The Steel Guitar Forum

Howdy folks. This may have been covered before, but I've searched the archives and wasn't able to find an answer. I'm a banjo player, but also a huge fan of the pedal steel. I must admit, I know almost nothing about the instrument as far as tunings, pedals etc. Hearing Vance Terry's playing on Brisbane Bop has changed my life. Up to this point I've resisted picking up a steel, out of fear of never practicing the banjo again, but I'm not sure I can hold off any longer. I'm looking for info on what type of guitar Vance Terry was using on these recordings, how they were tuned and how the pedals were setup. Can anyone point me in the right direction for figuring all this out, and maybe a source for a builder or dealer who can setup a similar instrument?

Also, I read somewhere that there is a Vance Terry documentary in the works. Anyone have info on who's producing this? I'd like to support their work.

best,
Noam Pikelny

I'm looking for info on what type of guitar Vance Terry was using on these recordings, how they were tuned and how the pedals were setup. Can anyone point me in the right direction for figuring all this out, and maybe a source for a builder or dealer who can setup a similar instrument?

Contact Todd Clinesmith

http://www.clinesmithinstruments.com/

I for one will look forward to what a great musician like Noam will do with a steel.

Noam:

I'm huge fan of your playing and music. Bob has directed you to THE guy (IMHO the ONLY guy) who can create a guitar like Vance's. Todd's guitars and pickups are incredibly true to that unique Bigsby sound. And he's a master craftsman.

Good luck on the journey. Having seen you play up close and personal (@ the Cactus Cafe in Austin), I'm thinking you are destined to become legendary on two instruments. Looking forward to that.

Vance wasn't using the Bigsby by the time of the Brisbane Bop recordings, it was a Chuck Wright built double 11 with 19 pedals.

"When I was with Jimmy Rivers I used a Wright Custom. I had 19 pedals and three knee levers. I tuned one neck to C6 and the other neck to E13."

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/000816.html

Scott Thomas wrote:Vance wasn't using the Bigsby by the time of the Brisbane Bop recordings, it was a Chuck Wright built double 11 with 19 pedals.

"When I was with Jimmy Rivers I used a Wright Custom. I had 19 pedals and three knee levers. I tuned one neck to C6 and the other neck to E13."

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/000816.html

Wow...19 pedals?!?! Is that a typo? Or ??? The mind boggles. Whatever it was, Vance sure could play it!!

Welcome to the world of Western Swing Jazz playing.
IMHO Vance used the pedals and knee levers to enhance his horizontal style of playing i.e. moving up and down the necks. He did not park his Steel Bar within one or two frets and them play with his feet and knees. When the Nshville style e9th came into vogue it pretty much relagated Vance's style to the back burner. I believe this old style of playing is coming around again, I hope so !

This might be the guitar in question.

During my time in the navy, and my ship was in port in San Francisco, I had hitch hiked on a Saturday evening to where Vance was playing. I did not know he was in that particular band, but was thrilled to max when I saw he was on that band stand. We managed to get introduced and he visited with me on every break during the night. He gave me a ride back to my ship that night. Around two pm Sunday afternoon, the word was passed on the ship for me to report to the quarterdeck as I had a visitor. Discovered Vance standing there with a very large steel guitar case. I had told him I did not have a steel on the ship and did not know anything about pedal steel guitars at that time. He even had an amp with him and said I could "fool around" with them for two weeks as he did not have any jobs till then. That was my introduction to a real pedal steel guitar. I never will forget Vance Terry in that he trusted a complete stranger with his steel guitar. We went down to the sonar shack and he showed me how to set it up and then he left the ship. He came back in two weeks to pick it up and took me to the job with him. That was a Wright Custom pedal steel and it was the most awesome steel guitar I had ever seen, much less try to play.
I will always have a special place in my heart for Vance in that he trusted and helped this sailor, far away from home. Vance is missed so much. One of the best players in our steel guitar world. Thanks Vance.

Noam,

Lee Jeffriess knows a lot about Vance Terry and some of his tunings, etc. Lee is a forum member.

As was stated earlier, Vance played a Wright on the Brisbane Bop recordings. I have a feeling he could make any guitar sound amazing though.

What a great story, Bill!

Barry Blackwood wrote:This might be the guitar in question.

INCREDIBLE!! Thanks for finding and posting this. Too cool.

Awesome story Bill!

Here's Vance's tuning on that beast of a guitar! Too much for my feeble mind to comprehend but hopefully y'all will get something out of it! I got this out a Tom Bradshaw Steel Guitar newsletter from 1968, along with many other players' tunings.

Two 11 string necks and 19 pedals!

Cool.

Billy Tonnesen wrote:Welcome to the world of Western Swing Jazz playing.
IMHO Vance used the pedals and knee levers to enhance his horiontal style of playing i.e. moving up and down the necks. He did not park his Steel Bar within one or two frets and them play with his feet and knees. When the Nshville style e9th came into vogue it pretty much relagated Vance's style to the back burner. I believe this old style of playing is coming around again, I hope so !

I'm with you on this one, Billy, and not just for old-style music. There's a sameness to that "feet-and-knees" playing that only the very best players seem to be able to avoid. This became very apparent during my stay at ISGC, where I heard approximately a metric bazillion pedal players.

I think we would be doing a disservice to Noam if we led him to believe that what he needs to get that great Brisbane Bop sound is some 19 pedal museum piece of a steel guitar. Too HEAVY and problematic!!!I'm sure Vance could've done the same thing on any axe with a more modern mechanism and setup. In those days it was all about experimentation,tinkering and trying out every new idea. It began with more strings, then more tunings, then more necks, then pedals, then more pedals, etc. etc.
I think real non-pedal technique is the answer, spiced up with some of the more modern and well thought out pedal and knee levers to get all the chords that you just can't slant the bar to get.

Rick is correct, you don't need 19 pedals. Vance played few different Wrights on those cuts, not nearly all of them were cut with that 19 pedal monster. I have a couple of pics of him and the Rivers band with a triple 10 string six pedal Wright in -62/63. I have a feeling this might be the guitar he used on most of the cuts.

This looks much like the guitar I was talking about:

Echoing the regards, Bill, on your fabulous story with Vance. He always brings out tales of wonder by those who knew him, and what a nice guy he really was, even at the end thru all the troubles.

Vance told me that there were several different Wrights used on the Brisbane stuff. He said it was easy to tell them apart by listening...I've never been able to do that myself.

I admire your sand Noam. This is equivalent to setting the bar at 20' on your first pole vault:) Best of luck in your new endeavor!

one day vance asked me to show him some e9 stuff...i guess he wasn't as comfortable with that tuning.
i didn't show him a damn thing....i wasn't going to be the one responsible for his demise.

he was a very polite gentleman, kinda shy, but very funny when on a bender.

i didn't really know him well...just crossed his path a few times. i'm glad i knew him.

Vance with Jimmy Rivers 11-3-1982


Vance and Bobby Black


Vance and Mom

Just picked up brisbane bop. Great playing and super CD. I would suggest also:

Jeremy Wakefield Steel Guitar Caviar

http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Guitar-Cavi ... B0009GX1I8

and these few videos:

http://youtu.be/7Jff7jHFma4

http://youtu.be/D027ZjSvmFc

just to get you started.

Great pix, Chas!