The Spina Minor Bar

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 15 Mar 2010 8:46 pm

I just picked up this oddball bar, circa 1930s/40s. Spina Mfg. Co., Albany NY. It works pretty well!

The little sliding piece is a "miniature bar" that touches one string behind the bar, and it pushes that string down slightly, just enough so that string clears the main bar. So the note produced on that string is one fret flat of the bar.
In other words... if the bar is on fret 7... one string can be "flatted" to fret 6 by pushing the mini-bar down slightly. It takes some getting used to, but it does work. To get a minor chord just push on the 3rd of the chord. Anyone here ever seen one of these?

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 15 Mar 2010 9:48 pm

that's a new (old) old on me......never saw the likes of that before.....

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 15 Mar 2010 9:52 pm

I've never seen one of those before either. What a cool looking bar!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 15 Mar 2010 9:52 pm

Wow, that is wild. It almost reminds me of those plastic units that fit on the guitar neck so when you push down on a button, it frets the chord for you--I think was called EZ Chord or something like that. That thing looks pretty rare, good find. Probably works best for E tuning, right?

John Ed Kelly · Post by **John Ed Kelly** » 15 Mar 2010 10:00 pm

An interesting gadget.

I guess it would be in tune for just the one fret placement at a time though?

So if you're playing at fret 7, then you'd need to slide the mini-bar (no pun) in a bit as you progress up the board, and outwards as you move towards F1,2,3 etc...

There's an interesting YouTube video that Steve Cunningham recently alerted us to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzPUTDjOuio , which is somewhat related.

I'm amazed at all the variations people devise for SG. It seems a bit more innovative than the clarinet world that I also inhabit.

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 15 Mar 2010 10:15 pm

That's cool Doug, never seen one before.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 15 Mar 2010 10:34 pm

Probably works best for E tuning, right?

Yes, it works well for E tuning, flat the 3rd. I haven't tried it on other tunings yet... but placing the mini-bar over any string will lower that string.

...you'd need to slide the mini-bar (no pun) in a bit as you progress up the board

yes, as you move up the fretboard the frets get closer together so you need to adjust for that. I guess that's why the little bar slides in the slot. I was able to play a I, IIm, IIIm, IV pattern (A, Bm, C#m, D) by simply moving up the frets using the bar, frets 5, 7, 9, 10, E9 tuning. It's crude, but it does work. I guess Necessity really IS the mother of invention!

This was in the back room of an old music store in Rhode Island. I don't think it was ever used. It's cool to have the original box too. I love vintage steel guitar items like this.

Matt Berg · Post by **Matt Berg** » 16 Mar 2010 5:19 am

Great photos of a neat piece.

So you rotate your wrist clockwise when you want the major chords? What's that action like?

Do you have to block between chords to keep it "clean sounding"?

Tom Gray · Post by **Tom Gray** » 16 Mar 2010 8:32 am

Very cool. Reminds me of Sonny Landreth's technique of fretting behind the bottleneck slide. It looks like this would knock other techniques, like slanting and damping behind the bar, out the window. If so, the minuses outweighed the plus and that explains why the gadget never caught on. But what a wonderful find.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Mar 2010 9:07 am

So you rotate your wrist clockwise when you want the major chords?

It looks like this would knock other techniques, like slanting and damping behind the bar, out the window

When the bar is held normally (upright) the mini-bar does not touch the strings, so you have your normal tuning and chords. You need to turn the bar slightly to the left if you want the mini-bar to touch a string. Notice that the mini-bar is slightly higher than the main bar. In the last picture notice that I'm pushing down on the mini-bar and the main bar is turned slightly. Slants are possible although it's a little awkward to slant with the finger locked into that clip.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 16 Mar 2010 9:15 am

very cool.

Makes me wonder if something similar couldn't be done by putting a little metal cap on your ring finger and pressing down when you wanted.

Chad Winn · Post by **Chad Winn** » 16 Mar 2010 10:24 am

Bill McCloskey wrote:...putting a little metal cap on your ring finger and pressing down when you wanted.

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, a heavy metal guitarist does this with a thimble on his picking hand, ala '80s guitar fret board tapping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAnG7WD5sBk

Fortunately, you only have to watch a bit to get the idea....

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 16 Mar 2010 10:47 am

What a great idea to use a thimble. I'm going to try that and see if it works.

John Ed Kelly · Post by **John Ed Kelly** » 16 Mar 2010 2:12 pm

''What a great idea to use a thimble. I'm going to try that and see if it works.''

Bill, I think that the thimble will not be heavy enough to produce a sustain, despite having one of your digits in it.

Nonetheless, I'll give it a go too.

john

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 16 Mar 2010 2:21 pm

if the thimble thing doesn't work out for steel guitar....can I send you guys some socks to mend?.....

Don McClellan · Post by **Don McClellan** » 16 Mar 2010 2:28 pm

Doug, I believe you're demonstrating it backwards in the photo. Am I wrong? Don

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 16 Mar 2010 2:31 pm

Howard, as long as I can come by and play that new Benoit, I'm happy to darn your socks.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 16 Mar 2010 3:19 pm

Stoopidly cool! I want one!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 16 Mar 2010 3:43 pm

Beats the bar I saw where you spun a rubber band around until the bar could spin. To get a slant, you just pick up the bar and it flips into position. Can't recall what made it stop rotating. Good find, Doug. Steel guitar is the klugiest of all instruments. Can you imagine an artificial set of lips for a flute player? No, only steel guitarists are this wacky!

John Ed Kelly · Post by **John Ed Kelly** » 16 Mar 2010 3:57 pm

''Doug, I believe you're demonstrating it backwards in the photo. Am I wrong? Don''

I don't think it's designed to be played in front of the bar for a right hander, that is.

I'm a left hander, so I'd be able to, with my thumb on the mini-bar. Then again, I am practicing my string bending, so I probably wouldn't need one. The usefulness of the mini-bar would be diminished by the awkwardness imposed when slanting.

My guess is that there'd be just a small market for this device.

John

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Mar 2010 7:16 pm

Doug, I believe you're demonstrating it backwards in the photo. Am I wrong?

When I first saw the bar I too thought the "miniature bar" should touch the string on the front side of the bar, but after trying it... I realized it doesn't work that way. Check the picture below. That way feels all wrong... the bar is front heavy, the weight distribution is off, and the thumb doesn't work in the mini-bar because the thumb has to hold the bar on that side. The position of the finger slot is way off too. When I turned the bar the other way (as shown above) the bar felt comfortable and it worked fine and I could hear the string (the note) drop down a half step when I pressed on the mini-bar.

Backwards:

Mark Bracewell · Post by **Mark Bracewell** » 17 Mar 2010 8:20 pm

That's the coolest thing ever. I see why they call it a Minor Steel. I must have one. Doug could you post some rough dimensions?

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 18 Mar 2010 1:33 am

Doug, have you thought about recording something to demonstrate how it works in a song?

Chris Drew · Post by **Chris Drew** » 18 Mar 2010 4:49 am

Yeah, it would be interesting to hear this in action...

I'm a little surprised that the Bar-Police haven't raided this thread yet...
I'd expect them to have piled in, sirens a-wailin' & batons a-flailin'

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 Mar 2010 8:09 am

Doug could you post some rough dimensions?

3 5/8" long
5/16" wide
the side section extends 1 5/8" from the main bar

I started to record an audio clip using the bar... and I quickly realized that I would need a lot of practice with this before I can play minor chords in tune!

The technique involved in using the bar smoothly would take some time to master. I can move between the majors and minors, but its rough and the tuning is kind of iffy.