Harlin Brothers steel

[James L. Wilson]

Can anybody give me some info on the Harlin Brothers company? I've just purchased a pedal steel, 8 string, six pedal that I would love to find out more about. Its in fair condition and as best I can tell is only missing two legs, which shouldn't be much of an issue. The electronics need to be cleaned up but everything is working. It has a Maple body.

[Donny Hinson]

Designed by Jay Harlin back in the mid '30s. These were produced from the '40s up through the early '60s, but the majority of them were made in the '50s. They were the first pedal guitar with raise/lower capability that was easily changed. Most went to Hawaiian players who set them up as just different tunings on a single neck, but they could be played with moving changes, albeit without many adjustments for timing and travel. (They did feature multi-piece, scissor-type fingers, so they'd be classified as an "all-pull" guitar.)

They were interesting, but their somewhat rickety design meant a lot of them were soon ditched for a more substantial guitar. They made singles and doubles of 6 and 8 strings, but the 8-string, 6-pedal model is probably the rarest of them all. In today's market, they're probably worth $250-$350, but they often sell for more.

[Braden Young]

I can tell you that i was bidding on that one too!! congrats on your win, it looks really cool but i don't know anything about it. seems like a good price and a fun instrument. hope you get it up and running! -b

[Jack Stoner]

Where is Danny James. He is an expert on the Multi-Kord guitars and even worked as a teacher at the Harlin Bros music store when he was in High School.

[Danny James]

Well Jack, I'm here, but I really don't have a whole lot to add. Donny Hinson did a pretty good job. I might add what has already been said in the archives of the Forum, that yes I started taking lessons from Harlins in 1948 at age 10. At age 14 I started teaching in their studio while still in high school. So I saw all the Harlins each week and knew them all well. Jay Harlin was the inventor of the Multi-Kord and held the first patent on a pedal steel guitar. I believe it was issued in 1947.
There was a dispute over patent rights, between Gibson & Harlins. Alvino Rey was instrumental in developing the Gibson Electra Harp which had a similar tuning changer. However theirs was never patented, so Gibson gave up on their Electra Harp pedal steel. They did later make a pedal steel, but that wasn't successful either.
Harlins used & taught the Oahu method which was a numbers / tablature system that was very popular in the day.
Any specific question anyone might have I will do my best to answer.
Best of luck with your Multi-Kord

[Sharon Denny]

I, too, was a student & then became an instructor at the Harlin Bros. teaching the Multi-Kord.

We are hoping to someday get the Harlin Bros. into the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame for inventing, producing, playing and teaching the Multi-Kord. The Harlin Bros. are definately part of the history of the steel guitar.

[Donny Hinson]

IMHO, Jay Harlin certainly deserves a place in the SGHOF, as he is, arguably, the actual inventor of the pedal steel guitar.

[Danny James]

Sharon, so nice to see you posting on the SGF. I have been hoping for a long time that you or someone else who knew Harlins well would chime in.

As you know, I also tried to get Jay Harlin nominated for the SGHOF. You and Donny Hinson are correct in believing that Jay deserves it for inventing and holding the first patent on a "Hawaiian Pedal Steel Guitar", the Multi-Kord.

You may have a lot more history to offer about the Harlins and their Multi-Kord than I do. So any further input you may have will be appreciated I'm sure.

( To those who may not know, Sharon Denney has been holding the Indianapolis Steel Guitar Club together for several years now. She is a friend and in my opinion deserves a world of credit. )

[John Mulrooney]

Hello all, I'm brand new to this forum. I'm mostly a lap/table player (I own a pedal, but wouldn't feel comfortable saying I "play" it). I just picked up this Multikord which is clearly in need of some TLC. Also, looks like it needs parts. Anyone on this thread have pedal mechanisms, tuning pegs, or any part of the neck apparatus that the pedal was supposed to manipulate? I don't know that I'll get it exact but the experimentation might be a fun and informative project. Thanks to all on this thread so far for the education I've gotten in the last hour.
Thanks, any thoughts are appreciated. J

[J R Rose]

Gentlemen & Lady, I am courious as how Sho-Bud, Fender, Emmons and others got around Jay Hardin's patent? This may have been on here before but I missed it if so. Thanks, J.R.

