The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey Coop!
Did I miss something here or are you just making a statement of fact?
Benton

I think Don is the first player that really got my attention. I love his style and really miss that sound today.

Dan

The time I saw him with Porter (~1955) he did it standing up.

Coop is right! I'd love to have Don's ol' stand-up guitar!

I'm thinking that the guitar Don Warden used on TV was a stand-up 8-string with only one pedal, possibly Sho-Bud serial number 0001. Did I read that or dream it?

I have asked before if anybody knows what tuning & copedant he used, but no answer....

D Schubert wrote:I'm thinking that the guitar Don Warden used on TV was a stand-up 8-string with only one pedal,

It may have had 2 pedals, but he played it as if they were welded together.

Don's Sho-Bud was constantly changing. Through pics & videos, I've noticed that the number of pedals changed & the pedal positions changed. I'm sure that his copedant & tunings may have evolved as well. He seemed to really be on the ball during an ever-changing time in steel playing.

There's a pic of it in Porter's last c.d. cover. Wish I had it infront of me.

Casey

My comment from the other thread:
I have seen the Porter Show where the pedals were first at the changer end, then shortly thereafter, they were at the keyhead end! I read somewhere that Don's guitar was the first guitar.

Many years ago I had the opportunity to visit with Don Warden personally, and he had just received his "new Sho-Bud" which had 2 pedals (8 strings and walnut aprons and neck/maple top - lacquer of course)on it instead of just the one. He said it was tuned to D9th and because he also was one of Porter's back up singers he could not use a volume pedal but had to stand. When asked about his first Sho-Bud he said it was the first one they built and is now in the Country Music Hall of Fame museum in N'ville. The logo on it looked to be red and the guitar had definitely been played! Don was a super friendly guy and loved to talk steel guitar. His style fit PW very well IMHO. I still enjoy the old reruns of the shows. This is the information I got straight from the man himself.

John Buffington

Don's guitar used to be at the Roy Acuff Museum at Opryland. That's where I first saw it. If it's now at the CMHOF, it's because of the rape of Opryland by the good ol' boy MBA's at Gaylord.

D Schubert wrote:I'm thinking that the guitar Don Warden used on TV was a stand-up 8-string with only one pedal, possibly Sho-Bud serial number 0001. Did I read that or dream it?

I have asked before if anybody knows what tuning & copedant he used, but no answer....

Two pedals (according to Buddy), and probably the standard (back then) Sho~Bud tuning...

E, B, G#, F#, D, B, G#, and E.

While this may not be accurate for all periods, he always seemed to play an "E" based tuning with a 2-string change to A.

I talked to John Coop this evening, and he is in agreement with that. 8 string, E on top.

Don Warden, like Pete Drake, is a lot better player than than you would think. He listened to the song and singer. and played what fit the mood of the song. He was a monster non pedal player. I was on some shows he did with Red Sovine before pedals and he did some great picking. Jody.