Name on Steel.. Cool or Corn??

Peter Dollard · Post by **Peter Dollard** » 9 Jul 2005 9:50 am

I always felt ambivalent about having your name tatooed in bold letters on the front of your ax. If you are having an awful night and another player walks in you are giving him a very specific reference point. Does it matter if you were a genius the next night? I'm afraid not. On the other hand if you were just another guy with a pedal steel how is he gonna focus on your identity if he is out on tour?. Having said that if you are Paul or Buddy their "off" night might be your best night so they have the luxury of a name tag..And Jack I feel your pain my steel has a plague on it too, just kidding...Pete[This message was edited by Peter Dollard on 09 July 2005 at 10:53 AM.]

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 9 Jul 2005 11:01 am

Back in London in the early-'90s, folk-artist Cliff Aungier had his D-28 Martin stolen. The word went around the West End music stores pretty quickly, but the thieves really made it's recovery simple....

Cliff had put his name at the 22nd fret in abalone, and two young ladies called up one of the prominent Denmark St shops offering the missing instrument for a quick sale.

When asked to specify what they were selling, they said, "It's a 'Cliff Aungier' model..." ('C F Martin' obviously meant nothing to these gals!) "We're always looking for those - bring it right in!", said the proprieter, and the story had a happy ending.

Roger R.[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 09 July 2005 at 12:04 PM.]

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 9 Jul 2005 11:34 am

Might as well.

Fool's names and fools faces...

EJL

JW Day · Post by **JW Day** » 9 Jul 2005 1:23 pm

I never put my name on permantly, but I always had it in a hidden place under the deck. You never know, I've already been wiped out one time. This can be a wonderful piece of evidence for the police.

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Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 9 Jul 2005 2:50 pm

Frank,
I got a red rose on my P-bass headstock!
Came from the CMA, some show, a nice embroidered one. We're the coolest!

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 9 Jul 2005 3:09 pm

Both.

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 9 Jul 2005 3:59 pm

About 20 years ago Jeff Newman called me when I lived in Rohnert Park Ca. and asked if I wanted to trade a Tele for his Rusler steel.

I did and it had his name lettered in paint on the front...about 10 years later he was in Phoenix and asked me why I handn't taken his name off...I told him that he could never get a gig here under his real name but I would take it off. (He got a kick out of my warning, I sure miss him and his humor.)

I took it off and noticed that the image of his name could still be seen. Since that is what I do for a living, I used my best script and put my name there..I never could take it out like that. I couldn't take my name off without seeing images of the old names so I covered the offending area with an American flag.[This message was edited by Jack Francis on 09 July 2005 at 11:02 PM.]

Russ Young · Post by **Russ Young** » 9 Jul 2005 9:42 pm

I'm not trying to cause trouble here -- honest!

Michael Dene · Post by **Michael Dene** » 9 Jul 2005 10:31 pm

Well as I see it ....

a little bit of bad taste is bad taste ...

but a lot of bad taste can be fun.

therefore I ride a Goldwing, play old time country and have my name on my steel!

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Michael
Emmons LeGrande II D10
Peavey Session 500

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 10 Jul 2005 2:21 am

If you're going to do it, do it big.

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 10 Jul 2005 4:45 am

As I've been thinking about this...I can think of a few folks with thier names on 'em
and I never felt that it was in bad taste for them....Ya wanna do it...Go fer it!!!

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 10 Jul 2005 6:08 am

Here's my inspiration...

cheers,
Drew

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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden D-10 8/8, Fessenden SD-12 5/5 (Ext E9), Magnatone S-8, N400's, BOSS RV-3

George Redmon · Post by **George Redmon** » 10 Jul 2005 6:19 am

Wow Russ...great picture of Roberto..just wait till' my daughter and her friends see that...as it is, they think i should sell my Webb, buy a Marshall Stack, wear NIKE tee shirts, form a band with her young college friends, cut holes in my britch's, and hang out at the local campus starbucks...she thinks a possum is cool..but she thinks Robert and his family are cooler..{cooler} do they still use the word {cool} anymore? anyways...as the song with Robert and Sawyer Brown have out goes, i know it's past the fourth..but i think i need a visit to the "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand"...i wonder do you suppose if i sell my Webb, wear tee shirts, get a pretty blue fessy put my name across the front, i could knock down $10,000 dollars for a personal appearance? I am into Robert..thanks Russ for the great picture.....Russ..he is grinning at his BANKER.....hehehehe

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Whitney Single 12 8FL & 5 KN,keyless, dual changers Extended C6th, Webb Amp, Line6 PodXT, Goodrich Curly Chalker Volume Pedal, Match Bro, BJS Bar..I was keyless....when keyless wasn't cool....

