New '58 Fender Deluxe-8 and CD review in Guitar Player :-)

[Steinar Gregertsen]

Yesterday I received the '58 Fender Deluxe-8 I bought from forum member Jan Jonsson in Sweden, and I'm in "Steel Guitar Heaven".
Not only is this steel a solid 9.5 cosmetically, I believe I counted something like ten very minor scratches and dings, but the sound.... oh boy.. it's smooth as velvet. Never had a steel that sounds as smooth as this before..

Here it is (haven't shot the "official portrait" yet because of bad weather) alongside the Fender Studio Deluxe I bought in early December:



And if floating around in Steel Guitar Heaven wasn't enough, I was made aware of this review in Guitar Player's "GP Editors Top Three" column today (it's in the February issue):

"Covering Hendrix tunes - let alone recording a whole album of them - is risky business. Yet in this case, the superb musicianship, sublime tones, and superlative arrangements justify the effort. Gregertsen's lap-steel and weissenborn playing are particularly majestic, effectively evoking Jimi's aestethic without becoming derivative."

Yeah, life's been worse....

[Mike Neer]

Congratulations, Steinar. And yes, those are some sweet steels. Can I get an aloha...I mean amen?

[Bill Leff]

Great news on all fronts. Hopefully GP provided a link to where readers can purchase your fine CD(s).

[Gary Stevenson]

Is it the pickups that make the 8 sound better than the 6-string?Have you posted sound clips yet?

[Doug Beaumier]

Congrats, Steinar! I'm glad you like the sound of the Deluxe 8. You'll find some interesting tones in the blend knob, the two pickups. Looking forward to hearing an audio clip sometime.

[Steinar Gregertsen]

Is it the pickups that make the 8 sound better than the 6-string?Have you posted sound clips yet?

While there is a noticeable difference in the acoustic tone, especially the sustain is much better on the 8-string, it's very much about the pickup(s).
The bridge pickup in the 8-string on its own isn't much to get excited about, but - as Doug suggests - the 'magic' happens when you start blending in the second pickup. Turn it about 30-50% and it's the sweetest tone, blend in too much and it gets too bassy for my taste.

The tone of the 6-string isn't bad at all, just different,- a rougher, more edgy tone with more bite. Probably ideal for rockabilly and similar stuff that requires a 'dirtier' tone, especially after I replaced the original pickup with the Vintage Vibe.

Soundclips will have to wait till I get used to the narrow string spacing, too many "oops!" moments now...

[Mitch Crane]

Nice ! Was going to ask about the string spacing... a bit tighter than the 6's you're used to playing eh ? What tuning are you going to use on the Deluxe 8 ?

[Steinar Gregertsen]

What tuning are you going to use on the Deluxe 8 ?

Since much of the point of getting an 8-string was to break up old habits before I get completely stuck with them, I decided to go with C6 because it's really "foreign" to me and feels like (almost) starting over again. Will use A and Bb on the eight string but the jury is still out regarding the first string,- adding a 5th on top feels very logical to me, adding the 9th adds some very cool harmonic options, while the 3rd feels the safest way to go - so I won't go there..

[Todd Clinesmith]

Good idea Steinar. When I got into 6th tunings I chose a tuning that was different than anyting I had played before .... to keep my old habits,licks and comfort zones from creeping in. After about 3 months of frusrtation, alot of things clicked and I was a free man. I Look forward to hearing what you do with the 8 string
Todd