Temporizing Critical Issues

Bob Simons · Post by **Bob Simons** » 10 Feb 2010 8:20 am

I started out a classical guitar player. I'd LOVE to play without finger picks, but I can't seem to find an effective way to block other than finger tip blocking which isn't enough for all steel guitar purposes in my opinion. A decent hand attack angle without picks takes the side of my hand pretty much out of play.

Bill, do you know how good players accomplish muting when playing without picks?

Gary Lee Gimble · Post by **Gary Lee Gimble** » 10 Feb 2010 8:36 am

You'd best be seated squarely on your Pack-A-Seat, should I decide to cut loose with a no-picks five string grab chord melody, featuring wild grabs by dropping the right hand from 12 inches above the strings.

and on page 1

should I decide to cut loose

geez bill, you've "cut loose" twice on your thread. I don't know whats more appropriate, this,

or this,

Bob Simons · Post by **Bob Simons** » 10 Feb 2010 8:47 am

I started out a classical guitar player. I'd LOVE to play without finger picks, but I can't seem to find an effective way to block other than finger tip blocking which isn't enough for all steel guitar purposes in my opinion. A decent hand attack angle without picks takes the side of my hand pretty much out of play.

Bill, do you know how good players accomplish muting when playing without picks?

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 10 Feb 2010 9:09 am

Ross,

I have a phone arrangement that allows me to reach out to parties at long distances. I have a few contacts here and there. Please check this thread as I proceed to produce at your request, names of individuals who are spread about the country, and can't afford picks. Did I say that? Yes I did! Many players built cheaply made instruments at home during the depression. For some it became very difficult to feed their families. Owning a set of picks was never possible in homes that handled small amounts of cash. Times were tough when the elder steel guitarists were in the prime of life. L. Green recorded "Three Picks" as an instrumental. The good fortune of owning picks cannot be overstressed.

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 10 Feb 2010 10:14 am

Bob Simons,

You haven't heard TRUE palm blocking until you've heard my good buddy Jim Roule Jr. play the "Orange Blossom Special". His blocking technique will make a believer out of you. Bob, we've held 24 steel guitar events in as many years. Jim Roule uses finger picks, and you would only be made aware of his blocking ability if you hear him play. He has played at virtually all of the "MASSBASHES", where his fans have multiplied through the years. The right side of the hand produces a great blocking technique if done properly. Doug Beaumier teaches the other method, called pick blocking. He is mighty handy with that approach. Not to mistake not mentioning his long career as a teacher, Doug teaches all types of blocking, as well as regular lessons in guitar and steel. There are those who curl their pinky, and block with it.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 10 Feb 2010 11:25 am

......get outta the roundhouse, granny. he'll never corner ya there!

..gotta cut loose, footloose...and fingerpick free..

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 10 Feb 2010 3:59 pm

Chris,

I have no knowledge if you can pick fast with a steady right hand, or if you tire after a run through "Bud's Bounce". If your slow renditions drive out a crowd, or pull them in, would be interesting to know. The problem with the forum is that it's a promotional operation, one that promotes a growth within slanted dispositions such as the one you've had a proneness to.

I wish that my pickless fingers could be classified as unique. I've often entertained that thought, only to learn that many pickers have claimed that it has been the method used by far to many to entertain such thoughts. What may be exclusive to the great masses of steel pick pickers, are the wide grip chords. I don't see any of that in televised footage.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 10 Feb 2010 4:27 pm

a growth within slanted dispositions welcomes malignancy.

televised footage of 'any' steel playing is rare...

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 10 Feb 2010 4:50 pm

Chris,

I took note of your yenning to poke and prod. Something in the order of transporting hogs to slaughter. Tapes, CD's, live performances, televised shows. It doesn't require binoculars to get the picture. You missed the boat.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 10 Feb 2010 5:01 pm

dearest bill...i'm not a sailor nor have i transported hogs to slaughter.....but chicks dig me!

sorry you had to endure this, b0b!

Bennie Hensley · Post by **Bennie Hensley** » 10 Feb 2010 5:22 pm

The first two men to fly were Ernest and Julio Gallo

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 10 Feb 2010 5:25 pm

Chris,

Are you that bored with steel guitars that you've turned to the ladies? We need the breathing space here on the forum, where we may find others who will share some clever ideas that haven't been introduced. Go bury your hatchet in the sands of California. Allow others to present new ideas by sticking with the threads.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 10 Feb 2010 6:17 pm

..oh c'mon....that's one of the most ridiculous things you've ever said....and that's saying something! don't treat me as if 'i'm' the crazy one.