[Danny James]

Also, looks like it needs parts. Anyone on this thread have pedal mechanisms, tuning pegs, or any part of the neck apparatus that the pedal was supposed to manipulate?

Alan Brooks may want to chime in here. Also John Quarterman of the Quarterman Cone for Dobro / resinator type guitars, bought up all the available Multi-Kord parts from Pickets Machine shop in Fishers near Indianapolis when they quit making them.

[Danny James]

Gentlemen & Lady, I am courious as how Sho-Bud, Fender, Emmons and others got around Jay Hardin's patent? This may have been on here before but I missed it if so. Thanks, J.R.

Not all did get around Jay Harlin's patent. When Alvino Rey was working for Gibson he designed a changer very similar to Harlin's for Gibson's Electra Harp. There was a controversy over patent right infringement and Gibson had to discontinue their Electra Harp.
Other companies such as Emmons etc., that you mention, changed their design drastically is how they avoided an infringement of patent rights controversy like happened to Gibson. In so doing all with the exception of the Fender PS 210 that I know of would not raise or lower any or all strings with the depression of each pedal, such as were the capabilities of a Multi-Kord. Nor could the copedants be changed in a matter of minutes as could be done on Multi-Kords as opposed to it taking hours to accomplish that on other makes again with the exception of the Fender PS 210. Which was a very heavy guitar with a lot of parts, but was a fine guitar in it's day.

[Willis Vanderberg]

Danny & Sharon:
Much has been said about the Multi-Kord being played as a chord changer. I knew a picker named Eugene Mears who was from the Indianapolia area and he used both feet on the pedals and could play Moonies licks to a tee.I played with him in Battle Creek Michigan for many years. He passed away and we still miss him and his Multi-Kord

[J R Rose]

Thanks Danny for your reply. Do you know how long the pattent was for or if it has expired now? Anyone know how long a pattent is good for or is it a different time for different things. Thanks, J.R.

[Lane Gray]

Patents, unlike copyrights, are for 17 years (trademarks expire when you stop trading on them).
Both patents and copyrights are supposed to have limited lifespans, so that the inventions/works then become part of the general knowledge (patents) and culture (copyrights).
The constitution even says "limited time." But Disney lobbyists get the law extended every time there's a real risk of them losing their royalties on "Steamboat Willie."
Which also keeps Hank Jr supplied with all the whisky he can drink, since "Your Cheatin' Heart" has bern cynically preserved from becoming public domain.

[Don Drummer]

Hey MLA, love you archives. And yes Mooney licks can be had on both the Multi - Chord and the Electra Harp. Tuned to D9 of course due to scale length.

[J R Rose]

Hello Lane, Thanks for your info on the pattent and copy rights question. Don't quite understand how lobbist could get it extendended but I guess that would fall under politics. Thanks, J.R.

[Alan Brookes]

If you use the "Search" function you'll find dozens of discussions of the Harlin brothers and Multi-Kords. Danny James is the greatest expert on the subject.

The Multi-Kord is very much under-appreciated nowadays. How many pedal steels do you know of where the copedant can be changed in minutes from above, without having to climb underneath or turn the instrument upside-down ? The Multi-Kord can, and it has an excellent tone. I have several of them, both 6 and 8 string.

To me, the main drawback is having the pedals all grouped in a crescent on the left-hand side, but you can get used to that. I've been planning on building a hybrid Multi-Kord with regular pedals, working the mechanism by cables, for years, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

If you want to improve the Multi-Kord, add some extra bracing to the legs, or replace the folding legs with screw-on ones. The instruments all came originally with plastic covers over the mechanism and tuners in many different bright colors, but they become brittle over the years, and very few of the covers nowadays remain intact. If anyone were prepared to have some manufactured there would be a ready market for replacement covers from enthusiasts.

Another improvement frequently made is to replace the cables with rods. It's not a difficult job. I haven't had a cable break yet, but I can see that one breaking during a performance would be extremely embarassing.

Yes, you can play a Multi-Kord and use the pedals to change chords while playing, just like modern pedal steels. It has been said that the intention was to allow Hawaiian guitarists to set up their favorite tunings on each pedal, but keeping one pedal depressed throughout a number would be uncomfortable. If that were the original intention then the Harlins would have built pedal locks into the system, but they didn't...

