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Topic: How Many First Played With No Pedals |
Dave A. Burley
From:
Franklin, In. USA
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Posted 17 Jul 2005 9:34 pm |
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Curious to know if many of you here on the forum started playing initially on a non pedal steel.
I started, when in college in the late fifties, on a 6 string lap steel. Just loved the sound and still do.
Went from that to a single neck six string floor steel with no pedals and then to a Fender 400.
Didn't play long and didn't play good but I sure do love the instrument. I still think that I could do a decent Cold Cold Heart ala Don Helms.
Thanks,
Dave Burley |
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Rick Garrett
From:
Tyler, Texas
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 2:29 am
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I started out with no pedals. Took lessons from my dad when I was a kid on a 10 string Ricky lap steel which I still have. Then recently a few months ago I got serious about the steel guitar after laying off for 30 years. I started off with pedals for the first few months and now am back to a lap steel and thats where I hope to stay. Back problems limit what I can carry around so a lap steel is just the ticket for a weary back and man I still just love the sound. Got myself one of Reeces new SS 12 string guitars and am loving the simplicity of it. No mechanics to monkey around with. Just tune it up and letter rip!
Rick
P.S. My dad started off on lap steel too and although he played pedals as good as anybody he always loved the tone he could get from a lap steel. |
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Billy Carr
From:
Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 3:37 am
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| Started in late 60's(68' or 69' maybe) on a Rickenback 6-string tuned in C6th. My father got me started. When he passed away in Dec.70' I was still fooling with the 6-string, then sometime in 71' I started trying to learn on a p/p he had bought from BE around 68'-69'. I still play non-pedal stuff every chance I get when I'm playing songs from that era. I just do it w/o pedals on my D-10 Carter. |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 3:48 am
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| Actually (being a lap 6 player), playing a 10-string without pedals sounds like a good way to begin, getting used to the scale, then moving on to the changes. |
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Jim Harper
From:
Comanche, Oklahoma, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 4:42 am
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| I started playing my Dad,s Silvertone guitar and tune it to E chord and used a pocket-knife in about 1944.I played several steel,s before pedal,s. Harmony-Supro D-6-Fender triple neck.The first pedal steel i ever had was an MSA D-12.==Jim Harper |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 5:20 am
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| 6 string home made lap steel - 1963. "A" tuning from Leeds Hawaiian Steel Guitar book. |
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John Daugherty
From:
Rolla, Missouri, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 5:21 am
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All us older guys had no choice. There were no pedals steels when we started. Then along came Gibsons Electroharp. I don't consider that a pedal steel as we know it today.
Bud Isaacs made me aware of the sound we play today. That's when I got out my tools and started putting my Rube Goldberg knowledge to work. |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 6:04 am
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| I was in the Army in the far east (Korea) in 1962 and doing some special service shows. One of the groups we did was called the Western Spotlighters. I played lead guitar and we didn't have a steel player but the show had a little (I think) Rickenbacker double 6. I remember tuning the thing to open E and open A and learning a couple of things like Steel Guitar Rag and others to play with the group. It must have been pretty horrible. I remember we made a stand out of a heavy duty music stand to play standing up. My next steel was after I got out of the Army and it was a 6 string, 4 pedal Multi-Kord........JH in Va. |
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Roger Edgington
From:
San Antonio, Texas USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 6:15 am
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| I started playing at age 10 in 1956 on my mothers square neck Oahu box guitar that see taught on in the 40s. Then I graduated to my dads D6 Fender and started learning C6 or the Jerry Byrd tuning I think they called it then. Finally got a Fender 400 at age 15 and fell in love with it. I still like to play non pedal now and then , but it is more fun with 10 strings. |
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 6:17 am
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| We had two lead guitarists when we started our retro country band about twelve years ago. Since the other guy was a little better than me, I started bringing an old 6 string lap steel to practice. Once I found th C6th tuning I got hooked. From there I went to two laps steels, then to a T8 Stringmaster, and then to a Fender 1000 about four years ago. At this chronological rate I may be ready for a 60's Sho-Bud in a few more years. |
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D Schubert
From:
Columbia, MO, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 6:45 am
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| Started monkeying with pawnshop lapsteels in the 70's, then to Dobro and slide, then to Fender 400 and Dekeley PSG in early 80's. And, I continue to wander back and forth across that fenceline between pedals and no-pedals. |
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Al Marcus
From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 7:05 am
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I started playing 6 string Hawaiian guitar in 1936. I loved Hawaiian music , but I also liked the current pops of the day which now are called big band standards.
One of the tunings I used most of the time was A6. By twisting a peg, I could get C#minor, E7, even C6 from it.
