down, I think, except for that first chord in the B section. It's that chord that you are talking about sliding down to. I think the song is in A. It sounds like the C6th neck so are you sliding down to a C? I thought it sounded like a diminished going down four frets to another diminished and so on, but it also sounds a bit like a minor. After that chord I think it goes back to the 1 and then 2 and 5 before returning to the melody line. It was late when I was working on it so I'm sure I could figure it out today but since you brought it up I thought I'd just ask.
Thanks and I'm still enjoying the Little Rock get away. |
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