The Steel Guitar Forum

This from Bobbe's email newsletter today.

I have videos out explaining how to play the BossTone, and yes I said play it. It has to be looked at as a whole new musical instrument. You need to play your steel guitar totally differently to get different effects from the BossTone.

But don't let me scare you because this is very easy if you approach the unit from the right direction. My video, Bobbe Seymour's Steel Guitar Secrets explains this and many more tricks you can do with your effects.

Bobbe, I bought your "steel guitar secrets" video, just for the purpose of learning how to use the Bosstone to get a fiddle sound.
I know it was an honest mistake on your part, but there was nothing in the video that covered the Bosstone. But, that's alright, your instruction on the delay, really helped me out with my delay pedal.
Thanks for all you do for us steel guitar wanna-be's.
Wish I had highspeed so I could download all your Youtube videos.

Terry

I sent him an e=mail asking sbout it if he answers I will post his reply, i need help with this thing.

By the way the Bobro is GREAT.

ernie

Thanks Ernie!. I thought about emailing Bobbe about it, but I know he gets hundreds of emails a day. So I figured I'd post it here on the forum so he could see it. Am I the only one that's bought Bobbe's "secrets " video, and realized that there was no instruction on the Bosstone. I've bought several videos from Bobbe all which were good. I know this was an honest mistake on Bobbe's part. Just don't want others to buy the video thinkin there's instruction on how use the Bosstone.

Terry

Is this the same bosstone as the old sho-sound?

Terry its Secret . Ha Ha Bobbe Where Are you. ?

Terry

I think Bobbe is there by his computor maybe you should speak direct to him, he always says on his site he is there to help and I'm sure he will if you make that call, and that would have been a lot better than what could look like a negative post for Bobbe, I think Bobbe and a few others have done a whole lot of helping on the pedal steel guitar.

Make that call my friend and put your mind at rest and ask him to run through it with you.

Regards

Eddie

The Bosstone always needed very care use in order to simulate the 'string sound'. I haven't used one for many years - my original ShoBud one just disintegrated after about 10 years of use. The art was to play two unison strings slightly out of tune with each other in order to get the note to start beating. I used to use the 5th and 2nd string. Pile on a fair bit of reverb and it gave a reasonable facsimile of a string section. But - and this is key - it also depends upon what you actually play. If you are trying to replicate strings, you must think along those lines. Don't make things too busy if you are backing a singer, and ideally play in unison with a fiddle player if you have one in the band. It just makes a bigger sound on ballads. One last thing that I did was to use my Fender volume/tone pedal at the time to knock some highs off of the note to mellow it down a little.

The new BossTone is much better value now than the original was over 30 years back.

Jeff Newman had an article I think called "Fuzzolyn" explaining how to use the Bosstone for the string effect. Anyone have a copy of that article?

and that would have been a lot better than what could look like a negative post for Bobbe, I think Bobbe and a few others have done a whole lot of helping on the pedal steel guitar.

Eddie, in no way did I mean this post to be negative toward Bobbe Seymore. I agree that Bobbe has done more than any pro player, (especially here on the forum, and through his newsletters, and Youtube videos), for us steel players.
I just wanted to make sure nobody else bought the video thinkin they were goin to get a lesson on how to use the Bosstone. I don't think Bobbe would want that either. But, I'll edit my post, because I don't want it to sound like I'm sayin anything negative about one of my favorite steel players.

Terry

Is this the same bosstone as the old sho-sound?

John, you can still buy the sho-sound Bosstone, every now and then one pops up for sale here on the forum or Ebay. But Bobbe sells the Mahoney version of the Bosstone. I bought one from Bobbe, and they sound as good as the original Bosstones.

Terry

I would like to see Bobbe come up with something to make make a fiddle sound like a steel.It is so much eaiser to carry,only four strings to tune no pedals to fool with.

I don't think anyone ever claimed to be able to make a steel sound like a fiddle. The claim is that, using a modified technique that includes a BossTone, you can simulate the "string section" sound of 70's pop country.

Frankly, I think that using a MIDI pickup and a synth gives much better results. The BossTone effect always sounded lo-fi and cheezy to me, even when Jeff Newman demonstrated it under very controlled conditions. Today, any keyboard player could push a button and laugh you off stage.

