Calling the Steel Guitar Slide Guitar

Tommy Shown · Post by **Tommy Shown** » 16 Feb 2009 11:36 pm

If there is anything that really gets me riled is when people look at the steel guitar and call it a slide guitar. IMO the steel guitar is too beautiful an instrument to called "a slide guitar". I guess that's my humble opine, Now what say you the good people of this forum
Tommy Shown

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 12:46 am

Tommy,

I am with ya man, in the sense that Kokomo Arnold, Bonnie Raitt, LeRoy Parnell, Rory Block, George Thorogood, and J.B. Hutto aren't necessarily steel guitarists.

OTOH, you might want to cut them some slack cause a steel guitar is pretty much anything that you play with a, uh, you know, steel slide. Making the above, family.

Slide guitar doesn't rattle me as bad as "Lap Steel", I hate that term with a passion!

My damned Dobros are not lap steels, even though that is where they usually wind up, I own a Dobro strap but I don't really have ocaission use it.

What really appealed to me about steels anyway is the fact that you get to sit down while you play them! I just don't want to hear about it from those lap steelers. Whew that p!$$es me off!

BTW, talk about beautiful, anybody that calls my recently aquired "Stella" a lap steel, is lookin to get one right square in the @$$. Again though, when I play it it winds up in my, AW hell, LAP!

While we are on that subject, only four of my five Dobros are actually Dobros, my old OMIC, and my three Gibsons. Gibson owns the name now, and OMIC used to. My slot head Regal is actually a resophonic guitar even though they made Dobros under contract for OMIC on several ocaissions. I doubt John and Rudy loose any sleep over me calling my Regal a Dobro. (DOpyera BROthers) Anymore than the Hawaiian people care what we have done with their "Hawaiian Steel Guitar" now that is a cool name for a steel!

See where I'm goin with this? It is the old terminology game, and we all play it. I am just screwed into playing my guitars with the hub cap on them, and my "pedal" steels, thank god the Carter has legs on it! And my Panda Rickenbacher hell, theres another one of those slide guitars in my lap!

Just let them bathe in their ignorance and rock on.

And yes they are indeed beautiful! In our eyes!

Peace, out.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Feb 2009 5:29 am

It's so sad; hand me a kleenex.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 17 Feb 2009 6:19 am

SSSHHHhhhhhh.........keep this quiet.

Next thing you know there will be a trillion dollar Intellectual Stimulus Plan so that a few people might learn the difference.

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 17 Feb 2009 6:39 am

I have a friend who says "lap Dobro". I guess it makes sense, as opposed to "strumming upright Dobro".

I'd rather they call it a slide guitar than a keyboard.

Josh Haislip · Post by **Josh Haislip** » 17 Feb 2009 6:53 am

What about "table guitar"?

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 7:35 am

Jim Cohen wrote:It's so sad; hand me a kleenex.

Bite me JimbeauX! LMAO!

Bill Hatcher: By God Bill,I think you are on to something! I will get my Congressman on the phone today and tell those bastages to get with it! Ha!

Chris LeDrew: Your buddy needs professional help. But I will take slide guitar over keyboard anyday! LOL!

Josh Haislip: Were you reading Tommys story? Did you notice that the Dude is already peeved about Slide Guitar? You are out of your element man!

Come on guys! I am trying to talk him down off the ledge and you guys are not helping one iota! Come on! I am dying out here!

Oh, yeah and thanks for making me shoot coffee out my nose and all over my computer! Just what I needed. Hah!

Sorry Shown, I tried!

Bob Simons · Post by **Bob Simons** » 17 Feb 2009 7:37 am

I don't think even a trillion dollar Intellectual Stimulus Plan will help this thread!

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 17 Feb 2009 8:09 am

I couldn't care less what they call it. If they appreciated what I played and offered me a compliment on my electric cheese slicer playing I wouldn't be hurt that they didn't call my instrument by the proper name, I'd be glad that they enjoyed the music I made with WHATEVER THEY CALL IT. There is a real world out there and -- Earth to Forum -- MOST of them have no clue what a pedal steel guitar is.

Jay Jessup · Post by **Jay Jessup** » 17 Feb 2009 8:45 am

Yeah Larry's right, if they call it a slide guitar at least they are in the right ballpark and you have to give them credit for a little brains. It's been many years since I regularly played in public but it sure wasn't unusual for me to get a question like "what kind of organ is that you are playing?"
I always get a laugh out of people on this forum calling it a Steel Peddle guitar but I guess in fairness they are newbies and will soon learn.

