The Thingumajig Called Pedal Steel Guitar

[Stuart Legg]

The Pedal Steel guitar is the only guitar you can turn upside down and screw it's legs off.

[Bill Hankey]

Stuart,

It's the most universal instrument the world over. There are unlimited options still to be discovered by musicians who are reaching for the ultimate pleasures in harmonic bliss. The unlimited qualities known to exist, need only to be acted upon by the imagination.

[Doug Beaumier]

Bill, you mentioned that the Thighmaster can help build muscles for faster knee lever use... and thereby increase a player's speed(picking)? Could you elaborate on that, and have you tested this theory on a Thighmaster?

[Alan Brookes]

The Pedal Steel guitar is the only guitar you can turn upside down and screw it's legs off.

What about the non-pedal steel guitar ?

[Bill Hankey]

Doug,

I'm scheduled to keep an appointment at 10:15 this morning, so the clock on the wall is too distracting to present a detailed explanation depicting the great advantages discovered by using the Thighmaster reg. exercise invention. It has been an accepted fact that foot movements are quicker than the knees. I have a particular change on the right knee that raises both 4th & 8th strings a full tone. Normally the changes can be installed on the (C) pedal of the 9th tuning arrangement, that is, pedals corresponding to the tuning. The Thighmaster exercise assures a well toned muscular function, enabling me to apply that change a fraction faster than through ordinary muscular development. The E-F change is measurably smoother as well. Oh! By the way, my setup is DAY. The exercise may not be for everyone. Youthful musicians living in a world among physical fitness advocates most likely have exercise regimens to insure the utmost bodily functions. For those unfamiliar with the Thighmaster, it is held between the knees, and a user must overcome the resistance built into the device by pressing the knees inward.

[David Shepack]

The Nashville Crying Machine ?

The Electric Slide Harp ?

The Country String Organ ?

The American Pedal Slide ?

[John Cox]

The best two I've heard are; Pedal-Knee-Board-Gutiar and Table-Cheese-Slicer.


JC

[Stuart Legg]

The Pedal Steel guitar is the only guitar you can turn upside down and screw it's legs off.

What about the non-pedal steel guitar ?

Alan all I ever got out of one of them is a lap dance!

[Alan Brookes]

But you can still screw its legs off. In fact there are all sorts of parts you can screw off with the right screwdrivers.

[Alan Brookes]

Have you ever been tempted to rename the pedal steel guitar? ...

Bill, if ever you came out with your own brand of steel guitar you could call it the HANKEYCHIEF,

[Bill Hankey]

Alan,

It would have been a worthwhile project in my heyday. I knew several very clever craftsmen back 40 0r 50 years ago. One in particular, whose name was Bill Miller was the best cabinet maker I've ever known. I wish that the membership could have seen some of his creations. He was one in a million, having the most patience of anyone in memory. One of his ambitions was dismantling a Stanley Steamer automobile piece by piece. After cleaning and lubricating every part, he reassembled the entire machine. You really should have an association with such a person, if you ever choose to build a pedal steel guitar.

[Bo Legg]

Bill You could change your name to something classy like mine, like maybe “Tux Hankey” then your PSG could be simply named "The Tux" or something like Sho-Tux
You could go with “Pankey Hankey “ that has unlimited possibilities.
Slogan “The styling and coordination of color is unmatched. No other PSG folds away as neatly as a Tux Hankey ” .
I know this is silly but it's the only other thing I could think of to call your Thingumajig Called Pedal Steel Guitar.

[Bill Hankey]

Bo Legg,

I have to admit that your diversified imagination surpasses the average thinker. It's easy to imagine you as head of an organization known for producing choicest pedal steel guitars. You've missed your calling. Most everyone can relate to that life experience; sooner or later.

[Pete Burak]

When people ask me what the name of the instrument is, I fake a country accent and say it's a "Cowboy Piano", (pronounced "Pie-Annie!")

[Alan Brookes]

I have some very definite ideas on how the pedal steel guitar could be improved. To me, there are two main things to aim for:
[1] It should be possible to change the copedant from above without climbing underneath or turning the instrument upside down.
[2] It should be possible to change the copedant easily and in seconds. Every pedal and knee lever should be capable of pulling or pushing any combination of the strings without having to change rods.

The Multi-Kord had that, but the system was never improved upon. If the Harlin Brothers had moved the pedals to a normal position and perfected the mechanism so that it remained in tune and returned to tune accurately after the pedals were released, maybe all steel guitars would have a variation of that system now.