Stephen Silver · Post by **Stephen Silver** » 10 Feb 2010 6:21 pm

Chris, I have a scuba dry suit that has "Chicks Dig It" embroidered across the front. Ya gonna pay me royalties for the use of the phrase?

Some people cannot take a joke!!

Flame off

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 10 Feb 2010 6:55 pm

Stephen,

I don't visit the beaches as both of you youngsters are proclaiming to be a part of in your spare time. I've seen it all, as they say. Would you believe that your rudeness is quite mild, compared to other screwups known to be prowling in your neck of the woods?

Stephen Silver · Post by **Stephen Silver** » 10 Feb 2010 7:03 pm

No billy I don't suppose you do....you should get out of Mass every now and again and see the world.

I have been Scuba Diving for over 40 years, longer than the 33 years I have been playing steel guitar. (it has taken me all over the world from the Galapagos to Papua New Guinea to the Red Sea to The Great Barrier Reef), but not as long as I have been a musician as I started training as a classical pianist when I was 4 years old.

As to rude, bill, no one here takes the cake from you on that account. On that count, you are indeed the master. You are one of kind, that is for sure!!!

I have an acquaintance in Pittsfield. I know you have heard of him as he has sold millions of records. I asked if he knew you, he said "Who?" He assures me that not everyone in that part of the world is as pompous as you.

Marke Burgstahler · Post by **Marke Burgstahler** » 10 Feb 2010 7:06 pm

I'm lost.

Stephen Silver · Post by **Stephen Silver** » 10 Feb 2010 7:10 pm

Mark, I have caught the All Stars several times. Great band! Do you guys have a mailing list as I notice on your website there aren't any gigs listed in the future?

SS

Marke Burgstahler · Post by **Marke Burgstahler** » 10 Feb 2010 7:59 pm

Hiya Steve!

Thanks for the props! We've been together for eons, so we better be tight by now!

Our keyboard player is taking some time off - he's got a issue with tinnitus, and wants to get away from loud music for a while. So no gigs until summertime. You can sign up at alamedaallstars.com.

I've been bugging the guys about letting me work the steel into the shows - we do a version of "Willin" by Little Feat that is BEGGING for PSG...but it ain't happened yet. My other band (Dream Posse) just lost our bass player, so nothing going on there for the time being. Gives me more time for practice...<g>

Thanks for the compliment! Now...sorry to hijack the thread...where were we? Oh....I'm not sure.

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 11 Feb 2010 4:20 am

Steve,

I'll never take you serious. All of those claims you are making are groundless. I'm aware of the musicians who reside in Pittsfield, MA. None have ever sold a million records or close to that figure. James Taylor lives in nearby Lenox, Ma. while Arlo Guthrie lives about 10 miles outside of Pittsfield. If you know someone living here, who has sold a million records, someday, spill the beans, and my apologies will cover an entire page.

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 11 Feb 2010 5:17 am

Temporizing Critical Issues has culminated and facilitated a face-to-face confrontation with the mood of forum members. This mother hen treatment of facts and figures illustrates a noncompliant membership as a whole. It's useless from this point on to seek out information. No harm was done, with the exception of having to slice off a large portion of my faith in communicative responses. It's a situation where you'll find bidders left and right scurrying to make a deal if you have something valuable to sell at a very low price.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 11 Feb 2010 6:26 am

No harm was done? Perhaps not; the only victim here was the English Language, and it can't fight back.....

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 11 Feb 2010 7:17 am

Roger,

The only thing that we have in common, would have been your proximity to my former employer's winter home in Naples, Fla. His dad opened the first Dodge franchise in Berkshire County. I purchased the last Dodge automobile the business man drove. After his passing, his son and I went to the barn where it was stored. It is now completely restored. That gives me an idea. A new Avatar featuring the 1932 Dodge Sedan, my homemade steel and me seated at the only steel worldwide without frets below the strings.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 11 Feb 2010 8:25 am

Bill, if I say so myself, you and a '32 Dodge sedan are a match made in Heaven.

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 11 Feb 2010 8:34 am

Barry,

You should hear that straight eight cylinder automobile purrrr... It's made from steel, copper, brass, and precision castings, unlike the plastic parts assembled today. Thanks for the picture display.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Temporizing Critical Issues

The first to fly