The Steel Guitar Forum

Thanks to each of you for all these kind words and thought's about my MAX-TONE MOD & the rebuild & paint work that was done, by my shop any of you that wish to check me and my Modification out just give me a call at 662-251-0948 as you can see i do all types of work thanks a million gentlemen..

Well Dale i guess ill have to eat my heart out LOL ol buddy but the blue one is a killer as well. Ive had 3 people trying to buy it. I can truely say if ya want better tone and all then get MAX TONE it works.

WOW TOMMY,
THATS ONE NICE LOOKING MULLEN, PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY.

JEREMY i sure do appreciate the kind words,,, it has gotten a lot of nice compliments both here and at its new home also,,

I did find one out of all those pics that it didn't clip all of the flakes off of showing off a little of the eye candy that it truly does have

Tommy,

I can appreciate your concern about protecting your invention. Thomas Edison had a similar worry. Have you, or are you, planning to further protect your invention? Your approach to keep it secret here is only good till someone buys it... then the cats out of the bag. You should take immediate action to at least be able to prove it was your idea. I'd recommend sending, to yourself, a Registered Letter with photos, drawings, and anything else that can prove you were first with the idea. It's not bullet proof, but better then what you have now. My intentions are good.

PS: You may sell more product as well. There is no way many will purchase something without seeing it first.

IMHO, I think it might be hard for Tommy to acquire a patent on his "tone mod". He has said his "mod" does not add or remove parts, and does not require machining, and that makes it more a tweaking procedure than an invention. To patent it as a technical process, the process must be very clear and well-defined. It must also be shown to be something no one else has done before. Tommy has said that the approach for each brand of steel may be different, and therein lies the problem. I think it would be very difficult to prove discovery and get ownership of a generalized process.

Jeff You and Donny both have great ideas and both of you are right to some degree,, I have done the registered Letter back when I first started this and have added to that registered letter many times since then, without opening them until necessary. Some of this process can be patented some of it can't, but it is very hard to copy my mod,,, as it is different on each brand of guitar and even then some of those changes from year to year, as the builders change their product and what each component is made of as well[[[as in cast aluminum,forged aluminum,or the 2024,6061 and other grades all have to be modded different , Plus if any of you have looked into an actual patent,, it takes years and a very large amount of money to do this,,, as well as a mountain of paper work to boot with those lawyers up there and believe me they are hungry for your money without caring if you live, die,or starve to death, as long as they get their thousands of dollars per hour!!!!!!!! To clear some things up I do have to add some very small components to some steels to get them to cooperate with all these newer types of guitars and the way builders are building them as well ,,,

PS,, LIKE last couple days been working on a home built and man had my hands full as it was built out of mahogany it is tough to get it to cooperate for sure TONE WISE but finally figured it out....thanks hope this makes you guy's feel better

To let all these guy's know that if they steal what ""GOD gave me the knowledge to do then """GOD HAS STATED LET VENGENCE BE MINE""" THIEVES AND LIAR'S CAN'T INTER HEAVEN is what i read,,,, so let all that do business with them answer to what """GOD SAY'S"""and there is some doing this now from what I've herd, but they have copied from older versions of my mod and are not even close to what i do now, as I experiment as time will allow THANKS FOR THE KIND WORDS AND THOUGHT'S GUY'S I HOPE TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU SOON, AS YOU SEE I DO OTHER THINGS BESIDES JUST MOD THEM..

My prayers go out to Tommy
That he might be healed of
His pain. The steel guitar
Community is so fortunate
To have him and his ability
To take tonally challenged
Guitars and make tone monsters
Out of them.

Merry Christmas to all and
Tommy, get well, good man.



Eddie

The MODMAN rides again! Go Tommy, go! If a steel builder ever hooks up with ole TY, then they'll have one of the best sounding guitars on the market. It's in the hands of ole TY! Magic is there folks. I've seen it and experienced it first hand. I'm sure other folks can take a modded guitar apart and see the difference, if that's actually happened but the fact is, it won't have the same magic unless TY does it, period! To me, it's like learning Danny Boy off the black Emmons album with BE. Anybody can do it but it won't sound like the master. Just my opinion here.

Well said Billy i couldnt agree more on what you said. Its sure a big difference.

how could anyone be accused of copying something that is a super-secret god-given mystery-manipulation that is never the same on any two guitars (like snowflakes)?

