Ethel Starr, Eddie Gabbard

Dale Bessant · From: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

Of course, being in Canada, I had never heard of her, but you have and it's really a gift to know of people like Ethel Starr, because of the history of this great instrument, may she R.I.P. and I thank her for all her contributions....do you know of any recordings? Thanks in advance....
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Jussi Huhtakangas · From: Helsinki, Finland

Eddie Gabbard and that Fender guitar:

I'm not sure where this photo was taken, my guess is in Germany ( judging by the Dynacord looking amp )where Eddie served in the late 50's early 60's. Me and Eddie's family have been long wondering whatever happened to that guitar and who was responsible for the pedal modification. We also found some unfinished castings of pedals and knobs in one of Eddie's old lockers that might have been parts of this project. This here is probably the same guitar before the pedals:

Jussi Huhtakangas · From: Helsinki, Finland

Eddie was from Tracy, CA and played with various bands in the area; in Fresno, Stockton, etc. Curley Cochran was his favorite player and Tommy Varner, Billy Jack Wills' steel player was his friend and taught him a lot of stuff. I believe he applied for the job Vance Terry got after Tommy was drafted. I have a couple of very lofi live recordings of him sitting in with Billy Jack's bands and on one of them it really sounds like Bob hollering in the background. Eddie joined the air force around -51 if I remember correct and by -58 he was already stationed in Germany and stayed there at least until -64. He ordered his Bigsby late -58 and it was delivered to him in Germany in February -63. He served two stints in Vietnam and after those was stationed in Fort Rucker AL, retired in the 70's and stayed in AL where his family still lives. Eddie passed away tragically in -79, he never returned to CA after retiring but his brother still lives out there. Regarding the Fender, we do not know whatever happened to it, and it's unclear what guitar he was playing before acquiring the Bigsby. Since the photo I posted is most likely from Germany, my guess is that he used the Fender. A photo of him in a camp in Vietnam shows him playing a D8 Stringmaster, though I don't know if it was actually his. The only guitar his son remembers from that time is the Bigsby. After settling in AL he also ordered a Marlen Speedy West which the family still has, as well as his blonde Fender Showman amp. It'd be great to find out whether or not that storage Fender actually was his.

Jussi Huhtakangas · From: Helsinki, Finland

Michael, the pedals and parts we found were unfinished castings so they are not from the Fender, nor do I know if they were from PA or possibly Rudy Farmer. They may even be from Ted MCCarthy, Eddie contacted Ted's Bigsby company in the 70's for parts. A letter from Ted indicates that he was thinking about building a D10 pedal steel using Ted's stock of Bigsby parts. Apparently he never got into it but bought the Marlen instead. Had he done it, the guitar would still be in his house in AL. Eddie continued to buy strings and parts, such as pots for the vol/tone pedal from Bigsby until PA sold the company, I got letters and invoices about that.
Eddie did return to US from Germany, his son told and remembers the boat trip back from Germany. At the moment, I don't remember if they returned to CA or AL, but he definately at least visited his family in CA. I'll post a link of this thread to Eddie's son, they do follow the forum occasionally and will be happy to read about Eddie.

Casey Lowmiller · From: Kansas

I agree that there are still some "unknown" and "undiscovered" Bigsby items. PAB was a businessman out to make money...and his skills were very in demand!!!

Look how many never-before-seen ultra-rare Mosrite guitars have turned up over the past few years. Several of the super-ornate Maphis-style double- necks have turned up...guitars that nobody knew about and some that had been rumors for years.

We all tend to focus on the country side of things, we seem to forget that the gospel world was using Standels and Mosrites back then...why not a Bigsby? Semie Moseley made a lot of stuff for gospel folks from around that area...surely PAB had some dealings that were similar.

I am always amazed at the experts that pop-up and say one thing and claim it as 100% fact, only to be proven wrong a year later when someone discovers a rare, never-before seen guitar/amp when a relative dies or someone, like you, finds a rare photo or article that proves or dispells and old myth.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE!!!

Casey
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Deke Dickerson · From: California, USA

Hi guys, just got back from being on tour in Europe for a month and am enjoying this entertaining thread about Ethel Starr and the Bigsby stuff.

Just a couple comments--YES the gospel guys were into Bigsby instruments and a lot of these instruments are still "underground" and not known about.

My Bigsby "white whale" story involved a preacher who went to Paul Bigsby's church in Downey named Eschol Cosby. Eschol's band "The Christian Cowboys" featured Eschol playing a Bigsby standard guitar, a Bigsby mandolin, and a Bigsby tenor guitar! In addition the steel player played a Bigsby T8 with two pedals...and Eschol's wife bought Paul Bigsby's upright bass!

I tracked Eschol down to Arizona about 15 years ago and saw all the instruments. it was mindblowing. His family didn't want to sell them and I believe only sold the tenor guitar recently to put their grandson through bible college.

of course the only reason I'm posting this info publicly is because George Gruhn and all the other well known dealers are all over Eschol's family now, and the instruments are well known. But I just thought i would post this story to illustrate that the gospel guys were into Bigsby instruments too.

There are also the Thomas Indian Family band, a Native American gospel outfit, with a Bigsby double-neck standard guitar and at least two Bigsby steel guitars.

Thanks again to Michael and Mike Black and Lee Jeffriess and all these guys who have been researching this stuff through the decades out of a love for these instruments and not just a desire to flip them and make money.

Lastly, regarding the total number of Bigsby instruments made....in the making of the Bigsby book we identified over 20 instruments made in the year 1949 (between steels, guitars, mandolins, acoustic conversions). I think that year just about killed him and that's why he started the "one instrument a month" regimen. So you've got a handful of instruments pre-1949, then 21 or 22 in 1949, and then one instrument a month from 1950 to 1963....180 or so instruments, which sounds about in the ballpark to me.

That would allow for a hundred or so steel guitars (and I know Jussi is still trying to sort out exactly how many of these guitars might have been resold and a new name inlaid on the front, so they would actually be one guitar and not two on the list, if you follow me), approximately 25 or so standard guitars, half a dozen mandolins, 15 or 20 acoustic guitar conversions, a couple tenor guitars....this all sounds about right to me. Undoubtedly there are some left in the closet somewhere but I don't think there are scads more to be found.

What is left is years of what I call "Egyptology" on Bigsby stuff, which is, try to sort out the real information from the rumors and facts based on photographs, and studying the instruments that are known. Since Bigsby is gone and most of the people he made instruments for are gone without ever being interviewed, a lot of it is just speculation.

What is interesting to me is how many female Bigsby steel guitar players have turned up in the last year or two....who would have guessed?

Deke

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

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