The Steel Guitar Forum

I sit on the porch for a couple of hours, watch the waves and listen to the sounds of the ocean...

It doesn't get much better than that, Rick! That's about the best inspiration a steel guitarist could have.

Since this multi-faceted thread has already touched on the TSGA Non Pedal Session next March -
I'm very happy to announce that Pee Wee Whitewing has just agreed to come and perform at our show!
This is just getting better and better - and it's still 10 months away . .

I play near the beach all the time and find my strings get gummy pretty fast - esp. in the evenings. Rick, what to you use to combat the salt air? I use silicone spray.

Tom, this gig is in the afternoon from 12 til 4, and the worst problem is sand if it's windy.
And the last couple of weeks it has been fairly windy.
I just wipe it carefully and thoroughly with a slightly dampened cloth.
Silicon spray?? Hmm, maybe I should try that . .

Pee Wee Whitewing is a Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame Member.
He was inducted in 2002.
He's a brilliant player with a long list of recording and performance credits - including Ray Price, Hank Thompson and Lefty Frizzell.
He also has a great sense of humor.
When I spoke with him today and I mentioned when the Non Pedal Session was, he said: "that's next year - I'll come if I'm still alive"
I said: "I certainly hope you are - how old a man are you?"
He said: "I'm 75"
I said: "well that's not old"
He said: "ARE YOU 75?"
I said: "no sir I'm 62"
He said: "well you just wait til you're 75 . ."

This will be the best Non Pedal Session yet!

We owe a debt of gratitude to Rose Sinclair and Johanna Divine for making this happen.

Here's the video that demonstrates side-by-side two Remington Steelmasters - one with stock George-L E66 pickups and one with the custom Cindy Cashdollar rewound pickups.
REMINGTON STEELMASTER PICKUP COMPARISON VIDEO
Both are now available from Remington Steel Guitars when you order your new Steelmaster!
Herb Remington - 713 923 8435

Rick, I prefer the rewinds by a mile.

I like the mod-George L's as well, nice mellow tone. Congrats on the new guitar, I think it's definately a keeper!

Looking up to you as I do, as a 'father image'and all, I'm indeed reluctant to give my opinion on the two different g'tars you were so kind enough to display for us all to enjoy.

Now, I fully realize how happy and excited you are about your newest acquisition however, I personally prefer the SOUND of the double neck that you plucked there in front of the camera.

Perhaps you've allowed too much sand to accumulate on your g'tar strings on that triple neck. But to me, it sounded like it had too much bass!

That's just one wanna-be musician's opinion tho' so I really wouldn't let it upset your life or chosen career field. Are we still friends? (Hopa, hopa, hopa!)

Rick: I thought both had good tone. I couldn't decide which one I liked better. Maybe if I heard them in the flesh, but, let's face it, most people are going to hear them on recordings.

edited

They are both nice, however I prefer the triple neck
tone...especially for Hawaiian. JMHO

Well Rick I went back about 5 more times
Both were great, but for my ear the triple neck was the best. I just heard what I liked.

And I still don't want any kittens

You Pal
Danny

Ray Montee wrote: That's just one wanna-be musician's opinion tho' so I really wouldn't let it upset your life or chosen career field. Are we still friends? (Hopa, hopa, hopa!)

Rick
Unlike Ray ! My opinion is worth way more than
any friendship

so here goes !

I like the Black one -- they always sound best .

Hick

Nice sounding axe there. Nice playin too. Thanks for posting nice tunes for us to check out.

This is so interesting to read and hear the diversity of opinions about these pickups.
I've received quite a few emails too, and even a couple of phone calls - and I really appreciate all the comments.
Herb appreciates them too, he finds this very interesting also.
At this very moment, my triple neck is the only guitar in existence that has the modified rewound pickups.
But that's about to change, because Cindy's new double neck Steelmaster that Herb is just putting the finishing touches on will be equipped with them as well.
And if these responses are any indication, I imagine that about half of the people that order new Steelmasters from Herb in the future will be asking for the rewound pickups, while the other half will opt for the stock pickups.

Ray, don't worry buddy - there's no right or wrong answer here, it's not a pop quiz!

Alan, I guess you'll just have to come over and hear them in person . .

We still would like to hear more opinions and comments about these pickups.

