GFI Players,..Come on in (II) (*Updated 10/30/10)

[Dale Hansen]

That other ol' GFI thread (of mine) was getting a little bit 'long in the tooth', so I elected to start up another one, for the sake of our mutual convenience. Well..that, and so these new updates won't wind up getting buried at the bottom of page four of the old one.
If you're a GFI player, and looking for info on the Nylon mods, VKL kit, or any of several other oddities of mine, I'll refer you to page #1 of the old thread,as opposed to repeating all that stuff in here.
All that stuff is still right here > http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=[/b]

Today, however, I've got a special, limited offer for three S-10, or SD-10 GFI'ers.
I've been experimenting with some new finishes on the Slyde-Car's

These are all applique finishes:
On the left, is a chrome, which is kinda wet looking or, like a rear-view mirror that's a little iced over, in this picture.
On the top, is a prismatic decal material that really catches the light.
On the right, is what is called a 'carbon fiber' finish. I think it sorta has the look of an older type, flat braided battery cable.
Here are some other views of all three.
Chrome > Picture file
Prismatic (Indoor)> Picture file
Braided > Picture file


I've got these three units, ready to go and pre-fitted for a double framed GFI guitar.
These will go to first three GFI'ers that want em'. I consider these experimental, or demo units so they're discounted to $30 ea, + S&H ($5 0ff)
(Update)
*I neglected to mention that these 3 units are standard sized trays, for a 7/8 bar.

Some of you may be wondering what I did to my guitar....

A little Face-lift......Going from
This.. > ...To this >


She used to look like this:



Now...this is much more to my liking; simulating the traditional end-plate 'look', and a little added 'glitz'.



More mid sized pix > Picture file
Picture file
Picture file
Picture file
Picture file
Picture file
Picture file
Picture file
Picture file

Alrighty then,...enough of that.

There are probably a few newer GFI players nowadays, since that first thread.
I'd like to briefly address those players; whom, up until now, have been fortunate enough to remain unaware of my existence.

If anyone is interested in the DIY Nylon washer mod, I still have a few 'kits' left.
Simply send a self-addressed, pre-stamped envelope, along with $3 per neck to:
Dale Hansen
(Bessdang Gizmos)
2661 Long Hollow Pike
Hendersonville, Tn
37075-8721
It might be a good idea to drop me a line, so I know to watch for it in the mail.

Also, as of this week, there are 3 new videos about all of this stuff.
Click on my > WWW dot 'thing-a-ma-b0b' below, and it will take you right there.

[Dale Hansen]

Howdy again,

For those of you who have either e-mailed, or PM'd me about the 'Mod' kits or any other gadgets since my first posting here, on this new thread.
First off, thanks,.. I'm really glad to be hearing from all of you. Secondly, I apologize for my delay in getting back to you with my replies.
I was out of town from very early Wednesday a.m., and just got back this evening. (CC conference, at Stone Mountain, Ga)
I'll do my level best to keep up with all of your requests in a timely fashion, but please try to keep in mind that I'm out of my workshop during the week-days, and out working on a (residential) re-mod job. It's about an hours drive each way, but I'll try to hustle in the evenings, and get your stuff out ASAP.

Thanks,
Your pal, Dale
"An Equal opportunity Annoyer"

[Dale Hansen]

I suppose that y'all heard at least a little bit about all the fuss down here in the Nashville area.
We did have a few tornado watches in our area, and there was a twister or two elsewhere in the state. The big problem though, was the flooding here, and almost everywhere else statewide. It's a real mess.

As of today, Opry Mills Mall is nearly submerged. (the water is up to the roof on "Bass Pro Shop")
The Grand Ol' Opry House, and the Opryland Hotel are both in a real pickle too.
The 'experts' were saying that the crest was gonna peak out at 48' ft yesterday, but they crunched the #'s again, and the conjecture was later modified, saying now, that it's expected to reach 53' ft as of 8:00 pm. tonight.
I was reminded of a couple of very important things this weekend.
#1 To respect the highly destructive nature of fast moving water.
#2 Never to fall asleep on the couch during a thunderstorm,...while watching a pirate movie in full stereo surround sound.

I also need to post a quick notice here.
Last Saturday morning, I sent out a handful of 'Mod' kits to a handful of expectant recipients.
By Sunday noon, the Goodlettsville P.O. was most likely underwater.
To those who may be inadvertently affected by my poor sense of timing, please let me know if your kits don't show up within a timely fashion. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you get them.

