The Steel Guitar Forum

Greetings All

My name is Sam Floyd. It is my pleasure to be part of this forum. I have lived in Fredericksburg Virginia for the past 18 months. Before this, I lived in Baltimore for over 20 years. I have been out of the music seen for some years. My Dad passed away this past December. He was an avid musician, steel guitar player (non-pedal) and a guitar teacher for over 40 years. Any ways, to make a long story a little shorter, I inherited his 1961 Gibson ES-335, a Hound Dog Dobro, and his Fender 4 neck quad master steel guitar. For awhile I wasn’t ready (emotionally) to play any of these instruments except for the dobro until recently. While I will never be the player of the caliber of my Dad and many of you, I have a deep appreciation of the instrument and those who can play it. I have started Scotty's C6 instruction for the lap steel and have adapted it for the Fender. I am using the basic C6 tuning (dropping the 1st and the 8th string and using the 2nd -7th basic C6 tuning). I am having a little problem understanding the basic blocking instructions. I love the sound of this old Fender and will be very happy to gain a basic understanding of the instrument and to play some songs. Thank you for letting me be apart of this forum.

Very Respectfully,

Sam T. Floyd
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Welcome, Sam. I'm sorry to hear of your father's passing, but I hope you'll gain many years of enjoyment from his instruments.
Rick Alexander has some good videos covering blocking on Youtube. Here's a link.

Welcome aboard, Sam!

What was your Dad's musical history?

That's a monster of a Fender. Any pix you can post for us?

Hello Sam

Welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll find lots of help and friendly people here. I think it's a pretty good idea that you're starting with 6 strings. Take your time, listen to your favorite players, and most importantly, enjoy learning. I've found a wealth of information by searching through the archives as well as current posts. My condolences go out to you and your loved ones on the loss of your father. I'd bet he would be proud that your playing his guitars. I use my dad's golf clubs quite a lot and feel like he's smiling down on me whenever I use them

Hi Ron

My Dad taught guitar for almost 50 years. And played Hawaiian steel for just about as long. He was an incredible musician who really didn’t like to play much out but was content playing for his family, students and friends. He studied with the jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd under the GI bill after WW II. He liked to write his own arrangement to many Hawaiian standards such as Sands (always said it was one of the most difficult songs he ever played), Hawaiian Weeding Song, and Beyond the Reef and I had the pleasure of playing rhythm behind in on a lot of those songs. I was a firm believer in Jerry Byrd’s teachings and studied and practiced hard to perfect his techniques. My Dad and I had the pleasure to meet him in person when we visited Hawaii back in the early 70s. Although I was too young to appreciate back then, I realized later what an honor it was to meet such fine man and a great player. I have attached a picture of the Fender Quad. It is a beautiful sounding instrument plugged in to my Fender DeVille or just on its own. Enjoy the picture. I have more if you like.

Sam

Brad

Thank you for the link. I was very helpful.

Sam

Wow, Sam what a treasure! Do you realize that is a very early version? With the straight legs and chromed PU covers, it's a first year issue. And you Dad took fine care of it, with just the mildest hint of it being someones main guitar, ala the slightly worn spots from many years of his finger tips touching the finish.

Any chance you know what tunings he used per neck?

How sweet it is!

Hi Sam, welcome to the forum.
That's a beautiful Quad. I have one just like it except it's blonde. The 26" scale gives you great sustain and big chimes.
Leo Fender considered these to be the best sounding Stringmasters and I tend to agree.

I hope my blocking video helps you.
Brad, thanks for posting the link.

Hi Ron

Thanks again for the e-mail. Just to let you know, I will be out in Hawaii in Febuaray for a week. I hope we can meet then.

I knew it was an early quadmaster based upon a previous string of discussions on this subject (I have been lurking around for awhile). When I was deciding on my course of instruction to learn how to play this thing, I contacted Scottys Music (my dad bought 7 steel guitars from Scotty over the years) and mentioned to Scotty's son I had this Quadmaster but I could not find the serial number. He told me to look under the bridge plate. Well I have looked under all the bridge plates and the first 2 control panels and I still cant find the SN. I am dont want to keep removing and reinstalling screws due to the age of it. I do need to get this and the rest of his instruments appraised for insurance and plan to head down to Nashville in the fall to have this done.

Unfortunately, the quad didn’t look this good when I recieved it and it was very much out of tune. The last couple of years of my dad’s long life of 87 were not kind to him. As a result he did not play for those last years and the quad along with his other instruments sat unattended. The pictures I took were after I spent 8 hours cleaning it up and tuning it. As far as the tunings go, I think he used an E9, and E13 on the two upper necks. I know JB was always sending him recommendations. However I can’t be sure until I can get a hold of some of his notes. I know I need a new set of strings at least for the first neck because some of them sound very dull. I am open to recommendations.

Take Care

Sam

Rick

Your blocking video was very helpful. I have book marked it for future reference. I saw your quad on the previous string on this subject. It is indeed a beautiful instrument. I need to restring my quad to I am open to suggestions on string selection and tuning. I am a long ways from being able to utilize all 4 necks but I would like to have the instrument fully functional. I also noticed on your web site you own a Gibson Grand console. I had a double neck (almost identical to yours) some years ago. It was in very bad shape so I gave to my Dad. I know it is still in his house but I didn’t get it.