Here are a couple of videos from the gig at The Riptide yesterday afternoon.
It was a beautiful day - not windy, just a little breeze.
So there's no wind racket on these:
ROCKIN' ROLLIN' OCEAN
ROLY POLY
YOU BETTER MOVE ON

Rick Alexander wrote:...Here are a couple of videos from the gig at The Riptide yesterday afternoon....
ROCKIN' ROLLIN' OCEAN
ROLY POLY
YOU BETTER MOVE ON

I listened to all three. Great. I must admit that on the first track, with the heavenly voices in the background, I was thinking of those Elvis movies where he's in the middle of nowhere, he strums his guitar and an entire orchestra and choir appears in the background out of the ether.

Thanks Alan! I did all 5 of those voices (one more than The Jordanaires).
Singing harmony isn't my forte really, so I just designated 5 tracks Bass, Baritone, Tenor, Alto and Soprano and sat there with a guitar to help me figure out the parts and sing them more or less on pitch.
When I was a kid, I had that big Elvis fantasy about breaking into song and the singers and orchestra appearing out of nowhere.
Many years later, this is about as close as I could come . .

I like the Black one -- they always sound best .

Hick, I'm with you buddy - I like the black one too!

George Piburn wrote:You could twist enuff knobs to make the Double sound like the Triple if some one wanted that,

You could never twist enough knobs to make the triple sound like the double.

Gotta disagree with this. You can't really make a heavy wound pickup sound like a lighter wound pickup (all other options being the same.) And the same is true the other direction. Trying to make humbuckers sound "just like" single coils is a waste of time, and even though there are options to make single coils sound like humbuckers, they don't really work either.

I liked the triple better, though it still sounds like humbuckers through a solid state amp to me

To me, they both sounded good!

The stock pickups sound louder and brighter, whereas the rewinds sound a bit more mellow. Other than that, my ears didn't hear a whole lot of difference between the two. But it's probably hard to hear the suttle differences from a compressed and sampled file. I bet if we were there in person, the differences would be more apparent.

I guess we'll all have to take a field trip down to Hollywood Beach one Saturday, and hear them "live"!

Hard to say .. they both had a great sound ... I pick the black one

I guess we'll all have to take a field trip down to Hollywood Beach one Saturday, and hear them "live"!

Jeff, that's a fabulous idea!

I pick the black one

On that we all agree . .

Did I mention that my eldest daughter lives in Pasadena ?

Yes you did Alan.
But it's important, and I think it bears repeating . .


I just talked to Carco Clave today, and he'll be back for the 2010 Non Pedal Session along with the lovely and talented Renae' Truex on fiddle and Scott Icenogle on upright bass.
He's currently on tour with BR549, and he has invited Chuck Meade to come and perform too.
That would be pretty cool . .

I just heard from Mike Neer, and he's going to be able to join us for the Non Pedal Session too!
That makes for a pretty full roster, even with the new expanded timetable.
That's right - the Non Pedal Session will be expanded to include Thursday evening so we can accommodate all the great players who have signed on.
Speaking of expansion, the room will also be expanded to a larger size. Good thing those walls are removable!

And with the expanded timetable, I guess Wade Pence's lovely wife Shirley will have to print even smaller when she makes the sign for the Non Pedal Session.
Shirley has been making the sign every year since the very beginning back in 2006. That's when Wade and Chuck Lettes put on the very first Non Pedal Session in the lecture room at the Harvey (now the Westin). In the beginning, it was a 6 hour event on Friday from 10 to 4PM.
If it weren't for Wade Pence, Chuck Lettes and of course George "Mr Boards" Piburn, the Non Pedal Session would never have existed in the first place.
Last year it was a highly successful 2 day event - all day and night Friday and Saturday. Next year it's going to be a 3 day event featuring at least 5 Steel Guitar Hall Of Famers , 1 Grammy winner, and several top artists from Nashville, Austin, New York and the UK.
It's still 10 months away, but it's shaping up to be an incredible event.
I'll be posting the performer's roster in the not too distant future.
Now is the time to make plans to attend - the Sheraton is already booked up for that weekend and the overflow hotels are filling up fast as well.
If you can't be there, it will all be video'd and posted on YouTube just like last year and the year before - but there's nothing quite like actually being there!