Bill B. - I won't try to speak for b0b, but there is a very good
technical reason for keeping threads properly categorized. That is to make the forum
Search function works properly.
Previous technical threads reveal that it's not possible to search the entire forum, it needs to be done by category. If you do a search of the 'Feedback' area for "forum search", you'll find out why.
So, if a thread on lap steel history is in the pedal steel section, when someone logically searches "No Peddlers", it will not come up. This forum is not only an active discussion, but the finest archive on steel guitar in existence,
by far. They're just trying to keep this archive
navigable, as has been explained many times elsewhere. Information is
useless if nobody can find it.
As to the reasons for splitting pedal steel vs. non-pedal steel, I think this also makes perfect sense. Although there are obvious similarities - they are all steel guitars - these two musical cultures, traditions, and associated technical issues are really
quite different, IMO. Both pedal and non-pedal have distinct subcultures of their own, to be sure, but further splitting of topics would lead to an unreasonable number of distinct topics, IMO. It's a technical website design issue. As usual, b0b has navigated the narrow precipice with precision.
I also ditto previous comments about civility, the sine qua non of any public forum. Real freedom of expression relies on the recognition of others' freedom to do the same. The more controversial the topic, the more the need for
restraint.
My own opinion is that this type of 'origin of an instrument' or 'origin of a particular type of music' is often more political than musical. History is a very difficult subject. IMO, the people who have the information to shed real light are often either dead or politically motivated. The 'facts' are very hard to ascertain on a cold trail. Did Joseph Kekuku get his ideas from messing around with a Portugese guitar and a bolt by accident, or did he witness someone from further east? Who ya' gonna' call for the answer to that? Parallel development? Maybe. Unless something remarkable happens, we'll probably never know any of this definitively.
On the 'guitar vs. harp' issue, who cares? It's just a name. Call it a harp if you like, but I'm gonna call it a
guitar. One thing for sure - those Indian guys playing that thing with steel strings on their lap with steel bars - if they aren't 'steel players', I dunno who is. They're smokin', even if they don't play any country shuffles.
Just MHO, go ahead, flame away.