(New Business)
Now,... would somebody else, (besides myself) be kind enough to post on this new (Volume II) thread?
I'm about ready to put in a SGF moderator lock-up request on the old GFI'er thread, leaving it up, but buried, and only as an archive, for any future GFI'er's benefit, and reference.
(More Business)
I have just a very few of these 'Mod' kits left. Rest assured, I'll order, pre-cut, and package more, if need be, but, not until this current 'stock' is all gone.
(...One More Thing)
Fairly soon, I'll be coming out with the first segment of a new instructional video series (with a twist), focusing on the finer mental aspects of playing pedal steel, and overcoming mental obstacles, entitled: "The Zone"
Sometime next week, in the interest of encouraging more participation/feedback on this thread. I'm gonna toss in a sneak preview (as an article,...right here) about winning your battles with what I've termed, 'Fret'-dyslexia. (A disorder that I, personally, suffer from too) (It is an acquired malady, brought on by stressing out, and trying too hard.)
We'll focus on a few new ways, and tricks to help eliminate a boatload of extra, unnecessary thinking about fret positions, while learning new material.
It'll contain all of the same 'cheats' I use, myself.
Stay tuned...
Thanks,
DH

[Dale Lee]

Well... From one Dale to another, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your mental obstacle & fret dyslexia instruction.

[Ron Mercille]

Dale, I have 2 ultras. A double neck 10 and single ten with pad. The nylon washers work great on both guitars. I am interested in ordering 2 pedal brackets, 2 Vertical lift kits, 1 slyde car, 1 music stand, and 1 leg stabelizer. If you could e-mail me with info, and prices, I would like to order the above. My e-mail is: rmercille@yahoo.com Thanks for all of your sharing of information to us GFI'rs.
Thank you Ron Mercille

[Chris Garner]

I just got in my Slyde-Car today. Dale shipped it quickly and it looks and works great! I like the fact that I can put the cover on it and transport my picks and bar safely inside of it in my pac-a-seat. A+

[Dale Lee]

Hey Dale,

Back on May 3 you said

Fairly soon, I'll be coming out with the first segment of a new instructional video series (with a twist), focusing on the finer mental aspects of playing pedal steel, and overcoming mental obstacles, entitled: "The Zone"
Sometime next week, in the interest of encouraging more participation/feedback on this thread. I'm gonna toss in a sneak preview (as an article,...right here) about winning your battles with what I've termed, 'Fret'-dyslexia. (A disorder that I, personally, suffer from too) (It is an acquired malady, brought on by stressing out, and trying too hard.)
We'll focus on a few new ways, and tricks to help eliminate a boatload of extra, unnecessary thinking about fret positions, while learning new material.
It'll contain all of the same 'cheats' I use, myself.

Did this ever come out or did I "Zone Out" and miss it? (very possible.) Or maybe you decided not to.

PS: I have one of your gizmos. They are great.

[Dale Hansen]

