The Steel Guitar Forum

Posted: **6 May 2009 10:01 pm**

Hi

I got hold of an old Manoloff bakelite tonebar.... I really like the tone you can get out of it. There is a crack which is getting longer and longer....

I looked over on Ebay but those are pretty damned expensive !!

So I was wondering if there is any way to get a "new" one somewhere. Does somebody still make sell Bakelite Tonebars ?

Cheers

Posted: **7 May 2009 12:34 am**

The Tribo-Tone bars, apart from being fantastic, were inspired by the bakelite Manoloff bars:

www.tribotone.com

From the Tribo-Tone website:

In 1995 I purchased an old Oahu Hawaiian guitar and found a vintage Nick Manoloff tone-bar still inside the case. The Manoloff design was so revolutionary it received a patent in 1937. This slide bar produced incredible tone but was constructed from materials that showed an unacceptable amount of wear. It did what it promised to do in terms of reducing string noise but durability, construction, and proper weighting had yet to be perfected. The Manoloff design was a great idea but came before modern engineering plastics were available.

Today there are hundreds of choices in engineering and aerospace ‘plastics’ and each formulation has a unique set of features, prices, properties, and possible applications. In 2001 I built my first slide dedicated to reducing string noise and used it as an early prototype for the ones you see here today. The quality, craftsmanship, and chosen materials for the Tribo-Tone™ slides are the result of research, experiment, some creativity, and years of refinement.

2007 marks the 70th anniversary of the revolutionary Manoloff tone bar design. Tribo-Tone™ is proud to carry this tradition to the next level and cover some entirely new ground as we move forward.

While not cheap, they are worth every cent IMHO, and they also make a lighter "Manoloff bar" which is cheaper and "a direct replacement for the original Nick Manoloff tone bar of the 1930's but superior in performance and durability".

Hope that helps!

Fred

Posted: **7 May 2009 9:19 am**

Tribo-Tone is definitely the way to go. I've had mine for about a year and a half and although it appears to have lost it's shiny new appearance it seems like it's now slicker than when first purchased.

Posted: **7 May 2009 9:32 am**

To chuck in my $0.02....I just received my Tribotone Manaloff bar a few days ago and it has not left my hand except for sleep and air travel. While it took a little getting used to, the tone is wonderful, and it handles like a Porsche...or how I imagine a Porsche would handle.

Posted: **7 May 2009 10:37 am**

I have a 3" 7/8 tribotone, my first bullet nose bar, seems like I hit the bullseye with my first dart, apart from great feel and tone it has really improved my playing

Posted: **7 May 2009 10:41 am**

sigh, when are they going to make a stevens or SP2 style tribo-tone bar? Hell, I would buy one if I knew where to buy a molded handle to glue to it.

Posted: **7 May 2009 12:59 pm**

James Mayer wrote:sigh, when are they going to make a stevens or SP2 style tribo-tone bar? Hell, I would buy one if I knew where to buy a molded handle to glue to it.

Eric told me last year that a "Stevens"-style bar is "in the pipeline"... but don't hold your breath.
I also asked him about fixing a handle on there, but adhesives don't like the plastic that the Tribo-Tones are made from.
Maybe drilling & tapping a hole to screw one on would be an option.
I'd like a sharp end on the bar like a Lap-Dawg, but I'm not sure this would be possible...

I'm pleasantly surprised that the "Bullet-Bar-Police" haven't pounced on your post James!!(yet...)hehe

Posted: **7 May 2009 9:09 pm**

I saw a bakelite used, on ebay today, as well as an agate bar. Anyone ever use the agate? Impressions?

Posted: **9 May 2009 6:15 pm**

I have a Manoloff Bakelite bar I would part with if anyone is interested.

Posted: **10 May 2009 3:22 am**

Chris Drew wrote:
James Mayer wrote:sigh, when are they going to make a stevens or SP2 style tribo-tone bar? Hell, I would buy one if I knew where to buy a molded handle to glue to it.

I'm pleasantly surprised that the "Bullet-Bar-Police" haven't pounced on your post James!!(yet...)hehe

Well one reason is that I've been away playing in Holland and the rest of the "MEN" seem to be practising rather than spending time here

!.. (That's how you learn to use the Bullet Bar, PRACTISE

)
James, why on earth would you want a Stevens or Sp2 type bar for electric steel guitar when the TriboTone Bar sticks to your hand like the proverbial "S**t to a Blanket"?

Posted: **10 May 2009 6:19 am**

basilh wrote:James, why on earth would you want a Stevens or Sp2 type bar for electric steel guitar when the TriboTone Bar sticks to your hand like the proverbial "S**t to a Blanket"?

Nee-nar-nee-nar-woowoowoo!!!
Step away from the guitar Mr Mayer... you're BUSTED!

Posted: **10 May 2009 6:36 am**

Chris Drew wrote:
Nee-nar-nee-nar-woowoowoo!!!

That reminds me of the "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" joke

You MUST know the one, about the sax player that can busk ANYTHING ..but had forgotten the middle section of 'Rainbow' and try as he may, he simply couldn't get it, so... in desperation he threw himself out of the tenth story window and on his way down he heard a siren going :- Nee-nar-nee-nar-nee-nar...
not only was his memory jolted but most of the rest of his anatomy..

Posted: **10 May 2009 6:52 am**

You tell 'em Officer Bas!
You have such a way with words . .

Posted: **10 May 2009 7:02 am**

Thanks Rick, that's my bigest problem, I have too many words and tend to talk on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on etc.

It comes from having so few close friends that when I meet a new one I try too hard to be accepted, my wife says that if there was a world talking championship, I could talk for England..

As for the Bullet Bar Police they are a division of the Nickel-wound strings and fingerpick brigade whose motto is "do it without fretting"

Have you noticed that most of us do it standing whereas the lady players tend to do it sitting

Posted: **10 May 2009 7:26 am**

I am on the beta tester if there ever is a steven's style bar tribo-tone list. Eric tol dme there are issues with molding it into a non-cylindrical shape AND it won't allow for any sort of gluing or driling into. Been through that route. Won't work.

Posted: **10 May 2009 9:12 am**

Comment on 'SP2' & Stevens: You can mold these plastics into anything... the problem is that custom mold prices range from $11-18K!!! This is not feasible. Therefore we are back to the old labor intensive milling machine/lathe options. Correct that glue is not an option. It must be a mechanical junction. Good news is I think I can do it. Bad news is it will be a while out. Bottlenecks are next...

BACK ON TOPIC: I have dabbled in agate. It's much to hard to sound good IMO. To my ears it sounds thin with little note separation. In a musical world constantly pushed toward more and more compression... tonal dynamics can be a breath of fresh air when you hear it. It's like bucking a bad trend.

My real work is in the Physics department at a local college. Down the hall there are polished core samples from the geology department from around the world. Just about perfect for testing:-) [Not 1 core sample was harmed in the process.]

Posted: **10 May 2009 9:23 am**

basilh wrote:...Have you noticed that most of us do it standing whereas the lady players tend to do it sitting

...yes, and bookkeepers do it with double entry.

Posted: **10 May 2009 7:51 pm**

Mr. Brookes, that sounds like an English joke. I had a good friend from accross the pond and his humor was like yours LOL

Posted: **11 May 2009 10:24 am**

One of my college accounting profs (back in the early 70's) told me that you have to debit, credit, or eat it!