What brands have a distinctive tone?

Carson Leighton · Post by **Carson Leighton** » 21 Aug 2003 4:51 pm

Most of us that have been playing for quite a while can usually pick out an Emmons or Sho~Bud sound. With so many other brands of guitars out there, which one's have a distinctive sound? I'm not familiar with a lot of the other newer guitars and their tone.....Carson

ebb · Post by **ebb** » 21 Aug 2003 4:59 pm

fender
fixed grooved nut
fixed bridge
24.5 neck

Joerg Hennig · Post by **Joerg Hennig** » 22 Aug 2003 9:41 am

I think ZB´s have a distinctive "bite" all their own.

Joe H.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 22 Aug 2003 12:30 pm

They all might sound just a little different, but they all sound good. That's the important part. I've yet to play a steel I couldn't get a good sound (tone?) from. From what I read on the Forum, though, others aren't as lucky. Sidelight---Most blues and jazz players get a simply awful tone from their 6-stringers, but they're happy with it. I just write it all off as their "personal preference", and feel that most players who are unhappy with their "sound" are really just unhappy with their own playing.

Here's a "challenge" for 'ya. Got a steel with a "bad sound"? Bring it around sometime. Bring a tape recorder, too. I'll show you how to make it sound good!

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 22 Aug 2003 1:02 pm

My pedal BIGSBY has a unique sound....like those on the Tom Morrel and His Time Warp Tophands CD.

My old Ricks likewise have a most distinctive "sound".

I nearly always pick out a Sho-Bud like Lloyd Green's great "sound".

Derek Duplessie · Post by **Derek Duplessie** » 22 Aug 2003 1:48 pm

Franklins -Derek

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 22 Aug 2003 6:25 pm

Ray. Next time Doug is at Jubitz I think we'd both like to hear that Bigsby fired up. Us Young'uns haven't heard many if any of them.

You know it's funny. Larry Behm and I were just talking about that, and DAnny SHields' name came up.

Larry noted how Danny had a unique knowledge of just how the pickups were wound, engineered with magnet size and placement. He was the one who wound the pickups for Sierra at one point, and he did a couple of mine.

His area of course was more pickups than "cabinets" or course, but he could reportedly tell a bigsby from an msa, emmons, or SHo Bud.

Me, I'm not sure I can.

My favorite has always been the old Sho Bud, thin sound. Lots of "body noise".

I'm looking forward to getting the new Lloyd Green CD to see if his "sound" has changed from what I remember.

I'd say Sho Bud, Dekley, and ZBseemed to have a similar sound, seperate from the others, and thinner by characteristic. ZBs and some SHoBuds had tap switches that would guarantee high end.

The others, I'm not that sure about.

Gotta run.

EJL

Jeff A. Smith · Post by **Jeff A. Smith** » 22 Aug 2003 8:15 pm

With so many other brands of guitars out there, which one's have a distinctive sound?

Old MSA's have their own sound. Many don't care for it, but there's no denying they're different.

My brother recently bought a CD by L.T. Zinn, on which he is playing an MSA. I simply cannot imagine that anybody would say that L.T. isn't getting a beautiful tone on this CD. And yet it is still identifiably an MSA. It isn't trying to be a Sho-Bud, Emmons, or anything else. Anybody wanting to hear what an old MSA can do in the right hands, besides what Reece, Mike Perlowin, and Curly Chalker have done, check out the gospel CD by L.T. Zinn.

Beautiful and unique tone.

Carl West · Post by **Carl West** » 23 Aug 2003 6:22 am

I played Fender for years. Depending on the pickups, if one had the means to change them helped. I finally went back to the originals on the 2000 model.
My Emmons has a great sound but I'm inclined to agree with David that the sound is there on many, you just have to find what your looking for.

Carl West

Carl West · Post by **Carl West** » 23 Aug 2003 6:23 am

Sorry Donny, I said David. Too early here.

Carl West

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 23 Aug 2003 7:38 am

If It Says FENDER,Its different than any other sound. I can give you 2000 examples.
Listen to Carl Wests Fender 2000.

FENDER THE SOUND HEARD ROUND THE WORLD.

Right Carl?????

And the cat adds to the sound. Meow

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 24 Aug 2003 12:10 pm

Well now Eric..........I suppose I could do that, altho' it's too wide to fit in the rear of my van. I'll try to figure something out for a rainy day in the future.

Danny Sheilds came to my place just prior to his passing. He measured the Bigsby pickup dimensions and examined and measured some more. Never heard anything after that.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 24 Aug 2003 6:03 pm

I heard that whatever Bigsby's formulas were were the "cat's pajamas" when it came to clarity/signal strength, and he was peobably going to try and duplicate it.