Farris Currie · Post by **Farris Currie** » 10 Jul 2005 6:45 am

I have marked two steels thru the years.i'ts a job,but i took the necks off and marked underneath,a sho-bud pro2 and a single zumm 12 univarsal. I hope mabe one day the sho-bud might surface again,i know where the zum is.IF someone ever takes um apart it will be there!! Also a engraver tool does great in out of the way places. also have a signed number given to me by Sheriffs office stamped in. lots of things to help in finding stolen stuff. farris

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 10 Jul 2005 7:48 am

I think it's corny. I'm also not too crazy about having the builder's name on the front. Those who care what kind of guitar it is will know what kind of guitar it is. It's not as bad as the huge ugly lettering that the MIDI keyboard players use, but it's still an ad. Not a welcome addition to the concert stage in my opinion.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)

Sidney Ralph Penton · Post by **Sidney Ralph Penton** » 10 Jul 2005 7:55 am

i went to the local lettering company here in moberly and i got my name "S. R. Penton" done in chrome. put it on my black zum and it looks like bruce did it himself. it is tacky back like vinal lettering so it is easy to remove or replace. i don't think it looks tacky i think it looks good and i have had many complements on it. when i had the blue carter it was put on in white vinal letters when i sold this psg it came off easily any gummy sticky glue left on came off easily with alchoal. just my oppinion. doc

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zum SD10 peavy vegas 400 peavy session 400 steelseats they are great at sales@steelseats.com
if its not a zum steel it isn't real

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 10 Jul 2005 9:09 am

a couple thoughts...

Corny as it may seem, having a player's name on his guitar might be the only name recognition to the audience he's likely to get. (Few frontmen spend much time at all introducing band members, since time spent that way diminishes the time they can spend talking about themselves

) Audiences identify more with players onstage they know something about, even if it's only his name.

Joaquin had a plaque on his guitar that read "CUSTOM BUILT FOR 'JOAQUIN' MURPHEY by PAUL A. BIGSBY" Speedy had a similar plaque on his Bigsby. I also admired the small nameplates on the front apron that Sho-Bud put on their custom models, if requested.

This of course is more a professional courtesy than advertising, as is the case when the player's name is visible in large letters the audience can read from afar. Which Bigsby often did, as did others in the 50's and 60's.

I don't believe I concur with b0b's opinion about the builder's name being on the front of the guitar. For one, he built it, is proud of it, and should be able to claim that fact.

Secondly, the steel luthier is building brand recognition. There might be people in the audience who finally decided they want to learn to play steel. They would fall into b0b's group of interested people, but without the ability to pick out a brand of guitar by eyesight. So they need to know the name of the instrument if the steel player is unavailable later... like Robert Randolph on The Tonight Show, for example.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 10 July 2005 at 10:12 AM.]

Jack Dougherty · Post by **Jack Dougherty** » 10 Jul 2005 9:28 am

Couple of more thoughts...

Although the front of the guitar does lend itself for making a good bill board I like the plain look. If your really good people will have a way of finding out. On the other hand, if your not....why advertise???

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 10 Jul 2005 9:37 am

Classical guitars have the builder's name inside the sound hole. Anyone who's interested knows where to look.

I think that having it on the top of the guitar would be okay. Like on a grand piano, a camera view of the hands would catch the brand name. I just think pushing brand names on the audience out front is a little tacky.

I haven't reached the point where I've removed it from my Williams yet, though. I don't like the logo'd look, but I like Bill Rudolph's guitar a lot!

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)

Archie Nicol · Post by **Archie Nicol** » 10 Jul 2005 9:41 am

The taxman recommends it.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 10 Jul 2005 10:13 am

Putting ones name on the front of the steel is both corny and cool to me. I haven't ever done it, but I may at some point.

I like having the builder's name on front. I agree with Herb on all counts. I think promotion of pedal steel is important, and name brand and player recognition helps this. Non-players identify with individual players and brand names. Think of the number of non-players who have jumped on the vintage guitar bandwagon. There is a downside - memorabilia-collecting yuppies and other non-players have driven the price of vintage guitars out of sight. But think of the upside of the booming guitar business and the vastly improved quality (and in many cases price, if one thinks about it in inflation-adjusted dollars) of non-vintage and new guitars. This comes from personal identification of non-players to guitar players and the types of guitars they play.

Jimmie Martin · Post by **Jimmie Martin** » 10 Jul 2005 2:08 pm

i can't get away with putting martin on a guitar. that has allready been spoken fer. sorry had to do it. couldn't help myself

Jennings Ward · Post by **Jennings Ward** » 10 Jul 2005 4:38 pm

IN MY PLAYING DAYS , I ALWAYS HAD MY NAME ON A CHEAP PIECE OF CARDBOARD WHERE IT COULD BE SEEM......ON A BAD NITE I WOULD TURN IT OVER AND PUT THE [HOG CALLER ] SINGERS NAME ON IT
WITH A BIG CRAYON IN BIG LETTERS...
THAT SOLVED MY PROBLEM......HEHE
JENNINGS

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EMMONS D10 10-10 profex 2 deltafex ne1000 pv1000, pv 31 bd eq, +

Stephan Franck · Post by **Stephan Franck** » 10 Jul 2005 4:44 pm

I say COOL, in that Porter Wagoner suits, kind of way--the kind of cool no everybody understands.

Of course, the playing has to support it, otherwise, definitelly not cool.

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www.mojaveroad.net

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 11 Jul 2005 7:16 pm

I was doing the backing at a Country show years ago, and this Maori gentleman sets up on stage with a student model Emmons guitar, which was a sort of marble white mica job. Right across the front of the guitar he had "Buddy Emmons" in those big sparkly letters you see on car windows !! The name took up the whole front of the guitar --- it was really quite funny and Buddy would have died laughing if he had heard this guy play - and he looked a bit like Robert Randolph in a great big cowboy hat !!! Bloody ridiculous!
ha !