| Author |
Topic: Bigsby pedal steel surfaces... |
Tom Quinn
|
Posted 19 Apr 2005 7:43 pm |
|
I apologize in advance if this is the wrong place for this topic, or even the wrong type of post, but Bigsby pedal steels are so rare, that I thought I'd post a headsup... :- )
There is one in fact on ebay in the antique musical instruments section, as well as its volume pedal in a separate auction...
Again, I hope this post is not out of line... I don't know the seller and I am not in the market for one myself. |
|
|
|
Ron !
|
|
|
|
Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
|
Posted 20 Apr 2005 12:20 am
|
|
| Actually, neither one of the first or last ones. This falls somewhere in the early middle of the "production line" ( -53 ). The first ones were built in the mid/late 40's and the last one in -63. I believe this one was originally built for Billy Mize. |
|
|
|
Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
|
Posted 20 Apr 2005 4:57 am
|
|
| It will be interesting to see what this item fetches. Anyone want to take the under on $15,000? Putting it on my watch list and shoving off to buy some lotto tickets... |
|
|
|
Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
|
Posted 20 Apr 2005 8:30 am
|
|
4 Large and Reserve not met!...yet.  |
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
Posted 20 Apr 2005 8:55 am
|
|
| Interesting; I thought eBay only showed actual bid amount of each bidder AFTER the auction closes; now you can see all the bids... |
|
|
|
Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
|
Posted 20 Apr 2005 12:32 pm
|
|
Jim--I've been watching this from the beginning (and since it was originally posted on the forum last Sunday) and I believe that the bids you are seeing are only what competitive bidding is revealing via the proxy bid system. The high bid, which is still short of the reserve, was forced by another more recent bidder's entry. So what we are now seeing is everbody else's high bids (which have fallen short), but not the high bidder's;--his high is.....only he knows.
The part of the system that I've never understood, though, is why bother with all of that if the reserve still isn't met? What does it matter who outbids who if it's all under the reserve radar?
Ah, the mysteries.[This message was edited by Jon Light on 20 April 2005 at 01:36 PM.] |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
Posted 21 Apr 2005 7:58 am
|
|
| What is interesting to me are the double cable pullers coming from the bellcranks-I do not know if they are original as I have not seen that before-most of the rest looks original including the old ceramic pulleys-the tone/volume knobs are not original-who ever gets this guitar will need to get originals from me-'53 is certainly what I would consider an early (but not earliest) style because it has the "raised graphics" on the necks a feature I consider to be more valuable than the '56 and later guitars that had the mounted metal fretboards-the side rails are a nifty addition usually only seen on earlier triples-The small extra leg case looks like P. Bigsby made it |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
|
|
|
Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
|
Posted 21 Apr 2005 9:37 am
|
|
Paul, the one I have has double cable pullers like that, slightly narrower design but pretty much the same anyway. And all in all, the layout of the underside looks alot like on mine though the set up and tunings are probably totally different. Definately PA's touch!
Some of the forumites could tell you a lot more about Billy Mize than I, but in short he was an LA steel player, Town Hall Party house steeler, session guy and later on had a fairly succesful career as a singer too. A search here on the forum will give you lot more info. [This message was edited by Jussi Huhtakangas on 21 April 2005 at 10:42 AM.] |
|
|
|
Savell
From:
Slocomb, AL
|
Posted 21 Apr 2005 9:49 am
|
|
| . [This message was edited by Savell on 29 May 2005 at 06:56 PM.] |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
Posted 21 Apr 2005 11:20 am
|
|
Jussi-thanks-I have little doubt of the full originality of the double pullers coming off of the bell crank that way-Bigsby did some wierd things under these-But none previous that I have encountered have had more than the one clevis arm pinned to the bell crank-There seems to be a part that I am not familiar with installed at the bell crank to make the double pull-I would like to see a closer picture of that  |
|
|
|
Ian Finlay
From:
Kenton, UK
|
Posted 21 Apr 2005 12:22 pm
|
|
Yes, it is the same guy. Although I haven't received the pedal yet his email communication has been "straight up", and he resolved my question that I mentioned in another thread.
I've already bid on this at a lower level, and if I can sell my '49 ES-5, '50s J200 and '57 Gretsch 6120 I'll be bidding again!
If I do, my '57 T8 Stringmaster will be for sale too.....
Ian |
|
|
|
Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
|
Posted 21 Apr 2005 9:23 pm
|
|
| Paul, check your mail for double pulls! |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
Posted 22 Apr 2005 6:47 am
|
|
| Jussi-Thanks-Check your email! |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
Posted 22 Apr 2005 8:02 am
|
|
| The seller has added the comment that this guitar was owned by Larry Petree which is probably true because Larry told me he had another Bigsby-This however IS NOT Larry Petree's Bigsby that was originally built for him in 1951-I believe that guitar still has his (Larry Petree) name on the front |
|
|
|
Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
|
Posted 22 Apr 2005 10:00 am
|
|
Thanks Paul, I need to wait until Monday morning when I get back to the office!