Hi Dale,

Sorry,...I kinda chilled out on the idea for the video series. I seriously doubt that there would be enough interest (amongst the pedal steel community) in a whole different approach,.. especially one that's rooted in sports psychology. It seems to me that most steelers are largely content, and comfortable enough with standard learning methods.
However, Mr. Lee, if you are still interested about my personal approach to playing, I highly recommend a book entitled "The Inner game of Tennis", by Timothy Galwey. You can pick one up fairly cheap over on Amazon.
Believe me,..I already know what you're thinking.
I wouldn't give two bits, or a half a crap about learning anything about the game of tennis either. Tennis, in this book, is basically just a familiar vehicle for illustrating the method. The real meat of it, is about managing your own focus, thought processes, cultivating discipline, and achieving a higher level of efficiency.
There's no Zen, contemplating your navel, burning incense, or animal sacrifices involved.
In fact the "Zone" isn't even mentioned in the book at all. That was my idea, for the video project, to address the highly misunderstood concept about what "the zone" actually is,...and isn't. In short, the 'zone' is a rare phenomenon that only happens when all the prerequisite conditions are met. I've only experienced it a handful of times myself, most times while riding a rodeo bronc, and only once, briefly, while playing steel. It is real, and kinda weird. Time seems to slow down to a crawl, and there is almost a surreal sense of having been born... just for that particular moment.
I once had a conversation with a pal, Wayne Herman, a fella I rodeoed with in high school. Wayne went on to be a full time pro bareback rider, and won the world championship (PRCA) in 92'. While chatting, I described a fairly fresh 'zone' episode in detail to him, and I was convinced that those rare, odd, time warp sessions were unique to me alone. I was a bit stunned when he casually replied; "Yeah,...ain't that neat when that happens"? I quickly learned that I wasn't all that unique. Apparently, he'd had a few rare 'warps' of his own, over the years.
The whole point of this story is: First, to explain that anybody can experience it. Second, It is something that just 'happens',...it's impossible to will, or force oneself into the 'zone' bubble.
But,..Third, and most importantly, it is possible to artificially create a 'zone'-like environment while practicing, and learning on a pedal steel guitar...That is,...if certain conditions are met. Those conditions are Focus, Awareness, Relaxation, and Trust. ...(You can rearrange the sequence, and build a RAFT out of it, if you'd prefer...)
Focus, is having the ability to do whatever you're doing and only what you're doing, while you're doing it. Confused? What I mean is; if I am sitting behind my guitar running up and down some scales, or patterns while thinking about stupid irrelevant stuff, such as a lawn that needs mowing, or anything else that I probably ought to be doing instead of playing...I'm only about half present,..at best. I have to allow myself the indulgence of saying "Ok,..for the next 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or however long I decide to sit at my guitar, the rest of the world can just wait. It's a learned skill, or discipline.
Awareness, another learned skill, helps you reel your thoughts in and keeps the critical, nagging part of your mind occupied. In other words, If I maintain a simple awareness of everything that I can physically sense, such as the weight of the bar, the way the picks feel when they contact the strings, whether my hands feel tight, or fluid that day...
Relaxation,...is just that. Over the years, I've discovered that if I learn a new lick while I'm tensed up, frustrated, or impatient, it gets programmed into my wiring that way and it's difficult to un-stick it. Case in point: There is a 4- bar lick that I practiced every day, about 20 years ago. It was such a coveted prize, that I tried to rush it along, and forced it into the bag too quickly. It's not a difficult pattern, weaving through the chromatic strings and ending with a cross-over pattern going down to the 8th string. (E9th) I still have trouble with it, on occasion, to this day. I have since, overwritten the old programming, but the old 'track' is still grooved in deep. If I'm the least bit tense while trying to execute it, I'll miss the last note...every time. And, it's all because I programmed it in that way.
Trust, is trusting in your own natural learning abilities, more like the way a young child learns amazing things spontaneously,... before someone comes along and spoils everything by telling him how difficult, or impossible it is. It is also trusting your sub-conscious mind to just let things go, and just happen because you know, that you know...what you know.
Whenever you can pull the trigger, or hit the "go" button on a single-string riff and get all the way through it...perfectly and realize that you didn't have to coach yourself all the way through to the landing,...That's trust. It's like cruise control, or auto pilot.
Most guys don't come to a realization of the concept until it happens by sheer accident. There they sit one night, absolutely stunned that they just ripped through that "Rocky Top" solo with out a flaw for the very first time....ever ...And, all because a shapely barmaid just happened to bend over to pick up a quarter, as the fiddle player was wrapping up the first half of the solo.
Somebody once asked Buddy Emmons what it was that he thought about while playing a solo. "Nothing in particular", he replied.
Exactly. Nobody has ever said it better than that.

Well, Mr. Lee, that wraps up my official post for the year 2010. Just for you.

There might be another. I do have a couple new GFI 'mod' upgrades to share with fellow GFI'ers. I just need to get some pictures uploaded, and then get back in here to post em', along with some relevant info. I'll address that "fret-lexia" thing then too.

Happy trails.

DH

[Dale Lee]

Wow! Thanks, Mr. H. I feel like I got the whole lesson for free. You said a real mouthful there. It’s going to take a while to digest, but I can identify with every point.

Thanks again, and I mean it. I very sincerely appreciate you taking the time and trouble to make such an in-depth reply. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t get some feedback on this from other readers.

Kind regards,
Mr. Lee

[Dale Hansen]

You're very welcome, Dale.

I figured that I owed it to you, & thanks again, for your interest.
I still might go ahead and do the project sometime in the future, but it's kinda tough to justify the expense right now.
This week, I've been busy tallying up the number of those that appear to be open to the concept.
If I can count you,...that would bring it up to,...lessee, ummmm....One.

