The Steel Guitar Forum

I Played a Street dance at The Alamo Sat. Night and Jerry was Playing With The Band Before us, He Played Great. Really Enjoyed Seeing him again, Randy Gilliam

Roger Shackelton wrote:Bent, I will have to agree that Jerry Blanton is a genius. His pulling system is unconventional and unique, but it works so wonderfully well. He had the intuition to step outside the box as it were, to come up with a different type of mechanism for a steel guitar pulling system.
ROGER

Yes, I am not doubting for a second that he has come up with a different, and good working, mechanism.
Just wondering why he hasn't been copied. Maybe there are patents involved here.

I continually wonder why, instead of the manufacturers all building the SAME guitar (design), why not use the innovations of the unique guitars (Blanton, Kline, Anapeg). Is everyone afraid to step out of the box? I mean,,,what is the REAL difference between a Rxxxxx and a Rxxx?,,,a Fxxxxx and a Fxxxxx?,,,or any of the other brands?,,,fretboard design?,,,hey,,,now that's innovative!!!! I tip my hat to the real INNOVATORS,,,the Jerry Blantons, the Joe Klines, the Noel Ansteads,,,,,,

Noel Anstead.

Bill

San Antonio's Jerry Blanton!

He is some pics of my new Blanton great playing and adjusting is so easy thanks Jerry for building a great steel and thanks







Bill

Bent Romnes wrote:... he has come up with a different, and good working, mechanism.
Just wondering why he hasn't been copied.

Maybe it doesn't work well for a complex setup, because each rod puller (crank) blocks the space that another rod might want to use on that string. It is not necessary that all pulls be exactly parallel, but if you have 30 pulls on one neck, you need to fan those rods out in 30 different directions, and that just won't fit.

Earnest, I wrote that one last June.
Now, after talking with Jerry about it, I agree with you to an extent. He says that's the disadvantage with that system, that other rods cannot pass through, or close enough beside the active rod. I'll be talking with Jerry today most likely and we'll discuss this one further. Who knows. maybe he has come up with a solution...

I know its been a few years for this thread, but I'm looking for this guitar - Jerry built it for me when I was a Senior in High School. My Dad and Jerry went way back and played together in the 50's and 60's. Actually this was the guitar Jerry was building for himself and he sold it to me and took my Sho-Bud LDG in for trade at the time.

If anyone knows where this guitar is I would really like to buy it back.

This is the only picture I have that is a close up and its really not that close - but no mistake when you see it you will know it!

Please call me at 512-422-9164 if anyone knows where this guitar is.

I just got off the phone with Jerry, really enjoyed speaking with him after all these years. I grew up knowing Jerry and saw him regularly in with George Chamber playing in Fredericksburg TX at Pats Hall. Speaking of Pats Hall back in 1979 and 80 you could dance to George Strait & the Ace in the Hole Band the 1st Saturday of every month for get this - just $5 and after he released Amarillo By Morning it was $7. Then he release Unwound and it was $10. And he sang all night from 9-1. Pat Hall is once again open after being a warehouse for 20 years and you can see the greats like Johnny Bush, Darrell McCall and Curtis Potter taking the stage again.

The serial number for this Red Blanton is 2100018057.

The sister to this guitar is either in Victoria TX or Corpus Christi TX.

I would love to find out that this beautiful piece of art is still making music somewhere. And if its been packed up and stored under a bed or in a closet - I would like to buy it.

Hey, I just joined the Blanton owners club and would love to contact Jerry about some parts. Can someone please pass on his contact info to me?

Also, I'll be damned but I can't figure out how to adjust the pickup height. Any one have a clue on that?

Slim

I read this thread when it first posted but never noticed till now something interesting about Jerry's guitar as pictured on page 1.

He cut a rectangular sized hole in the pad and placed a Korg CA-30 tuner in the cut out.....and the tuner has a cord coming out of it so he can tune at any moment.

That guy is so smart!!

