Forbidden Subject!

Lindley · Post by **Lindley** » 5 Jul 2003 3:57 pm

While getting ready to play earlier today, in a moment of stupidity, I dropped my bar right on top of my new Virginian. It is a Scheerhorn stainless, and they have sharp edges. As luck would have it, it landed on a polishing cloth I had just placed on the guitar. The guitar was alright, but it could have been a disaster. Is this a forbidden subject? I have never seen it discussed here, or am I the only one stupid enough to drop the %#$*^@ bar? I've never dropped it on my steel.

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 5 Jul 2003 4:06 pm

I've dropped my bar a few times. Once the back sharp edge landed on the top and put a little ding on it. It's usually when i'm carelessly getting a drink or changing the cd selection or something like that.

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 5 Jul 2003 9:38 pm

I've dropped my bar so many times that I've now reverted to using a rubber one.

Actually your post triggered some interesting food for thought for any inventors out there: Pyrex has some interesting impact qualties (stress/time) that keeps it thermally stable ....that just might be meaningful to weighted steel bar construction. The Japanese are also working with some interesting ceramics that are hard/solid in normal time but more fluid under impact forces/time.

Aloha,
DT~[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 05 July 2003 at 10:39 PM.]

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 5 Jul 2003 9:50 pm

As some of you may be aware, I teach seniors on the steel. Whenever one of the students drops their bar, the gang take great joy in dropping their bars also

Takes away the embarrassement from the original "dropper". (Arthritis can do that to you !)

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 Jul 2003 4:19 am

On his first night with the Bob Wills band in front of 5,000 people, Herb Remington dropped his bar and watched it roll off the stage onto the crowded dance floor during the middle of his solo. Luckily, it was a duel gig with the Spade Cooley band and Noel Boggs was on stage. Noel picked up Herb's solo exactly where he had left off. The brotherhood of steel guitar saved the day again!

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 6 Jul 2003 8:32 am

Some say if you don't drop your bar every now and then you are probably holding it too tightly.

Brian Beebe · Post by **Brian Beebe** » 6 Jul 2003 1:10 pm

As Jerry Byrd says; "If you drop your bar, pick it up and keep playing". Or something to that effect.

Roy Ayres · Post by **Roy Ayres** » 6 Jul 2003 3:19 pm

I was in Studio "A" during a live radio show at WAVE in Louisville in the middle of a solo when out of the corner of my eye I saw a pair of men's legs appear at my left side. It always made me nervous to have someone stare at my hands while I played, so I tried to ignore the guy. At the very end of my solo I did a long slide up to the root chord in the next octave, and I looked up during the slide to see none other than Alvino Rey standing there. I forgot all about the solo, the slide, the bar, everything. I let the bar go and it rolled all the way up the strings, hit the bridge, and bounced to the floor. I did the only thing that came to mind at that moment: I dropped to my knees in front of Alvino and bowed to the floor. He was a great guy; invited me to be his guest at the Iriquois Gardens where he was booked for the week.
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Edited to spell "octave" correctly. (Is that worse than dropping your bar?) [This message was edited by Roy Ayres on 06 July 2003 at 04:22 PM.]

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 6 Jul 2003 3:29 pm

Fantastic recovery, Roy !! I love it but I wish I had been there to see it.

Regards, Paul

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 7 Jul 2003 7:29 pm

I guess that we've all dropped our bars several times if you're an older bird like me. But the worst thing that happened to me was in 1955 on radio as the announcer was introducing us. Playing my 6 string Rick, I was to give the intro to Are You Mine. The guitar cord was hooked around my foot, so I leaned forward to free it, and one metal end of my string tie went between the first two strings and I couldn't lift my head back up. I panicked, and instead of turning the tip parallel with the strings like it went in, I darn near broke the strings pulling them apart, but just in time to start the intro. In playing Dobro with the Peach Pickers these days, I have the awlful fear of dropping my bar because I sit up on a stool. It's a real hassle to move the Dobro mike, get down and back up. Mind you, the Stevens bar is easy to hang on to.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 7 Jul 2003 9:04 pm

Back in the early 80s when I studied with Emmons at Jeffran College, each time you dropped your bar, Buddy would charge you $1. By the end of the week, we were done dropping bars! That's the Skinnerian approach to learning steel guitar!

Joe DeLeon · Post by **Joe DeLeon** » 8 Jul 2003 9:47 pm

I don't play well enough, to really matter if I drop the bar or not. In fact, while I'm fumbling around for the dropped bar, I'm hitting that many less wrong notes durring that time, but I have drilled a couple of holes, in the tops of a few bars, and put rubber bands, through the holes, and tied them into loops. You can put one finger through the loops, and the bar can't take off anywhere. It's loose enough, so that there is no restriction to playing with it.
Just a thought.[This message was edited by Joe DeLeon on 08 July 2003 at 10:48 PM.]

Loni Specter · Post by **Loni Specter** » 8 Jul 2003 10:37 pm

Great idea, although, Personaly, I prefer a topless bar ;-}