I wish to heck I could find my SB E9 that he wound for me. I really liked it, and it might give ideas to those currently winding them. I'm still looking.

EJL

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 25 Aug 2003 10:20 am

What Jody says is significant. Many people say that Fender pedal steels do have a most "distinctive" sound. I think that most steels can have a distinctive sound, but they don't always. It has to do with the player, and the amp, as well. Many players bought Emmons pedal steels to get Buddy's sound, and some were quite disappointed! Same goes for ZB...they don't always give you the sound that Tom Brumley had on Buck's records.

There's much more in the equation than just the brand of the guitar.

Brands have characteristics, but those characteristics vary tremendously, depending on the player and the amp. Dig out some old records, and give 'em a listen...

Listen to some of Ralph Mooney's early playing. Now listen to Jimmy Day's "Steel And Strings". Then listen to some of Sneaky Pete Kleinow's stuff. Then, put on an old Buck Owens record with Jay McDonald. Finally, listen to Curly Chalker's "Big Hits On Big Steel".

Okay, now...what did you hear?

Did they all sound alike?

Did they all sound even remotely alike?

Have you learned anything about the "tone" of particular steels? Well, I certainly hope so!

You see, you've got a surprise coming.

It may be something you've probably never realized, or even thought about!

All these wonderful, yet vastly different sounds were played...

...on a Fender pedal steel!!!

And now, you know...the rest of the story.

(And why everyone who plays an Emmons doesn't sound like Buddy!) [This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 25 August 2003 at 11:21 AM.]

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 25 Aug 2003 11:32 am

Nor does everyone who plays a FENDER
Four Wheel Drive was recorded on a Fender.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

ebb · Post by **ebb** » 25 Aug 2003 5:31 pm

with all due respect to dh.
i definitley can hear the fender connection for mooney,mcdonald and sneaky. there are some dissenting opinions on day's steel and strings and chalker's big hits from herb steiner and tommy white who identify these guitars as sho~buds. but i wouldn't be suprised if chalker was playing a sierra artist. he definitely makes hinson's point [This message was edited by ebb on 25 August 2003 at 06:56 PM.]

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 25 Aug 2003 6:44 pm

OK,,well with all due respect to Herb Steiner
and Tommy White,Scotty confirmed to me that
Curly was in fact playing a Fender 1000 on that LP.

So who's word and you going to take for that?

Its on record that it was the Fender 1000 on Big Hits. And that has been confirmed by others as well..

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 26 Aug 2003 12:38 pm

Ed Bierly wrote:

but i wouldn't be suprised if chalker was playing a sierra artist.

I thought that the Sierra Artist was a recent model, invented after Curly left us. Was there another, earlier Sierra Artist model?

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

ebb · Post by **ebb** » 26 Aug 2003 4:33 pm

i was merely using the artist as a proxy for a very distinktive tone that chalker would bend to his will

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 26 Aug 2003 6:25 pm

ZB Custom. Very distinct.

Craig Holden · Post by **Craig Holden** » 2 Sep 2003 7:38 pm

I have and play a '58 Fender 1000 and have compared it side by side to a '68 Emmons and a '70 Professional. The Fender's tone and timbre is very different, I suppose in part due to the the longer scale, the fixed bridge and nut, and the wrap-around aluminum frame. A glassy tone is how I describe it. My buddy says it sounds like a Tele with pedals, and t'aint bad at that!

Gerald Menke · Post by **Gerald Menke** » 10 Sep 2003 7:22 am

Interesting question, I'd like to add that Williams guitars have a distinctive tone, Bob Hoffnar and I get together from time to time and it's remarkable how different the Williams sounds from his old push-pull. Granted, his Emmons does sound tougher, more aggressive, but harmonics sound out of this world on the Williams. Listen to any record with Greg Leisz and you'll hear it. Funny thing is that when Bob plays my guitar, he sounds just like him, and when I try to play his, I sound like me.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 10 Sep 2003 7:27 am

Funny thing is that when Bob plays my guitar, he sounds just like him, and when I try to play his, I sound like me.

This remark speaks volumes.

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 10 Sep 2003 12:13 pm

I always thought my RusLer had a fat but, mellow, and a sharp and crisp tone. Depending on who was playing it. (Kinda sounds like imported cheese, eh ? )

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 10 Sep 2003 3:54 pm

To clarify matters, I never opined that Curly played a Sho~Bud on "Big Hits." It's fairly well known that he played a Fender 1K on that record.

Though I was a dear friend of Jimmy Day, I did mistakenly hold the belief for awhile that "Steel and Strings" was a Fender guitar. It was a Sho~Bud on that recording. In D9 tuning, incidentally.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 10 September 2003 at 04:56 PM.]