Junior Browns Steel

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 28 Jul 2006 6:56 am

Just a little thought here.Are there people that would love to have such a steel?
I mean with the tele attached to it.I am thinking about building me these.That is if there are no copyrights on this instrument.Maybe some of you have some input on these instruments.I believe that there are only a couple made.

Ron

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 28 Jul 2006 7:50 am

You can just buy one here: http://www.stevensguitars.com/

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 28 Jul 2006 7:53 am

Wow. $9500 base price...

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 28 Jul 2006 7:57 am

Thats a little to rich for my blood.Just like to know if there are any patents on that Steel-Guit.If not then I am gonna start building.

Ron

Mike D · Post by **Mike D** » 28 Jul 2006 8:02 am

Sounds steep, but I'll bet the materials and electronics (not to mention the case) would be well over a grand all by themselves.
I doubt there is a patent (but you can check that with a web search) on the combination of a steel and a standard guitar, but there is certainly a trademark on the Guit-Steel name.

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Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 28 Jul 2006 8:15 am

Yeh, that price gets rid of a lot of taxi drivers.

Phred

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

Matt Johnson · Post by **Matt Johnson** » 28 Jul 2006 8:15 am

You could go the really cheap (and cheesy) route and glue a couple together like this!
http://www.tradingmusician.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=146 &id=4843

I say start buildin'!

[This message was edited by Matt Johnson on 28 July 2006 at 09:16 AM.]

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 28 Jul 2006 8:19 am

Notice in the picture that you can't see the tuning machines for the steel...

What is he using? Is he recreating the original Stringmaster tuning pan?

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 28 Jul 2006 8:29 am

Matt,that really looks cheap and cheesy.Besides they Glued a 6-string on there and I'll bet it does not have the real sound like the Fenders have.
No I think that its best for me to start on this thing in my workshop.And see how long it will take me to get that done.I am in no hurry.
Mike,you are right about all the parts....but who says that I will use original cover plates and such.Besides when I start building these it will not have Fender parts on it anyway.As far as I could check on the internet there is no Patent on these steel-guit's.Thanks for the idea to do a web-search on that.

Ron

Dave Zielinski · Post by **Dave Zielinski** » 28 Jul 2006 9:08 am

Ron,

Do I Know you?? we (706 UNION) opened the most recent Junior Brown Show in Pittsburgh at the REX. I live in Irwin.

I have half of a guit steel project form a few years back. email me.

Dave

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 28 Jul 2006 9:32 am

I hope I'm not out of line in bringing up this beautiful piece of work by Andy Zynda:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/003858.html

Follow his link to the photos.

Mike D · Post by **Mike D** » 28 Jul 2006 10:22 am

Thanks Jon, I'd forgotten that one!

Ron, I wasn't even thinking Fender parts, I was thinking Lollar/Barden P/Us, decent bridges, a tuner pan like Gerald mentioned etc.
Not trying to disuade you at all in fact I've thought about building something similar myself one of these days.

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Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 28 Jul 2006 11:14 am

I know Mike.Maybe my response was a little blunt but that was not my intention.What I ment to say is.....I will build all parts myself.Of course the PU's will not be made by me because I have absolutly no idea how to do that.But the rest like pickguards,cover plates etc etc will be build bu me and will not look exactly the same as the Steel-Guit Junior is using.It will be a little different from that model.
Maybe someone can help me with PU's and such.

Thanks in advance

Ron

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 28 Jul 2006 11:33 am

Dave you have mail.

Ron

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 28 Jul 2006 11:40 am

If I was gonna build one from scratch or even if I was to have Mike Stevens build me one,I'd have the steel neck at a flatter angle - more like the Smith/Mellobar gitsteel knockoff from a few years ago - what'd they call it? A "steelgit" or something?. I've tried to play Junior's ax and it's real difficult to play the steel neck at that angle.The fact that he can do it at all just tells me how much better he'd play it if it were flat. Or you could just do what Jamie used to do before he got the gitsteel built - stand behind a Stringmaster with a Tele around your neck.Much cheaper and easier to play.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 28 Jul 2006 1:16 pm

How many other musicians came from the same planet Junior did, with the talent and ability to pull off what he does with that beast he plays?

Harry Dietrich · Post by **Harry Dietrich** » 28 Jul 2006 3:36 pm

*[This message was edited by Harry Dietrich on 28 July 2006 at 04:38 PM.]

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 28 Jul 2006 3:41 pm

There's always "Harry the Hammer's" way ...

Is that at Al's in Joliet ...

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Hawaiian Steel Stuff
The Casteels
HSGA

Harry Dietrich · Post by **Harry Dietrich** » 28 Jul 2006 3:51 pm

Damn, Rick

How did you get that picture? LOL!

That was back a couple of years...like 25 maybe. I had hair then.

No ...not at Al's, but that's a thought...maybe we ought to set up and play at Al's for free steaks. I'll bet the customers would enjoy it.

Harry

Mark White · Post by **Mark White** » 29 Jul 2006 3:27 am

I thought Gerald brought up a good point that kind of got past over. What does he use for tuners on the Stringmaster half? Maybe they could be had for replacement tuners?

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 29 Jul 2006 7:00 am

Sorry, but at these prices, he must not want to make any ... What average Joe (musician) could afford any of these products?

Mike D · Post by **Mike D** » 29 Jul 2006 7:12 am

Barry look at it this way. He's one guy making top quality instruments. He's probably lucky if he can make 10-12 a year and most of his guitars go for less than the Guit-Steel. Many top flight builders also have regular jobs too so their output is even more limited. Eventually, if the demand keeps up they will have waiting lists years long which can get burdensome so one way to keep things under control is to raise prices.
Some of the top builders of acoustic guitars (and this is also true of some resonator builders like Scheerhorn) found that people were getting guitars they waited 2 years for (and had locked in the price at the time of the order) and then selling them the next day on Ebay for double what they just paid. Sometimes people were even selling their place on the waiting list for far more than they had locked in at.
There's nothing wrong with this but any builder is going to look at that situation and see that they have to raise prices. In the case of a select few builders prices are now regularly in the 5 figures! (not me unfortunately

)

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Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.

[This message was edited by Mike D on 29 July 2006 at 08:13 AM.]

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 29 Jul 2006 7:57 am

I have seen and worked on several of Mike Stevens instruments. They are spectacular and worth every penny he gets to make them. Works of art.

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 29 Jul 2006 8:32 am

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 29 Jul 2006 1:12 pm

Junior's the MASTER! He's definitely from some other planet, and thank goodness for that! Check out the huge smile on Jackson's face after Jr. finishes his steel break.

Makes me want to go play my Stringmaster right NOW!!!

Thanks for posting that.

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Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Regal resonator (C6); 1938 Epiphone Electar (A6); assorted ukuleles; upright bass