One of the jobs in my to-do list is to build a hybrid Multi-Kord/Fender cable pedal steel, incorporating parts of both, and, hopefully, getting the best of both worlds. I've already made a start. I'm thinking of using the cast iron base of an old Singer sewing machine to give it the ragidity that the Multi-Kords, with their fold-up legs, never had.

[Bill Hankey]

Alan,

I don't think so... uh.. um.. a sewing machine base? It would be too heavy and antiquated to serve as a refreshing new design to onlookers. American craftsmen have moved from manufacturing durable toys for example, to producing cheap breakable plastic goods. Another step in the wrong direction, would be to purchase insignificant particle board furniture. I would venture as far as proclaiming that buyers see only surface beauty; that is, the excellent grains of thin veneer made from walnut, mahogany, oak, etc. glued over the particle boards. While the sellers are counting their loot, I can't imagine that there isn't a warning label indicating that the furniture is not solid wood. You will notice that they don't neglect to remind a customer by various notifications, if the product is in fact made of solid wood. Imagine if the early violin master craftsmen resorted to the system of producing goods as they do today, back a few hundred years ago. Alan, it will be interesting to see how far you progress with your plan.

[Lane Gray]

Alan, B0b had been thinking of a microprocessor controlled idea, with pedals and knees running sensors, and tension adjusted by servos or stepper motors. If you kept a workstation hooked up to it, you could adjust on the fly. Possibly a different copedent for every song

[Bill Hankey]

Lane,

If I may interject at this moment to state that people as a whole like to be challenged. There is something universally inherent in the behaviorism of man that produces a desire to better oneself; oftentimes desiring to excel beyond his fellow man's best efforts to succeed in upgrading a lifestyle. You refer to "Bob's" proposed conception of a totally automated musical instrument. After all these years of struggling with defective equipment, electronic or otherwise, it's hard to imagine a musician upgrading to simplification.

[Lane Gray]

I dunno if I'd call it fully automated. Since we've had player pianos for a century or so, fully automated would mean plays itself.
The big upside to the servosteel would be for the JI players, who could write rules for every pedal combination

[Bill Hankey]

Lane,

According to William Camden "Remains Of A Greater Work" concerning Britain, and written in 1605, he wrote, "A faint heart never won a fair maiden". It's a pretty accurate assumption, even by today's standards. Courting gentlemen were encouraged to be bolder in those earlier times. Competitive boldness has become a standard wherever there is a dollar to be made. Commodities are saturated by rivalries. Musical instruments made by manufacturing firms are not excluded from the melee of trying to outdo one another. Old musical instruments known for their quality workmanship are commanding huge prices at auction sales. Prices in excess of $50,000.00 are no longer uncommon at auction sales. People are willing to pay for quality. I would think that steel guitars will someday fetch higher prices; depending on the materials and workmanship built into the instruments. As I've stated previously, I feel that calling the instrument pedal steel guitar, may become an inhibition to potential buyers.

[Alan Brookes]

Since I don't build commercially, but just for my own amusement, and I only build for myself and for my friends, I enjoy a challenge. Over the years I've built many experimental instruments, some of them complete failures, but I never cease to be fascinated by the challenge.

[Bill Hankey]

Alan,

All I can say is, free up the imagination; let it run wild. There is very doubt that many new ideas could be formulated with the progression of untried possibilities. One thing leads to another, until finally something occurs to the thoughtful mind. In other words, there are no laws preventing someone from weighing other plausible ideas by trial and error.

[Bo Legg]

Alan along with some of your instrument inventions aren't you the guy that invented butt-braille tab for steel guitar.

[Bill Hankey]

Bo Legg,

99% of this business of music has yet to be explored. Naturally, that would include the inexplicable expanse of man's ignorance in terms of lack of knowledge, that can only be attained through extensive studies. Libraries are full of books, technical and otherwise that will never be read. The same rule applies to musical abilities among musicians. Who knows what is lurking up around the bend in some remote corner of forestry. My suggestion to rename the pedal steel guitar has met the same nonchalance as those gazing at the library books collecting dust, high on the shelves. Is the steel guitar becoming more of a musical reference, than a musical instrument? Where are those who could fill the shoes of C.Chalker, J.Day, R.Mooney, H.Rugg, J.Byrd, and others?

[Bo Legg]

Sorry Alan it was Allan Munro that came up with the Butt-Braille tab.
Bill I’m just waiting for artificial intelligence to take over so I can just pick and grin and (AI) can do all the serious thinking, come up with inventions and make all my decisions for me.