The Steel Guitar Forum

Rick,

Where are you in Jersey? I have a Williams I'd be more that happy to let you check out.

Rick,

Sorry about my posts in your thread. They really have nothing to with the subject matter.

I do need to settle down a bit, spend a lot less time on this forum and a lot more time behind my steel.

BTW, All the people I've met from Jersey have been really cool people so I accept the compliment.

Isn't this a Williams.

Same licks keyless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2QNaKT6Vsk&NR=1

On closer look it's a BMI.

I heard Carter down town Nashville that sounded awesome and I heard Williams that sounded terrible....now...that doesn`t mean guitars are bad or good, maybe just a player is to blame, I`m sure they are both great guitars, Carter just sounded 50 times better...

Db

Here's a sample of a Williams running thru a POD XT direct to the mains.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32QQcFWEO-Q

Hey Danny,
It's all good.
we're just having a little fun in between researching opinions on the guitars.

BGrado:
that's very generous of you. I just might accept some time soon. But I warn you,I'm a novice, and some terrible sounds might arise

thanks to all (once again) your personal opinions are valuable to me
Rick

Funny thing about that Rusty Young clip . . I could see that style of playin' going over real well in certain bars around here

I could see it coming.
John Bon + Gretchen introduced the instrument to the city of Newark, so... there's bucks to be made at the "shore" for the right act. Maybe I need an attitude adjustment.
Rick

Rick,

I posted two songs some time back using a Carter on one and Williams on the other where I used no amp and went direct to the board same settings.

Wild Side of Life was a Carter D10 10-1 pups.

Cryin my heart out was a Williams D10 BL710 pups.

I currently have no way to post them on the forum but I would be glad to E-mail them to you.

This would be a nice side by side comparison as nothing is different other than the guitar and off course the song I played.

My E-mail is DaCopsAreHere@aol.com if you'd like to give me your e-mail address I'll send them to you.

Hey BGrado, Thanks for the Utube sample, The tone of that Williams sounded very good to me..great stuff.

BGrado wrote:Here's a sample of a Williams running thru a POD XT direct to the mains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32QQcFWEO-Q

Is that a lefty Williams?

Here's another example of Williams tone - keyless with a BL-712 pickup and Pod XT, direct to the recorder:
http://openheartsmusic.com/oh3/12-OH3-DreaminForMe.mp3

I get a lot of compliments from musicians on my tone. I've also heard some great sounding Carters. I don't think that there is a huge difference in tone between the two brands if they're equipped with the same pickups.

Rick, In all fairness, I think one has to have about a week to get adjusted to the way a Steel plays..I find that you have to set the amp differently to get the optimum or tone you want from each steel. I'm talking about using the same amp for different steels. Also using different amps requires different settings for the same steel...it takes more time than most people think to really make a fair comparison..IMHO...OK, maybe not a week

b0b, Great job, great tone on that Willy

Thanks Brad.. The question I'd like to put out there
is.

When using the POD XT ( or similar device) when playing how much of the "tone" can be attributed to
the guitar itself?

I would think most of what we hear, especially those of us who use lots of toys,( in this case the POD)has more to do with electronic settings than guitar construction..

And yes Bob.. That is a "Lefty Willy"..

b0b:
You've got some full rich tone there !! &
clean, uncluttered, tasteful, playing.
Rick

BGrado wrote: When using the POD XT ( or similar device) when playing how much of the "tone" can be attributed to the guitar itself?

I would think most of what we hear, especially those of us who use lots of toys,( in this case the POD)has more to do with electronic settings than guitar construction..

And yes Bob.. That is a "Lefty Willy"..

No amount of electronics can make a bad guitar sound good, in my opinion.

That said, the POD XT isn't particularly good at bringing out the best tone from a steel. Most of my POD presets are minimalist, without effects. I used the POD XT on the above track mainly out of convenience for tone controls and reverb. The amp setting was Fender Blackface Twin, I think. I have no doubt that it would have sounded much better through a real amp with a good mike in a real recording studio.

Here's another song from the same album. I think it's obvious from the sound that this is the same guitar, even though the POD's tone and reverb settings were different. No steel solo in this one, but I did write the song.
http://openheartsmusic.com/oh3/13-OH3-O ... Ground.mp3

It's really impossible to buy the Best guitar without sitting down and playing many. What are the goals? What kind of music? There is a brand I know that sits very nicely in any mix with very little tweeking. There is a lot of new stuff on the radio where the steel sounds wrong. Just plain wrong. A modern recording looking for a vintage sound. The past players used tube amps, tube compressors and limiters through tube preamps. The quality of modern guitars is exceptional. All of them. Find what feels good and compliments the sounds you carry in your head. That is the Best guitar made.
Mike

b0b,Could you post a pic of your Williams? I remember it was a beautiful gray color,Stu

Here's one that Bill built for me:

Wow! Beautiful guitars here !

great guitar...great features..a pleasure to play(and hear)Regards, RK

Man That Bill Rudolph makes some beautiful guitars!