I didn't know Larry had one originally built for him, that would be another addition to the list. In any case, the number of the Bigsby steels by now is way higher than 43 ( like the seller mentions ), I already have something around 70-80 steel guitars on the list. Man, are we geeks or what!! ( or is it just me?) |
|
|
|
Dana Duplan
From:
Ramona, CA
|
Posted 24 Apr 2005 8:05 pm
|
|
Well, I wish Larry would chime in, but he told me a while back that the T8 Bigsby that he owned for many years was originally built for Billy Mize, and when Larry got it (sometime in the 50's) he had his name put on it. I seem to recall Larry telling me he had P. Bigsby do some upgrades to it in the early sixties. When the guitar sold a few years ago, it still had Larry's name on it. When I first saw this guitar on Ebay, I questioned whether in fact, it was Larry's guitar--if that's the case, an owner since removed his name. I don't recall Larry ever stating he had more than one Bigsby.
DD |
|
|
|
Ian Finlay
From:
Kenton, UK
|
Posted 24 Apr 2005 10:21 pm
|
|
I spoke to Larry's wife yesterday - apparently he looked at the auction and verified that it looked like his. Also that the seller has lost money on it, which is a surprise to me anyway.
If it wasn't 2am when it finished I might have got that one for myself.... the penalty of not living in the US I guess.
Ian |
|
|
|
chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
|
Posted 24 Apr 2005 10:58 pm
|
|
| $6850. Hmmm, looks like Bigsby stock has dropped a bit, maybe I should put my money in the stock market, nope, that's going down too. Maybe I should save up so I can buy a tank of gas..... |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
Posted 25 Apr 2005 10:07 am
|
|
I apologize if I was in error  What I directly recall Larry telling me is that his Bigsby was a '51 He sent me pictures of it and his name was on the front-If this is the same guitar then his name was removed-Anyway somebody got a real nice horn-Several had asked of me for my valuation of the guitar-I believe the reserve price (6-G's) was realistic for a low end that would be good for the buyer-I estimated the high end to be $1500 more than the reserve-so the selling price fell almost exactly in between my estimation of the good buyers price and the good sellers price-If anyone doubts me on that just ask T C Furlong what I told him in the beginning of the auction (He was third highest bid) While my dear friend Chas says it looks like the Bigsby market is falling-I believe it is still stable although a bit shaken by the unusual circumstance that no less than three vintage Bigsby steels come to public market within a month's time  To T C and Ian-Better luck with the next time! Maybe the next Bigsby to come up on the block will have the provenance of a more well known personality players ownership  |
|
|
|
Ian Finlay
From:
Kenton, UK
|
Posted 25 Apr 2005 12:41 pm
|
|
The close-up pics the seller sent showed the lighter wood underneath Larry's name which was removed. Paul, if you'd like them just drop me an email. They're about 3.5Mb though!
Silly thing about that auction is that I would have bid somewhat higher, but I got so tired that I just set up an auto-bid on Auctionstealer. Never mind... I should have a Fender 1000 in the near future which will be cheaper anyway, so my Wife will be happier!
Ian |
|
|
|
Larry Petree
From:
Bakersfield. Ca. USA
|
Posted 25 Apr 2005 2:08 pm
|
|
I will try and answer the Bigsby questions.
Billy Mize had Paul build him a 3/8 string steel. It was built 3/15/53. Since Paul was developing the bridge changer, Billy had the plugs put in the keyhead end. He decided to wait for the pedals until Paul had perfected the bridge changer. If he wanted to raise or lower the same string, it could be done with the keyhead changer as an extra. Soon after he had Paul install 3 pedals using the bridge changer. They worked on the center, and outside neck.
At the time I had a 3/8 neck Fender Stringmaster that I put the Bud Isaac pedal in the middle neck.
Since Billy was playing the town Hall Party on weekly TV, he asked me if I would be interested in trading steels. At the time The Fender company was starting the endorsement program. So if he was playing Fender products, he would be able to get equipment, for playing their instruments on TV. This was a huge show in the LA area, and was a plus for Fender,
We traded steels, and I had his name taken off, and refinished the steel. I had my name put on at this time.
Shortly after the refinish, I got a playing job with a band that played a lot of old standards. I could see that I needed more chords on the A6th tuning(rear neck).
I took the steel to paul, and had him put on 2 more pedals. On the rear neck I now had a diminished, flat 5th, and augmented chord on the A6th neck.
Years later after selling the steel,I got
the steel back. At this time I took it all apart to clean it up and split the Issac pedal. I contacted Paul Warnik for some parts to up grade the middle neck to split pedals. He didn't have spare parts to split, so he drew an outline of the parts, and sent them to me. I fabricated the parts.
I recently sold the steel to a gentleman in the Southern California area. He had a great collection of vintage steels. He later moved to Idaho, and I lost contact with him. I did get to visit with him at the Dallas show a couple of years ago.
I was surprised to see it on Ebay.
I hope I haven't bored the readers of the Forum, but I hope this answers some questions. If any of you want more info, just email me. Larry[This message was edited by Larry Petree on 25 April 2005 at 03:11 PM.] |
|
|
|
Bobbe Seymour
From:
Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.
|
Posted 25 Apr 2005 2:49 pm
|
|
One of my Bigsby's is a triple eight with the name ,"Arnold Nelson" on it, anyone have any info on it?
It isn't for sale because I got it at a very fair price from a very good friend, and wouldn't feel right about selling it, however, I'd like to know who "Arnold Nelson" is. And anything about him. Can anyone offer any information?
Bobbe, |
|
|
|
Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
|
Posted 25 Apr 2005 2:56 pm
|
|
| Larry P-Hello and thank you for clearing that up-I mistakenly believed that the Bigsby triple neck with your name on it was yours from the "get-go" |
|
|
|
I have original pickup magnets sets to replace to broken one too!