As a rock effect, the BossTone sounds more like a buzzsaw than a real rock'n'roll slide guitar. In fact, the main thing it has going for it is its ease of use. The only thing it's good for, in my opinion, is to show people that you really can't play rock on a pedal steel.

I agree with b0b!

Click here to hear Boss Tones in action. Can't hear anything that resembles a buzz saw or cheddar-like sounds.

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/ ... 88,00.html

First off, an apology. With so many videos out, I can’t always remember exactly what’s on each one and I’m human, so I do make mistakes. Thanks to Terry Sneed for pointing it out.

I mistakenly told everyone last week that my Secrets video demonstrated how to use the BossTone. It’s my YouTube videos that explain how to use the BossTone. The links to those videos follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DI9xYDQQVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlgN11Fc75s

If you’ll give me a few days, I will shoot a video specifically for the violin sound using the BossTone and put it on YouTube for everyone to see.

I didn’t check email over the weekend and my email inbox over-flowed and so I also apologize to anyone who got their email returned because my email box was filled to capacity. I deleted all the spam this morning so the email is working again.

Bobbe

b0b and Roger, you need more practice. This effect has been done and is on many hit recordings from the past: Pointer sisters, Lynn Anderson, Elvis Presely, all of Micky Newberry's sessions, Bobby Goldsboro, Johnny Rivers and I personally played on many of Pete Drake produced sessions doing strings for the Columbia artists he produced.

The sound I did was convincing enough that I was forbidden by the Nashville musicians union to continue because of the complaints from the Nashville string sections that I was putting them out of work.

PlayBoy Magizine printed a music review of Newberry's "Amercan Trioligy" saying : "His voice is so good he didn't need that 40 acers of violins behind him to make him sound good". I took that as as fine a compliment as could be made.

As I have said to many players before, it takes time and practice to get this sound. It can't be done the first time you plug in with no practice.
Done correctly with the right equipment and settings, this can be a big money making addition to any steel players income. DONE CORRECTLY!
Done poorly it sounds like a car wreck, which I also do with a Boss Tone.


Bobbe

Well... I'm sure we could ALL use more practice!

Ken Byng wrote:Click here to hear Boss Tones in action. Can't hear anything that resembles a buzz saw or cheddar-like sounds.

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/ ... 88,00.html

That string section part would sound cheezy on any instrument, IMHO.

Seriously, the BossTone "string section" sound is a far cry from what you can get from any MIDI rig today. It was a good idea in the 70's when keyboard strings like the Mellotron were expensive and tempermental. That era is long gone.

On his video, Bobbe says: "You do not want to be loud enough that people say 'What's that noise? Sounds like a bunch of bees out there.'" Would anyone say that about a real string section?

Back then, most in-line gadgets would adversely affect one's tone - I always thought the Boss-Tone was particularly bad in this respect.

I applaud his ingenuity, but Bobbe's newsletter is, essentially, a selling tool. Nothing wrong with that, of course.

I saw a video with Bobbe backing a singer using a boss tone and he sounded like a fiddle playing the parts. You have to think fiddle/violin too.

Tony

Roger, a selling tool? So is every TV show, every radio show and every thing else that involves life.

Bobbe

b0b, "would anyone say that about a real string section?" Yes. The last time I saw Ray Price the sound man must have thought he was mixing a rock band because he had the 10 piece string section so loud that it sounded like calves dying in a stampede. Could't even hear the rest of the band.

Some things just shouldn't be overwhemingly loud,
like strings, they should be sweet and beautiful.

Your good buddy,
Bobbe,,, with great respect

"Roger, a selling tool? So is every TV show, every radio show...."

Exactly! It's essentially a commercial. I didn't say there was anything wrong with that, but let's not elevate it to pure altruism; maybe it's a bit of both.

"... and every thing else that involves life."

I don't know about that, though - I was attempting to communicate back there, but I wasn't selling anything.

Tony Dingus wrote:I saw a video with Bobbe backing a singer using a boss tone and he sounded like a fiddle playing the parts. You have to think fiddle/violin too.

Tony

Hi Tony.I am sure you and most know this but i am still asked at times what is the difference between a fiddle and a violin.
A fiddle is carried in a pillow case,gunny sack or what ever is handy.A violin is carried in a case.I really have been asked that question for over 50 years.
Trivia.Even some of the old and new world class violinist call thier violin a fiddle.Either is correct.Tracy

I thought that a violin had 'strings', while a fiddle has 'strangs'.....