"dekuji" Mike! Mom's maiden name is Matcek!

I would like to talk with Jerry re the setup of his guitars .. I can be reached at 813 715 2747 [my florida number,,untill march 26],,then april 1 at 705 533 4386 [my canadian number]... My email will remain the same..Thank you Ollie Strong

I saw Hank Jr. back in the early 70's at a outdoor concert in a little town North of McAlester, OK and Dickie Overby was playing a Blanton. First time I had seen one and it sounded Fantastic, Of course Dickie did not have anything to do with it!! J.R. Rose

Ollie, I'll pass your number on to Jerry. He is out of town several weeks at a time building a house. If I can help in the meantime, I'd be happy to tell you what little bit I know about them.

I recently relocated to San Antonio and I got to meet Jerry tonight! He was playing a free show with George Chambers! He was very gracious and nice to speak with. He did not have much time between sets, but was more than willing to chat with me about steel. He was playing one of his S10s and it sounded great!

The Blanton..Pedal Steel Guitar

Here is a video of Bob Adams playing a D-10 Blanton PSG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNbER_CABIg

Roger

Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico legend Don Richmond played his double-neck Blanton with the legendary band Tumbleweed at Cole Park in Alamosa last weekend as part of the Alamosa Live Music Association's Sundays @ Six free weekly summertime concert series. It's the first Blanton I had ever seen, and it sounded great.

Tumbleweed has been around since 1973, but has not been active, aside from infrequent reunion shows, since the early 1990s. They are somewhat unusual in that several members are multi-instrumentalists, resulting in two pedal steels set up side-by-side on the stage. Rob Bosdorf played several tunes on his single-neck ZB Custom.

A great show, that to the audience's extreme misfortune, was foreshortened by an untimely summer monsoon a song or two into the second set.

Mr. Richmond also is the proprietor of Howlin' Dog Records, a wonderful little studio and independent record company amid the potato patch a few miles north of Alamosa.

What was the changer system on the Blantons? They appear to be All-Pull, but how did the Raises/Lowers get tuned?

I once met someone in Texas a few years ago who was holding out for a Blanton---said they wouldn't buy anything else.

They're a pretty conventional scissor style changer, but the fingers pivot on a knife edge (like Fender changers) instead of an axle. They tune underneath the guitar at the bellcranks instead of at the changer end of the guitar. Very unique arrangement, and it works well.

I think the key to the tone in Jerry's guitars, though, is really heavy fingers pivoting on a knife edge. Early Sho Buds get their tone (I think at least) from having a light and thin aluminum finger on a heavy, large diameter pivot. Same goes for Emmons. Blanton used a really heavy brass or maybe steel finger on a knife edge pivot instead. Totally opposite approaches, but they both work.

Blantons sound and play great...

Dave

I often wondered why someone hadn’t pursued using the knife-edge arrangement. Now I know that someone did.

I’ve always felt like that arrangement could probably produce great tone because all of the fingers are in constant contact with the body. Additionally, it seems that there would be no problems with axle flexing or microscopic movements within the pillar block slot from the fingers raising/lowering. This, along with the fingers not moving around (due to raises/lowers) might avoid unwanted sharp/flat tones.

The downside to Blanton's arrangement, is that it can get really crowded underneath the guitar. It was never a problem for me, because the copedent I use is very 60's and simple. But it really would be tough on some of the modern complex copedents. Too crowded.

But they sound great. Same goes for the Sho Bud permanents--seems to me like the more minimal the mechanics are, the better the tone. At least to my ear. I guess no mechanics at all, and you're back to the early Bigsbys and lap steels. But there's nothing wrong with that tone at all! You just give up some fancy changes.

Dave

New to the Forum. Here is a picture of my Blanton. Got it 2 years ago to be my first. (At 60 years old). Was told it was one of Jerry's he played. Still has thumb and finger picks on the rods underneath. I don't sound very good but I'm learning.

and the cutout for the korg tuner....