Tommy,
God gave you this as a way to bless you. Trust Him to send you those that really want it, If he spoke to you, he can speak to them. Also, trust Him to keep those who question it, to not get it. You don't have to defend anything God gave you to prosper and supply your needs. A double minded man receives nothing from the Lord. The guy that God showed how to make a gadget to put in a regular drill to take paint off made 6 Million his first year. He sure can handle your business. If someone dosen't want it, let that be their reward. The main word for success in selling anything is "NEXT"
Love you Buddy,
Doc

BILLY thanks a million for your thoughts but some are trying to copy it, may GOD have mercy no their soles,,,


JIM thanks a million my friend you have the difference,, so you really do know for sure for the 4th time thanks for all the business,

EDDIE, my friend thanks a million MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN ALL YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS,


DOC your the best and may GOD BLESS you, thanks for all you do to help, I do have FAITH IN GOD as he is my ROCK

CHRIS, nothing is super secret as i have done many of these MODS and some have traded them, bought new GUITARS, AS I have done as many 5 for one player and every time he gets a different guitar he has me MOD the new one, and there is others that i have done several for as they keep newer guitars for them selves. PS:: this isn't a mystery at all, but i do know how it works,and that it really does work

tommy, i know..it's just fun to joke about it because it can't be pinned down. i believe that you do have a talent...and since it is so specific to each instrument, rather than being a cut and dried formula, i wouldn't think someone could rip off your business. i'd like you to mod my zum if it didn't cost any money, but i'm cheap and the guitar sounds great as it is. it would be great if you improved it even more. just understand that for jokesters like myself with sick senses of humor, max mod sounds alot like mad max! keep doing your good work!

Got a chance to let a couple of pickers this past weekend hear the MOD and they was like WOW you dont have no bunch of effects hooked to it. It sounded so great they thought. Get the MOD it helps

I'm sure hoping GOD has mercy on me for all the licks I've tried to copy from the great players over the years. HE may have already repaid me with clams and pitchiness - who knows...

Got to experience today another one that got modded and it was so good i couldnt hardly stand such a good playing and sounding guitar.

It's hard to fully appreciate just how much improvement in tone and sustain that Tommy can do to a guitar unless you have personally heard the guitar before and after the work he does. When I heard the difference he made in an Emmons SKH D10 that I had owned, I was floored. There was simply no comparison between the before and after sound. The tone and sustain practically came alive after the mod, and before the mod, that particular steel might as well not have had any fret markers above the 12th fret, because it was terrible from there on up. It had about as much sustain as a banjo!

The difference was as distinct as day and night. I have also heard Dale Stacy and Eddie Bollinger's steel's after they were modded, and their tone and sustain were incredible!

LEM I sure do appreciate the kind words,, I have gotten a lot of kind words on that guitar from another previous owner of that guitar also he really like the """AFTER MODIFICATION""" as he was the one that i bought it from,, he couldn't believe it was the same guitar either,,as you and several others played it as he did also,,,,,I certainly appreciate all the kind words that you guy's have typed on here about my work sure do wish some others would give it a shot I do other work as well, I will have the """APPLE FLAKE """ guitar with me at the show, please stop and give it a look and check out my rebuild and restoration work as well,,,,, thanks a million my friend maybe I'll get to do some work for you sometime...

Whoooooweee Lem, ease up on them compliments!
Dale is sure to get the bighead..... .

The combination of Max-Tone and Tone-a-ligners on the Mullen has our engineer raving at the Bollinger
Family Theatre. Clean, warm, and all the bottom end
you can possible need.

I think ole Tom needs to work a bunch more of my
instruments..... How are you on Mandolins,
There tom?

I hope you guys have a good day on Saturday.
I would love to be there.

Y'all just try to keep from pickin in ya pants
before the show starts.

ED

Here's the way I see the Mod conundrum. I know nothing about this Mod and I am not showing any disrespect but I have to ask a few questions. 1. Are any of the top recording steelers using this Mod? 2. Are any of the top Pro's (Names that we all know) recommending that this mod is a great enhancement in their tone? Which Brand names need this enhancement? If all brands need this enhancement, why is it not done at the factory? Why are builders selling Steels that cost $5000 and more and not getting this necessary MOD? Are unmodded Steels allowed in the recording studio? Why are people spending $4000 to $5000 for a Steel that has to be modded...should not that Mod be done at the factory before shipping? Sorry for the questions but last I heard we still live in the USA.

Brad, of course every steel doesn't need to be modded to sound great. One only has to listen to some of the recorded work of Lloyd, Buddy, John, Paul, and so forth to know that. However, as with everything, sometimes an individual guitar won't be at its full potential. Case in point is the SKH Emmons mentioned earlier that I used to have. I've heard some truly great sounding SKH Emmons guitars, but that particular one was a real dud, both in tone and sustain. A case like that is where Tommy's work really shines through.

Most all musicians, and not just steel guitarists, continually look for things to enhance their tone, or else we wouldn't see things like digital reverb, digital sustain, digital delay, black boxes, tone bars made out of various compounds, nickel vs stainless steel strings, etc...

so...if you're a really good player, you don't really need the mod?

or perhaps you're not apt to buy a steel that's a real dog in the first place?

but that particular one was a real dud, both in tone and sustain.<<

Hey Lem, thanks for your reply. My point is that after paying $4000 to $5000 for a Steel "DUDS" should be returned to the factory just like you are allowed to return lemon cars..you should not have to spend another $1000 to get a $4000 steel working the way is should have worked in the first place. We should demand that the builders test and play the guitars for a day or two and go over their product with a fine tooth comb (Quality Control) before shipping a DUD to some poor customer. We are not talking about a $400 six string guitar...we are talking about a $4000 Steel and for $4000 there should be no DUDS...it all comes down to Quality Control and honest business practices.