Whenever I get another decent chunk of time, I'll be back to show you those other practice 'cheats' I hinted about.
(...hopefully soon)

Thanks for your patience, and kindness.
Blessings, DH

[Dale Hansen]

Some of you fellas already know my story about the Spring of 2007, when I sold my Emmons PP guitar, and bought a GFI 'Ultra'.
Three years,...No regrets.
In the beginning, I only had a couple of little complaints about it.
The first, was that it was kinda clanky, and noisy underneath. That problem was solved, for the most part, by the nylon 'mod' washers that I slipped in between the brass receivers and the bell cranks. Next, I gathered up some of the rod slack with some nylon ties, and eliminated even more of the rattling.

What I haven't told anyone about yet, is that a few months ago, I did some more tweakin' around the pedal rods.
Not, to say that it's any big secret...I just figured I should test these newest 'mods' for wear by playing it for awhile before I started recommending my trick to others. The probation period is over now, and they've tested out, and proven themselves extremely well. Virtually no wear.
If you'll notice, the holes that receive the hook end of the rods are quite a bit over-sized to accommodate the rods. I decided to 'beef ' up the rods, right at the crook of the hook, to take up some slack, and true up the pulls a bit to make them more positive.


This can be done fairly easily with electronic shrink wrap tubes. You can find them at Radio Shack. The first step is prepping the parts. A)Take some fine W/D sandpaper, or Emery cloth and smooth down the holes at the cross-rods where the pedal rods hook in. You don't want any sharp edges that might cut into the plastic shrinks. B) Grind, file, or sand the ends of the hooks to a slight taper. If you grind or file, its faster, but finish up with a very fine sandpaper to smooth out the final finish.
C) Select a shrink tube that is closest to the same size as the rod.(Not larger)



Next, you'll cut the tubes into 3/4" lengths, and take a very small needle nosed pliers, and stretch them out a bit bigger than the rod. You should warm the tubes a little to help them stretch. I'd put them all into a bowl of hot water and let em' soak awhile to loosen them up before inserting the pliers to stretch them.


Go about halfway through, and work them gently, and do the other end the same way until its hyper-extended enough to slip over the hook.

They are a little tough to get worked into position, but well worth the effort once they're on.
You can dip them back into the water before installing. the water will act like a lube, and will evaporate out.

When you get it on, it should look like this. (below)



You'll need a heat gun, or a stove top to shrink them up tight. I wouldn't recommend using a lighter, or any open flame. It's too hard to control the heat.

When they're on good and snug, and form fitted, you can take a single edged razor blade, and slightly bevel the leading edge of the wrap to keep it from hanging up on the hole.
Now, put them back on your guitar, and play it.
You'll be truly amazed at the improved feel, the missing slack, and the quietness of your rods.
Besides that, you're reducing a lot of constant wear, by eliminating yet another point of metal to metal contact.

....Let's move on to complaint #2 (mine)
The second thing I wasn't so thrilled about with my new guitar was the 'unfinished' look of the front of the guitar. I prefer the traditional, beefy, end-plate look, so I built some 'wrap arounds' for it.
They're 1/8" aluminum angle, cut to size, and rounded off at the corners and ends; creating the illusion of genuine end-plates. I used a heavy duty 3M spray adhesive to 'stick' em', but they can also be installed with double sided tape, rubber cement, shoe goo, or just about anything else.




These look better than they photograph (indoors, flash) I'm gonna take some better ones tomorrow. (outside)

One last thing. If your tuning wrench is a bit loose on the nylon tuners, you can 'paint' the inside of the barrel with a thin coat of superglue. Swab out the barrel with a Q-tip and some alcohol, to clean it thoroughly. When it's dry, use a small fingernail polish brush and a dab of superglue to coat it all around the inside. Brush until it's even all around the inside, allowing no thick drops to form.
I shouldn't hafta say this,...but do make sure it's completely dry before you try it on the nylon tuners.
It might be a little snug when you first use it, but it will quickly wear down to exactly the right size, and won't fall off and roll between the VP and the pedal-rack like it used to.

That's about all for now.

Thanks,
Your pal, Dale

*If you are a GFI player, and just hearing about all of this GFI 'Mod' stuff for the first time...click on my 'WWW" bubble below and see the video "More Goodies for GFI Players".