On my pedal guitar now, I still can play "Cold ,Cold heart, etc with no pedals, just to see if I remember the old days......al  
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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/
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Farris Currie
From:
Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 7:08 am
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my turn huh!!I started in early 60s homemade lap steels!!I feel a good teacher is so important. my teacher was ok,but all he taught was E AND A tuning, i see now to where i missed so much not having C6th.ect.
also went later to a multichord which had no split tuning,just major changes. Oh well i can talk now,since he has passed on,he did the best he could. but wish i could go back 40yrs and start over huh. farris |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 7:35 am
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*
[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 05 April 2006 at 04:13 AM.] |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 10:01 am
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Some might say they came full~circle, but; somehow I think I’m going in circles! I started on a 6-str Supro in ’48. I went eventually to a ‘real’ PSG in ’57. Then in ’79 I bought a multi~neck non-pedal steel, thinking that I would stick with non-pedal for good. However in ’80 I went back to PSG plus my multi~neck non-pedal. Then I sold the non-pedal in ’89 and just played PSG until ’04 at which time I bought back the same non-pedal steel and sold my last PSG, until about (2)-mo. ago when I bought a Single-10 PSG and thought I’d play both again! “Wrong”! Now since I’ve finally, over many years; decided upon my (2)-favorite-tunings, [E9 & C-Diatonic], I’m considering selling both steels and buying one more D–10 PSG and having my E9 w/3 & 5 on one neck and my C-Diatonic w/3 & 4 or 5 on the other neck. Then I figure I can play everything I do on just (1)-guitar again! So! You might want to keep your eyes on the For~Sale section of this Forum in the near future! The circle must end somewhere!  I’m not crazy, I just sound that way!
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“Big John” Bechtel
’04 SD–10 Black Derby w/3 & 5 & Pad
’49-’50 Fender T–8 Custom
’65 Re-Issue Fender Twin–Reverb Custom™ 15” Eminence
web site |
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Dave Robbins
From:
Cottontown, Tnn. USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 10:28 am
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Started in '57 on a 6 string lap steel.
Dave |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 10:48 am
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That's priceless, Gene, and those socks are pretty cool. Now if they'd been white instead....
I started of with great-grand-dad's Washburn Hawaiian guitar at a very early age, by the time I even saw my first pedal guitar I had already heard Buddy's "Rainbows All Over Your Blues" and Tom's "Bud's Bounce" - I knew I needed something more than bar slants could deliver if I was ever to find true happiness.[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 18 July 2005 at 11:50 AM.] |
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Robert Thomas
From:
Mehama, Oregon, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 11:10 am
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| I started on 6 string non-electric in 1944 and went to six string Gibson BR-9 in 1950. Played 8 string single, double and triple neck Fender until 1971 and then went to D-10 8+4 Sho-Bud for 27 years and since then a HWP Mullen D-10 8+4. I still play a lot of regular steel without using the pedals and of course a lot of steel with the pedals. |
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Jeff Lampert
From:
queens, new york city
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 11:37 am
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Hey Gene, you looked good there!! I dig the sox!
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[url=http://www.mightyfinemusic.com/jeff's_jazz.htm]Jeff's Jazz[/url]
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Mark Krutke
From:
Tomahawk, WI USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 12:23 pm
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Dave,
I started out on a Gretch 12-string guitar in 1981, eventually playing it as a 6-string, and then my dad put a bridge over the nut to raise the strings in combination with my uncle giving me a cow magnet (my first steel bar). We tuned it to a "G" and it became my first Dobro/lapsteel-type instrument. I made a thumbpick out a ring from a gumball machine. A valuable experience it was because I was able to learn my bar slants before a pedal steel came along.
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www.authenticrecording.com |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 4:27 pm
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Started in 1971 on a National triple 8. Only played non-pedal for a short time (under 1 year)
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Carter D10 9p/10k, NV400
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Dave A. Burley
From:
Franklin, In. USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 8:45 pm
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What a great picture, Gene.
Reminds me of the late fifties when I used to wear a cowboy shirt with long white fringes that my mom sewed on for me.
Wore it to a radio show we were doing in Fremont, Michigan. Even hitch hiked with my guitar and I really thought that I was a dude.
I don't know about the socks, though.
Thanks again for the pic. It will go in my collection.
Dave Burley |
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Jon Zimmerman
From:
California, USA
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Posted 18 Jul 2005 9:07 pm
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| Gene always manages to pull out a great "era" pic for us all--everybody smiling, having a good time, even the 'suit' in back--a talent scout no doubt?! And you're sitting on a pac-a-seat with a PORTHOLE? --or mebbie some supro amp, --oops. Great stuff. Looks to be a twin-six supro Comet on hand, I still "wander" around on mine, love the snarly sound.. always will. JZ |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 19 Jul 2005 3:00 am
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Here's a new thread: "What kind of socks do you wear when you play?"
Fabulous foto, Gene. |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 19 Jul 2005 4:29 am
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| * [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 05 April 2006 at 04:14 AM.] |
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