The Steel Guitar Forum

There are so many good ones now and a few super Pickers but to choose anyone I'll leave that alone. Just to say that a lot of them wouldn't be picking as good as they are if there never was a Buddy Emmons.

"One thing stands out and that is the thought of how durable and unchanged the PP steel remains based on its conception and design features by Buddy Emmons. A living tribute to the acknowledged Master. The benchmark sound for steel guitar...”

(Clem Schmitz)

Someone will come along and redefine the instrument or it won't survive. They will almost need to come out of nowhere musically speaking. Everyone mentioned in this thread are great players in their on right but without BigE's influence its doubtful they would be where they are on the instrument. Mechanically speaking, technology will continue to move the instrument forward. With the advancements in computers, I believe eventually pitch change of the strings will be done electronically eliminating the need for complicated changers, rods and compensators. Oh, and no neck warp/de-tuning.. You will still have pedals and knee levers but they will be reconfigurable with the touch of a button depending on your need for that song. The computer will make the changes in the tuning so that string/pedal combinations with be in-tune... The guitars will sound better than a Push Pull because the strings will connect to a bridge that is connected to the body, not to a changer. The feel of the pedals on the guitar can be adjusted electronically also. This can happen much faster than you might think. Ten years ago I bought a real 500,000.00 helicopter complete with everything I needed to do high quality video, five years later it was replaced by a 1,500.00 drone. Personal I'm excited about the possibilities. I remember Buddy talking about the future of the steel at a concert he did for us here in Lubbock back in the 80's. The things he talked about where more far fetched than anything I've mentioned here...

The PSG wont survive the next hundred years nor will the musical genres we grew up with. If this world still exists it will be NWO muzak.

Wally Moyers wrote:I remember Buddy talking about the future of the steel at a concert he did for us here in Lubbock back in the 80's. The things he talked about where more far fetched than anything I've mentioned here...

I'd love to hear what his 80s vision of the future was, if you'd care to share it with us, Wally.

Jim Cohen wrote:

Wally Moyers wrote:I remember Buddy talking about the future of the steel at a concert he did for us here in Lubbock back in the 80's. The things he talked about where more far fetched than anything I've mentioned here...

I'd love to hear what his 80s vision of the future was, if you'd care to share it with us, Wally.

Buddy talked about being frustrated by his musical limitations due to tunings and his physical limitations/chops. He said he believed that someday there would be a devise you could put on your head that could read your musical thoughts and then reproduce those through an instrument... Jim, can you imagine what he must have been hearing?! The things he played that night still blows me away just thinking about it... He also talked about the need to develop the sound of the instrument to be more versatile like the guitar is. He said that was why he experimented with the effects he was using back then. That night he had a Korg synth, a pitch change devise for harmony parts, a phaser, delay and a looper... What a innovator...

If this world still exists it will be NWO muzak.

Joachim, please define the acronym NWO..

New World Order.

Or maybe, Not Worth Otterpuke.

New World Order.

Thanks, Fred. Sounds like CTC to me - Conspiracy Theory Crap.. My apologies for the topic drift.

Good for you Barry if You see it this way. Keeps you from being depressed like I am these days.

Here's something you all might like.
https://youtu.be/k-9g0okYkCM

Joey, I bet I watched that video a dozen times!!! Loved it!!!

Joey, I bet I watched that video a dozen times!!! Loved it!!!

I don't think anyone will ever be as influential in so many aspects of pedal steel guitar. That time and era has passed. There are many fine players, but there are a lot of boxes that would have to be checked to match all that Emmons did, let alone the remote possibility of anyone ever eclipsing his accomplishments. He was a premier player, a singer, an inventor, an innovator, a designer, a builder, a writer, a teacher, and a composer.

We're truly blessed that he was around long enough to do so much, and to do it so well.

Amen Donny...….