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 9:10 am

Larry,

Electric cheese slicer! Excellent! I never heard that one!

Although looking over at the "Stella" with that sound hole instead of a spider/cover, etc., that thing would make one hell of an egg slicer!

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 9:22 am

Tommy Shown wrote:If there is anything that really gets me riled is when people look at the steel guitar and call it a slide guitar. IMO the steel guitar is too beautiful an instrument to called "a slide guitar". I guess that's my humble opine, Now what say you the good people of this forum
Tommy Shown

O.K. Tommy,

This will hurt me way more than it hurts you, but by God take it like a man son. Are you sitting down? Take a deep breath, this is for your own good my brother..........

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 17 Feb 2009 9:48 am

wow...some people will do anything for a buck!

Gibson Hartwell · Post by **Gibson Hartwell** » 17 Feb 2009 9:57 am

This used to get my goat as well. I've gone through all different phases from not knowing the difference, to being the polite educator, to being the irritated educator, to totally giving up. Can't say how many times in bars people have commented about me playing the "slide," but it's surely enough times to fill at least 250 airplane puke bags. Hell, even here on the forum there has been a lot of debate on what to call a straight steel (nonpedal steel, steel without pedals, etc.). I've thrown in the towel and have tried to train everyone around me to simply call everything (dobro, straight steel and pedal steel) "the slidey thing." Let me know how it's working...

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 9:59 am

Well boys and girls, I just left my Dobro teachers website, went in to look at some tunings, string gauges, and what have you, and you will never guess what I saw!

A set of Western Swing DVD's by Cindy Cashdollar that will teach you to play western swing on your 6 or 8 string LAP STEEL!

Well, there you have it! I am hereby retracting everything I ever said about lap steels, my bad Cindy!

BTW, I have those DVD's and at a glance they look very good, however she told me to not jump around, and get ahead of myself, (good advice teach) so I haven't really had a chance to see them.

Since taking up the Dobro I have not really had much of an urge to play my "Lap Steel", Damn! that does roll of the tongue nicely! But If they are anything like her Dobro series, they are top notch!

WWCD?

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 10:24 am

Chris LeDrew wrote:I have a friend who says "lap Dobro". I guess it makes sense, as opposed to "strumming upright Dobro".

I'd rather they call it a slide guitar than a keyboard.

Chris, it appears your buddy was right all along, good on him!

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 17 Feb 2009 10:30 am

Used to work with a guy when I would play a solo he would say.Here's Charlie on his electric Table,I do hate it when some one tells me they enjoyed my KEYBOARD playing,Oh well guess that's better than saying your keyboard playing SUCKS. DYKBC

Mike Harris · Post by **Mike Harris** » 17 Feb 2009 10:39 am

A local club, the Cactus Cafe, occasionally has a night hosted by Steve James, who mostly plays roundnecks with slide. His guests include Cindy Cashdollar, who plays squareneck with a steel. The evening is called "Slide-O-Rama," and I've got no quarrel with that whatsoever.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 17 Feb 2009 10:58 am

Ive had a couple people call it a "pedal".

and of course keyboard, slide, steel pedal, etc
I dont bother correcting em, seems rude when someone is giving you a compliment or noticing you i some way to make them look or feel dumb by correcting them.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 Feb 2009 11:13 am

And then not too long ago at a big club here in NC, I was the last one leaving the stage after the 1st set and a gal yells up to me and says " hey keyboard guy, do you guys play xxx ?

t

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 17 Feb 2009 11:32 am

I agree with Tommy - never been fond of people referring to it as a slide guitar. I just figured they didn't know any damn better.

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 17 Feb 2009 11:42 am

Not to Hi-Jack a thread or anything but here is the backside of that album, for those interested.

I am not 100%, but I think I got it from B0B right here on the forum.

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 17 Feb 2009 12:16 pm

Pete Drake Productions! I guess the term "slide" was all right by Pete.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Feb 2009 12:30 pm

Yeah, yeah, we know, we know. But in that context "SLIDE" was a VERB. Describing the action of the steel on the strings. It was not a NOUN describing the name of the instrument!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 17 Feb 2009 1:02 pm

Come on now guys! How many times do we have to go over this?

It's called a

Double-Decker Table-Slide Steel-Peddle

And the 2 top brands are Emmison and Show~Boat.

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Calling the Steel Guitar Slide Guitar

Calling the Steel Guitar Slide Guitar

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