Newcomer to the forum

Bruce Freisinger · Post by **Bruce Freisinger** » 6 Jul 2007 10:17 am

Hi folks...

I've been lurking here on the forums for a couple of months and finally decided to man up and join.

I don't play steel in any way that could be called musical yet, but I'm trying like heck to teach myself. Since I don't currently own a real steel yet, I've been practicing on my Martin flattop that happens to have slightly higher-than-normal action at the moment. I'm a "regular" guitar player and have been playing for about 30 years in various bands (currently with Jeffrey Simmons).

Anyhow, my greatest steel inspiration is Mr. Dave, especially during his stints with Jackson Browne and El Rayo-X. Farther On is one of my favorite songs and really sums up where I want to take my eventual steel playing.

So, I finally convinced my wife to let me add another guitar to my collection and, mostly because of my obsession with Lindley, I've been eyeing early Bakelite Ricks... I have a budget of about $600 or so for the guitar, but I'm willing to spend more if it needs work after the fact (tuner replacements, pickup and other electronic work, whatever...). Do you guys have any suggestions for me? The major thing that I suck at with my playing is intonation and unwanted noise from other strings - I know I need to learn how to "block" but really have zero idea as to what that entails.

Basically, I'm a complete newbie and wish I'd taken this instrument up 20 years ago. I've been buying Steel Guitar CDs and stuff by some of the usual suspects (Jerry Byrd, Don Helms, Sol Hoopi, Bob Brozman, Joaquin, Tom Morrell, anything by Asleep at the Wheel, etc...), I've devoured every page of Brad's, Rick Alexander's, Rick Aiello's and I'm haunting eBay like crazy...

At any rate, I guess I just wanted to say Hi to all you guys that I'm in awe of. Bobbe, you're some kind of magician - I swear you're playing pedal on some of the stuff I've heard of yours. And, lastly, Kevin Brown... I absolutely adore your tune Only You. I have a little playlist in iTunes with that and Sleepwalk that I listen to over and over and over. That's a beautiful song - it's masterfully phrased and played.

-Bruce

Terry Gann · Post by **Terry Gann** » 6 Jul 2007 10:43 am

Haunt this site in For Sale: Instruments.
Lots of nice stuff pops up and I'd trust a Forum purchase over an ebay find.
I've bought here on the forum: Pedal steel / stomp boxes / CDs/ study materials / Fender Steel King amp / parts / etc.
All but one incident

(rolyan de)

turned out great!

Bruce Freisinger · Post by **Bruce Freisinger** » 6 Jul 2007 2:38 pm

Excellent advice, Terry... Thanks!

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 6 Jul 2007 3:51 pm

Welcome to the forum Bruce!

I made some video clips showing various techniques including blocking.
You can see them at http://youtube.com/rickalexander47

The Ricky bakelites are pretty cool lap steels.
Supro Supremes and clones with the string through pickups are good too, cheaper and not as noisy.

Bruce Freisinger · Post by **Bruce Freisinger** » 6 Jul 2007 6:46 pm

Rick Alexander wrote:Welcome to the forum Bruce!

I made some video clips showing various techniques including blocking.
You can see them at http://youtube.com/rickalexander47

Thank you!! I'll be eating these up over the weekend. Practice, practice, practice.

Rick Alexander wrote:The Ricky bakelites are pretty cool lap steels.
Supro Supremes and clones with the string through pickups are good too, cheaper and not as noisy.

Such as this one? Supro auction on eBay

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 6 Jul 2007 7:19 pm

Exactly like that one!

I love those guitars, they can be all mellow and Hawaiian or they can scream like a shackled banshee.
SUPROS
OAHUS

Kevin Brown · Post by **Kevin Brown** » 6 Jul 2007 9:06 pm

Hi Bruce, many thanks for your kind comments, I thought it might interest you to know that I posted my first thread IDENTICAL to yours a year last November, it was Rick Alexanders advice on supros that got me started, you are in for a wonderfull journey, for me it was just like the first time I got into guitar in the early 60's, I had those same rushes of excitement all over again, hearing new players like Noel Boggs, Murphey, Mcintire brought new life to my fingers, welcome aboard.

Bruce Freisinger · Post by **Bruce Freisinger** » 8 Jul 2007 6:49 am

Bought it!

Thanks for the tip, Rick! Now the hard part: waiting...

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 8 Jul 2007 7:32 am

I'm sure you'll love it Bruce.
I got one just like it about a month ago:

The pickup has two coils underneath and two magnets, one on each side.
I guess it's the double coils that make the pickup so quiet - pretty remarkable considering that string-throughs were among the first mass produced pickups, beginning around 1942.
The very first was the Horseshoe, beginning around 1932.

Bruce Freisinger · Post by **Bruce Freisinger** » 8 Jul 2007 10:53 am

Nice! Do the magnets in these pickups lose their oomph over time or am I confusing these with the old Ricky horsehoes?

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 8 Jul 2007 11:12 am

Yes they often do, after about 50 or 60 years. They all do.
Fellow forum member pickup guru Rick Aiello aka Magneto remags tired magnets, and he also makes NIBro replacement magnets that kick major butt.

You may not even need it though, my red Supreme was nice and strong when I got it.
The red ones are the later (mid to late 50s) models.

Bruce Freisinger · Post by **Bruce Freisinger** » 8 Jul 2007 11:52 am

Rick Alexander wrote:You may not even need it though, my red Supreme was nice and strong when I got it.

I saw you playing it in your Supro Noodles video on YouTube. Sounded pretty raunchy!

Woops! I just went back and watched the video again and see that it was a brown MOTS Supreme in that video, not your new red one...

One thing I didn't account for with the Supreme is the volume and tone knobs diminishing the right-hand placement area. How challenged are you by that?