I have four different types of bars, but I'm curious about three of them and would like to find out more if possible.
One is black and slim. At the end, it has Nick Manoloff PAT. 2073331 Could it be a bar for students?
Another appears to be stainless steel, has a more rounded tip and is light.
The third has a tip that is not as rounded and is hollow inside. It has a plastic cap that fits on the end. I thought it could be a finger slide bar but if it is, it must be for someone with really small fingers because it won't even fit on my pinky.
The black bar goes back to the 1930's. Nick Manoloff was the premiere teacher back then. (I still have a couple of his books.) The bakelite bars made a softer sound, with less sustain.
The hollow bar with the plug could be an old Ernie Ball. They made a lot of lighter (drilled out and plugged) bars.
The stainless bar (or, it could be chromed steel) might have been made by just about anyone. Over the years, there have been hundreds of different bars made from dozens of different materials. It's hard to pin down the maker, sometimes, unless they're marked.
Donny Hinson wrote:The black bar goes back to the 1930's. Nick Manoloff was the premiere teacher back then. (I still have a couple of his books.) The bakelite bars made a softer sound, with less sustain.
The hollow bar with the plug could be an old Ernie Ball. They made a lot of lighter (drilled out and plugged) bars.
The stainless bar (or, it could be chromed steel) might have been made by just about anyone. Over the years, there have been hundreds of different bars made from dozens of different materials. It's hard to pin down the maker, sometimes, unless they're marked.
Thanks! Any idea why the black bar is so slinder or what it's made of? Or is bakelite a type of material? Do you know what the purpose of making the other bar hollow could be?
Bars were hollowed out to make a larger diameter bar lighter.
BJS makes a bar called the "John Hughey" model. It is a 15/16" bar that is drilled out to weight approx. the same as a 7/8" bar.
Jason, bakelite was/is the first plastic-like material. It is easily molded, and your parents and grandparents grew up with the stuff everywhere. Phone shells, record player tonearms, and a lot of other stuff were made of it.
Kinda heavy, and quite brittle. I think some stuff is still made of it.
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
Jason, the "big bar" craze didn't really come about until the late '50s. Before that, most bars that were used were short and only 1/2" or 9/16" in diameter. In fact, many of the earliest bars were just a flat piece of steel with a rounded edge, like this one...
Donny Hinson wrote:Jason, the "big bar" craze didn't really come about until the late '50s. Before that, most bars that were used were short and only 1/2" or 9/16" in diameter. In fact, many of the earliest bars were just a flat piece of steel with a rounded edge, like this one...
