The Steel Guitar Forum

Haven't been around here too long, but I've read and heard that BLACK colored steels sound better. What's the deal with that? Is it an insider thing or do they really sound better? I gotsta know!

Lewis -

It's become an insider thing. Some have suggested - with tongue in cheek - that the color makes a difference.

However, I must say that my instrument is black, trimmed in gold, and therefore will invariably sound infinitely better than your'n.

Looks like yer gonna have to dump that 'ole curly maple thang that's trickin' your ears.

Respectfully,

Richard

I guess it's all in the mind of the player. I had many black ones,
and they never sounded as good to me as any of my colored ones did.
I think it depends on who plays them too, and I'm not a great player.
Carl

I heard something about how the black mica on early push-pulls was thinner than other colors and it made them sound better...or something like that. No idea if any of it is true...

Jeff Newman used to say that RED guitars played faster notes than all the others.

Well the black ones may sound better and the red ones be faster, but the WHITE ones make fewer mistakes.

WOW! Now I know why I make less mistakes and sound better.
The best steel I've ever had is my Red with a White top Rittenberry,
and it plays so much easier than any other one I've ever owned.
Carl "Lucky" Kilmer

Black absorbs more energy than any other color. All that energy is channeled thru the pickups which pull on the strings like a star trek tractor beam resulting in more sustain, volume and vibrance. This gain is negated however if your guitar cord is plugged in backwards.

negated?
Is that in the changer or half stops?

So...if I were to have Scotty install a set of Dylithium Crystals on my Carter Starter, would I be able to go where no man has gone before? Cuz the CS is kinda black...

Dylithium crystals only work on Carters (of any model) if you have the retractive defabulator modification done to the retro-reluctant magnetic pole-oscillator which is an option with the diamond-activated Alumitone pickups. It is said to prevent "flordling" in the output waveform.

This is because, to avoid patent infringment, the original developer of the retractive defabulator had to use the principle of magnetic duro-constrictivness to reduce the magnetic flux intensity around the othogonal vector of the polar-axis of the pickup's ferrite elements. If he had used the established method of capacitive duractance, he probably would have infringed the original patent assigned to Pliffle, Whitmeister and Twilluck, whose seminal works in the 1920s established them firmly in the para-scientific community as talents well worthy of note.

I have to say my own research shows that retro-reluctant magnetic pole-oscillators are extremely hard to find. No company has ever admitted to actually manufacturing these arcane devices, and there is a distinct possibility they were developed as part of a large and nationally-significant "black project" but definitive information is very hard to find. In fact, their very existence seems to be more of an urban-myth than an established fact.

There is an unconfirmed report of an old steel-player, seeking parts for a very ancient steel-guitar, who combed through the little-known steel-guitar "boneyards" in the Arizona desert, not too far from the far better-known aircraft boneyards.

Apparently he was walking along rows of sun-bleached, MSAs, Bigsbys, serried ranks of Garlicks, an occasional GES, a pile of early Sho Buds and parted-out faded Emmons' when he came across a small yard, fenced off from the rest of the boneyard, in which a number of partly-built steel guitars, all done in black formica which was now becoming rather "chalky", and with their brand-names removed, were arranged. A faded and bullet-riddled sign with a skull and "DANGER" in faded red lettering was attached to the fence. Naturally this piqued his curiosity.

He noted these anonymous steels all seemed to have a very odd-looking pickup, and even the sound of the breeze blowing through the corroded strings sounded hauntingly-clear, ethereal and excellent, so clearly this was something well worth having. So, after checking no-one from the boneyard was visible, he quickly climbed the fence, levered a pickup off and returned to the other side of the fence, taking great care to obliterate his footprints in the sand as he did so.

He scavenged a few other parts, went back to the scrap-dealer and paid for them, and duly arrived home, where he attached the pickup to a steel covered in black formica (by co-incidence) which he was restoring...and the rest, as they say, is history.

Black ones just look like they sound better!

In color theory there are two ways of looking at it.
In light emitting sources such as TVs and monitors, black is the absence of any color.
But in reflective color (anything viewed naturally by sun, fire or lightbulb) the opposite is true.
Black is the combination of all colors.
Red is the lowest color frequency and closest to black, and why it appears black when seen in B&W.
White is the absence of color in reflective light, but all colors when emitted from a source.
When viewed thru a prism it reveals the rainbow of colors it contains.

Maybe there is a correlation between the color spectrum and sonic frequency perception?


Clete

I have found that if I practice in the dark I sound even better !!!

ENOUGH! It is time to dispel this ugly rumor that has led so many of our brethren and sisteren astray. PURPLE steels sound best.

Ned, this is strange... I was going to post the exact same words!

mike is right!!

John Hughey once told me that "a black guitar made him feel that he had come to play". On the early Emmons guitars the formica was colored throughout the thickness of the material. This material could actually be buffed out if scratched. Formica later became a laminated material with a layer of color and a layer of backing material. If there is truly a tonal difference between colors, this would have to be the reason.

Black pedal steel guitars sound better because black shows fingerprints so clearly. Thus a black guitar is polished more frequently, which excites the wood and makes the guitar more responsive. It's called "foreplay."

My theory is that black guitars don't necessarily sound better, but that a high percentage of great players, who'd sound great regardless of the guitar they've chosen, are attracted to guitars with that color. Therefore, a high percentage of great music is being played on guitars of that color.

The truly great musician oftentimes chooses to let his music be the focal point for his audience, rather than be ostentatious with his dress, demeanor, and the flashiness of his guitar.

Even when Buddy played Sho~Bud, his guitars were basically plain maple with simple edge binding.

Another advantage to black guitars: when you're playing, you can clearly see the first string on E9th. From that angle, you see the first string against the mica, not the fretboard. I had a birdseye mica guitar once, and it was a bit irritating when I couldn't see that string against the light coloured mica, especially under bright stage lights.

They don't!!!! I've never owned a black guitar, well except for my first ZB, which was black lacquer, much different than formica. They all would hold their own against any black guitar. And, I've never had any problem seeing any string on any guitar, black or not.