[Donny Hinson]

Gentlemen & Lady, I am courious as how Sho-Bud, Fender, Emmons and others got around Jay Hardin's patent? This may have been on here before but I missed it if so. Thanks, J.R.

By the time the most popular steels came along (in the '50s), the original patent would have expired, as the term for a patent in those days, as I understand it, was 17 years. (Jay began development of his Multi-Kord in the mid '30s.)

The push/pull Emmons was a different concept, so it would have been unaffected anyway.

[Alan Brookes]

Gentlemen & Lady, I am courious as how Sho-Bud, Fender, Emmons and others got around Jay Harlin's patent? This may have been on here before but I missed it if so. Thanks, J.R.

By the time the most popular steels came along (in the '50s), the original patent would have expired, as the term for a patent in those days, as I understand it, was 17 years. (Jay began development of his Multi-Kord in the mid '30s.)

The push/pull Emmons was a different concept, so it would have been unaffected anyway.

Gibson didn't get round the patent, and it ended in a legal suit, causing Gibson to drop production of their Elektraharp.

But, as Donny said, the other pedal steel mechanisms were so totally different from the Harlin concept that they were never in any danger of infringing the MultiKord patent.

[Alan Brookes]

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=
Is anyone still playing a Multi-Kord in public?
Does any band currently feature a pedal steeler with a Multi-Kord?

[Danny James]

The story Michael Lee Allen has provided, is the first time that I have ever seen or heard it. What I have said about Alvino Rey was handed down to me by word of mouth while I was working for Harlin Bros. I have never met the man, although I believe Harlins knew him.
As I recall the infringement of patent rights controversy happened a short while before I went there. I had heard those stories off and on the whole time I was there.

I might add that on a shelf behind a showcase in the store,was a picture of Alvino Rey sitting behind an early model Multi-Kord, like the one the fellow pictured here with the cowboy hat is wearing. Sharon Denney, Tom Pickett,& Joe Edwards who all were with Harlins at one time or another, may remember seeing it. Joe Edwards later went to the Grand Ole Opry as a backup musician for I believe as Joe told me recently, around 25 yrs., playing lead guitar & fiddle.

I started taking lessons at Harlin's studio in 1948 at age 10. I became a student teacher while in high school at age 14 to 16. So I was in Harlin's studio/store almost every week on Sat. for 6 years, and I knew all the Harlin's well, including Jay's daughter Glenda, who also worked there at the time I was there. She taught Accordian.

I was glad to see the picture of the Harlin Bros band, with Herb-spanish guitar, Wynn-standup bass, and Jay on his 15 pedal Multi-Kord. However there was another brother, Jimmy Harlin, who played the Mirimba in that band that is not included in the picture.

One Thanksgiving day between 1952 & 54 --(I was working for Harlins during that period of time) the Harlin Bros. were rabbit hunting together on a farm in Southern Indiana. A rabbit ran between Jimmy & Jay just as Jay fired his shotgun. Jimmy was hit and killed that day, which was a very sad day for all of us. The brothers were devastated, and things were never the same, but they did, as the pictures show, keep on playing together.

It would be nice if anyone has a picture they can provide when Jimmy was still alive and part of the band.

There was also another brother, George, who was working in the studio/store each week, but he didn't to my knowledge play an instrument.

By the way I played a 6 string 6 pedal Multi-Kord part of the time in our own Country band, The Sounds Of Yesterday, up until about 3 1/2 years ago when we moved to Florida. I no longer play it because of health problems with Neuropathy in my back & legs.

[Michael Lee Allen]

Deleted

[Danny James]

You could be right about how Alvino Rey's picture came to be on the shelf at Harlin's store/studio.

They loved to take such pictures if a celebrity came in..

I realize it may be a lot of trouble, but if you could post a picture of the Harlin Bros. Hawaiian band that includes Jimmy on the Mirimba it would be so appreciated. I have one but I'm no good at putting them here.

Thanks,
Danny

[Alan Brookes]

...and Jay on his 15 pedal Multi-Kord...

I would be interested to know how the 15 pedals, and the corresponding 15-finger changer were arranged on that instrument.