Steel Guitar Misinformation

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Mar 2022 7:55 am

I see this kind of chatter a lot. Guitarists giving "slide guitar" advice about pedal steel guitar. A couple of things... you don't need to learn to play regular guitar before learning pedal steel guitar. And playing with a finger slide is a different technique than holding and using a solid, heavy bar. $:\$

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 16 Mar 2022 8:19 am

By learning to drive a stick shift pickup truck, you have the basics for flying a space shuttle.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Mar 2022 8:29 am

You got it, Fred!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 16 Mar 2022 10:40 am

Ahh yes, the internet. You can learn just about anything from the internet!

I like to call it "The World's most reliable source of disinformation".

~

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Mar 2022 11:04 am

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 16 Mar 2022 11:21 am

It's just a "slide-peddle piano"!

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 16 Mar 2022 12:16 pm

What is a finger slide? And who the @#*! was Santos?

Mike Ester · Post by **Mike Ester** » 16 Mar 2022 12:54 pm

Donny Hinson wrote:Ahh yes, the internet. You can learn just about anything from the internet!

I like to call it "The World's most reliable source of disinformation".

~

"The best thing about the Internet is that you can quote anything without verifying your sources."

Aristotle

Randy Beavers · Post by **Randy Beavers** » 16 Mar 2022 1:10 pm

Kind reminds me of the Mark Twain quote.
“The preacher charged nothing for his service, and it was worth it too!”

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Mar 2022 1:38 pm

Alvino Rey, Hispanic? His real name was Alvin McBurney. He changed it to Alvino Rey to take advantage of the Latin music craze that was happening at the time.
And he invented the "peddle steel" in his kitchen? Not sure about that. The Harlin Bros. had the first patent, as far as I know.

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 16 Mar 2022 2:11 pm

The Russkis have a great term for it....

"Dezinformatsiya"

Robert B Murphy · Post by **Robert B Murphy** » 17 Mar 2022 8:15 am

Santos was the legendary Chilean revolutionary who played Hawaiian tunes on Spongebob on the side.

My sister, fanning the flames of an argument my brother and I were having in 1968, made me a collage poster that said: Contrary to popular belief, steel guitars are not played with bottle caps, popsicle sticks and pocket knives.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 17 Mar 2022 8:37 am

Robert, that reminds me of the clip "Beatles 3000" ...1000 years in the future, the legacy of John, Paul, Greg, and Scottie remains.

----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z2vU8M6CYI

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 17 Mar 2022 8:45 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:
Alvino Rey, Hispanic? His real name was Alvin McBurney. He changed it to Alvino Rey to take advantage of the Latin music craze that was happening at the time.
And he invented the peddle steel in his kitchen? Not sure about that. The Harlin Bros. had the first patent, as far as I know.

I'm sure Cliff Clavin from Cheers must have had something to do with the misinformation, "Now, Norman, a lot of people don't realize that Senor Alvino Rey invented the 'peddle' steel guitar in his kitchen. He was one of them Hispanics and owned a Mexican restaurant right here in Boston. Story has it he was using a big double neck cheese slicer and slicing 4 different blocks of cheese at one time to melt down and put on their famous burritos. One of the wires on the slicer snapped with a twang and that's how the whole thing started. He was into low riders, too, and the first pedals were actually modified clutch pedals from his brother's body shop!"

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 17 Mar 2022 8:52 am

Great research, Jeff!

Robert B Murphy · Post by **Robert B Murphy** » 17 Mar 2022 1:06 pm

I'm finally having one of those flash-backs I was promised. Whew! I thought I'd been cheated.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 17 Mar 2022 1:49 pm

Or when Kramer on Seinfeld taking Georges future in-laws for a Handsome Cab ride through Central Park and saying it was designed by Joe Peppitone and was used for practice with The Union troupes.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 17 Mar 2022 2:09 pm

I can honestly say that I've never seen Cheers or Sienfeld or much TV at all after about 1975. I was gigging 6 and 7 nights a week! I missed out on so much Culture.

Robert B Murphy · Post by **Robert B Murphy** » 17 Mar 2022 3:25 pm

Me too. I was a regular watcher of Modern Farmer, the ag show not the sit-com, but my favorite was watching Morning Stretch while splayed out on the couch.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 18 Mar 2022 7:52 am

Hmmm... Doug seems like its more a teaching moment rather than anything else.

Educate

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 Mar 2022 9:12 am

Yes Stefan, I usually reply and correct such comments, but it's getting old. I've been doing that since 2010 on YouTube and it's never-ending.

Robert B Murphy · Post by **Robert B Murphy** » 18 Mar 2022 3:04 pm

Was I misunderstood? I was referring to gigging until 1am, driving for hours to get home, collapsing exhausted on the couch, and watching the only thing on TV that was on at 5am.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 19 Mar 2022 6:47 am

Jeff Garden -

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 19 Mar 2022 7:28 am

He can't understand why a Google search of "peddle steel" turns up nothing. That dammm Google!

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 19 Mar 2022 7:37 am

He probably would have found more options in his search if he'd inquired about people selling steel guitars instead of peddling them.

Per Mr. Google's dictionary, "peddle" has kind of a negative connotation: "to sell (an illegal drug or stolen item)".