The Steel Guitar Forum

I posted this once before but since Herman the Hermit came up. I thought I would repost it. This might have been on a Movie Studio backlot.

Billy Strange married Joanie O'Brien.

Chris Lucker wrote:Jussi

That Ray Butts pickup existed in August 1954 and surely before that. Gretsch may not have had the pickups for production guitars until 1957, but Ray Butts was making them before 1957. An 8 string version was used in DALAND pedal steels. Hank Garland had Ray Butts make special 8 string versions for Don, SUgarfoot and Shot Jackson's ten DALAND guitars. Ray Butts lived on the road behind where Don Davis was living. However, I do not know if where Don Davis was living was a house or a cot at Castle Studios.
Chris Lucker

Chris, you're most likely right but Chet didn't have that guitar and those PU's until -56 ( it is a -56 6120 prototype in the photo )

As an artist there is no doubt in my mind that the person in that picture is Billy Strange. Same eyes, eyebrows, hairline, nose, clothes and a clincher, a slight blemish on his lower left jaw. Take a close look with a magnifying glass. Billy Strange for sure if the man at the piano next to Hensley is Billy Strange.
Dave A. Burley

I know that Chet came out to the West coast in 1957 to play at a Gretsch event sponsored by Jimmie Webster.

I heard this story from Tommy Turman, who had developed a pedal-type attachment that ran through a brake cable up to a standard guitar Bigsby vibrato, where it would "pull" the B-string like a pedal steel. Tommy Turman developed this device, which they called the "True-Tone Changer" with Paul Bigsby, and the two of them showed Chet the device in 1957 when he came to the West Coast for this event.

More than likely, this photo was taken during Chet's 1957 west coast swing. During those days, he didn't make it out to the West Coast, it was a rare event.

Deke

Just an added comment on the pic with Chet Atkins and Cliffie Stone, that is indeed Billy Strange in between them. He's holding his Gibson L-5 which he still had up until his passing last week. Billy was my step dad, he married my mother Jeanne Black who also was a regular on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree. There are other pics of he and Chet Atkins in that same setting in his personal collecion. Case Should be settled if it wasn't already.

Sorry to hear of your loss, Eric. He must have been incredible. Hope his last years were as full as his hey days.

Thanks Ron,
He was a great guy with such a huge presence. He has left an un-fillable void that's for sure. His last years were full with family time. I'm sure he's playing great music again in the great beyond.

Judging by the Gretsch Chet is pictured with, this could be around '56-57. He released an album with this guitar in '57, with the Ray Butts designed pickups that became standard on the '57 6120 and 6122 Chet Atkins guitars, called The Filtertron pickups.
In the '52-53 era, Chet was still playing the D'Angelico guitar.
The first Gretsch Chet guitars came about around 1955. The pictured model was a prototype.