V/r,
Sam

Sam, if you ask 10 different players for tuning suggestions you'll get 10 different answers. On my Quad I have E7, A6, high C6 and a diatonic tuning like Jerry Byrd's except it has an additional low C. These tunings and others are shown here along with suggested gauges etc.The first 3 tunings (particularly A6) are easily retuneable to several other useful tunings.

Console Grandes are beautiful instruments, some are way better than others. I went through 3 or 4 of them, and that T-8 is considerably better playing and sounding than others I tried out. I'm not sure why that is, but it seems like GCGs don't withstand the beating as well as Fender steels.

I have a DVD with all those videos plus a few extras. Of course the video and audio quality are far superior to what you see on YouTube. All the info is here.

Rick

Thank you for all the information and references.

Sam

Welcome Sam, from another new forumite and a beginning steeler.

I also am using Scotty's C6 method book, plus a number of tabs I've found on the Net. As I'm sure you know, surfing this forum can be very helpful.

What a great instrument you have to learn on! I just have my little old home-built, but I've become attached to it.

Rick:
I was happy to learn your videos are available on DVD, since I have trouble with YouTube because of my iffy connection. I just ordered the tutorial DVD.

Good Morning Keith

I am sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. The first week on the forum has been great. There is a wealth of information. However, as a result of gazing into the thoughts of some of these great players, I have left some of my "Honey Do's" go unattended. As I said in my initial post, if I can get to the point of playing a couple of tunes on the first neck I will be happy. I am very fortunate and humbled that my dad left me these fine instruments. I wish you all the best in your learning. I know the fry pan has got to be fun to play.

V/r,

Sam

Welcome to the Funny Farm, Sam; A place where you can find a treasure trove of info about Steel (and ALL you need to know if you listen to reich-wing talk radio ); ....Everything from religion to verbal abuse. I favor Holey Moley, and try not to push too many buttons.

I would have liked to have known your Dad. Not only does it sound like he was the kind of person and musician most-anyone would like and be honored to know, ...but it's also obvious that he raised a real gentleman of a Son; A real accomplishment to aspire to. I'll bet getting to know you here will reveal a rather similar Fellow.

Regarding tunings for your Quad; Food for thought ...(along with equally considering suggestions others have offered of course): I suggest C6 on the near neck if that's the tuning you're learning from the get-go (and it should be imho). Then you might put E6 on the next closest neck ...to help transposing and transference in neck navigation between C root and E root position navigation you already know on spanish guitar. This would allow you to learn songs on the C6 neck from your study material, and then be able to play them and jam-around what you discover, particularly in other keys, on the E root neck's position navigation you're already familiar with, ....particularly when playing along with other Musicians' jamming or with recordings'. C root position navigation will become more natural over time. I would stick to one tuning voicing (5 6 1 3 5 6 1 3 for instance ...C root on one neck, E root on the other) until your study material progresses to a different voicing / tuning. As your study material progresses to a new tuning, you can add it to the next outer neck. Eventually you will be able to decide for yourself what tunings you desire to place on each neck. You're a lucky man, ...not only in having 2 necks for C and E root on a top shelf Steel, but 2 more necks to do whatever you want with to boot !

I don't know if Scotty's course mentions it, but worthy of mention just in case, since I don't remember it being mentioned in this non-pedal section before: Important in early eye / brain / muscle-motor development, is to find a comfortable-reach position sitting at your Steel, with the Steel's height adjusted to where your fore-arms are parallel to the ground in your comfortable reach, ...and your body centered between the bridge and nut; .....Then look down and see what fret lines up with your belly button. You will want to take notice that your belly button is lined up with that same fret every time you sit down to your Steel or move your butt from that position, ...and same for other console or lap steels you are playing. That method will cover a number of considerations particularly important during early learning and physiological-programming, which you will read about here on the SGF if you haven't already, ....but also important to position correctly as you progress too, until it eventually becomes good automatic habit. Belly button alignment will also position you correctly behind / under other Steels different scale lengths, sizes, shapes, etc.

Well, I'm starting to get a bit punchy at 6:00 AM ....finger / brain fartin' all over the keyboard ...back-space about every 10 strokes; Haven't gone to bed from yesterday yet; Guess it's about time.

Mahalo Denny

This is great information. I didn’t even think about the belly button alignment (in my case, beer gut). I readjusted the height on the quad yesterday because I knew it was just too low. It took me a couple of tries but I have it right now. Thank you for the information of the tunings. I am using C6 on the first neck. I will double check on #2 neck, but I am almost certain it is tuned to E6.

I will be back out in Oahu in February. I hope we can meet then.

V/r,
Sam

Welcome, cowboy...(or is that Plowboy?)

You were one to

Thanks for the welcome my ol friend.

Sammy

I thought I would give you all an update on the history of my Quad. I changed the strings on the first two necks over the weekend. I put a set of the Herb Remington C6 High on the first neck and a C6 Low on the second. Man did the sound come back to life. Also, I took the chance and removed the first tuning pan to inspect the gears and clean the pan and thats when I found the date of "6-4-53". This gives me the excuse to treat her just a little more gently and play it all the sweeter.

MMMMMMMM..., Fender!

1953 was the first year Fender made Stringmasters.