The Steel Guitar Forum

After studying a little about resonance in musical instruments, it occured to me that the pedal steel is the only instrument whose body is usually "flocked". The use of the flocking (and it's requisite adhesive) on the underside of the instrument seems counter to promoting a good resonance in the body. They (manufacturers) pick a wood known for its sound quality, and then proceed to to deaden it by applying this stuff. I suppose it's done for purely for visual aesthetics, so has anyone done a study to see how much resonance (sustain) we lose due to this procedure?

Whose idea was it, anyway?

(Yes, I do expect a few light-hearted responses.)

The first flocked guitar was created by Nicholas "Buddy" Claus, whose owned a combination guitar shop and christmans tree lot back in 1969. One dark December night while attempting to put an extra layer of pink flocking on a customer's tree, there was a mysterious explosion. After the police and firefighters left, Nicholas returned to his guitar shop, where he found that several of his steels, which were inverted on his workbench, had become covered in residue from the explosion. Being an adventurous type as well as a fan of anything flocked pink, he plugged one in and tried it out. The rest is history.

Red flocked guitars sound better.
-John

I have deleted my post as my comments were
irrelevant to this thread. Sorry.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 02 April 2002 at 08:52 PM.]</p></FONT>

Do any builders besides Emmons do this?
Are the LeGrandes flocked too or just P-P's?

Pete, Every Emmons I ever saw, Regardless of what year it was made, was Flocked. The oldest of the Emmons were Flocked Red, But, I am not sure when they started Flocking them BLACK...I bet either Brian Adams or Jack Strayhorn or even Buddy would know when they changed over.

I have a MSA Classic D10 SS and the bottom is not flocked.
Just pure maple wood. I like it that way, and it just MIGHT have a small effect on the tone. Who Knows?...al

I've wondered this too. For a long time, I've thought that the flocking was to cut down on noises made by the mechanics.

I'm also just guessing...I'm with Bill that I assumed that it helped to dampen the mechanical sounds. Especially on old guitars that sent alot of cabinet noise through the pick up. My Sierra U12 has red felt glued to the underside. Since this body is a solid (and heavy) aluminum extrusion and is anodized, I wouldn't think that you would just waste time by covering it for cosmetic reasons.

Tom

Bill & Tom
You are both correct,,it does cut the noise of the undercarriage down considerably.

Bill,,,,will contact you this week re the leg
pedal pouch. Been busy,,I have been making
films,,,,X Rays....will get with you for certain.

Donnie, can we all watch you flock your guitar? Smiley wants a pup from that litter also!

Mike Weirauch......

You are demented !!!!!

In the book, Methodology & Practice in Pedal Steel Guitar, page 15: The flocking serves to enhance appearance & covers the vapor barrier placed on the maple.
EF

Has anyone ever torn out the felt to see if the tone of the guitar is still the same?

Richard, it's not felt, which is a fabric. Flocking is a sprayed material made from very short wool (or some other material) fibers that adheres to a glued or painted surface. Like paint, it must be sanded off.

Yes, the best sounding guitars have red flocking, but not because the color of the flocking is red.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Cosmetic? Who the flock is going to look at the flocking flock anyway?

I recently flocked my bar and picks but I still seem to get noise from them!
Uff-Da!

I have a standard Emmons push-pull S-10 with flocking(black), and a student model push-pull with "nekkid" wood. FWIW, I greatly prefer the sound of the "unflocked" guitar.

I'm slowly restoring an old Miller Dbl 10 and it had red flocking.So I started calling around different fabric stores for flocking material and when the women wounder answer the phone, well you can imagine what they thought when I asked for flocking.What a hassel, until I told them it was put inside of flip open eye glass cases. They finally settle down and laughed. I found some flocking material from a company in Montana, got the flocking (red), the applictor, and the adhesive to apply it, now I'm trying to get the nerve to apply it.The guitar was originally red with yellow necks and I'm doing in in the same colors.

Frank, I attempted to send you an e-mail but it was returned undeliverable at the address
listed above your post. Contact me.
Bill

Erv.....I'm still laughing! I laughed so hard I almost swallowed my bar! It turned cold down here and my bar was cold. I saw this saxophone player put his reed in his mouth once. So, I tried it! I just won't go to the forum next time! Sorry, b0b.

Derby steels have flocking. You can get flocking from Constantine in Brooklyn, NY.

I bet that red flocked guitars sound better then black ones...or pink...or..hmmm

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http://hometown.aol.com/damirzanne/damirzanne1.html

What are the materials used for flocking ?
it was usually Abestos until it was discovered to be a health hazard.
what has replaced it ?
Steel wonderin'...

Asbestos??? Guess I can consider myself lucky that none of my two steels is flocked...
I haven´t had an occasion to look closely at many newer steels, is it really "usually" done, as Donny says? I can´t help but think that it takes away something from the natural resonance of the wood. Maybe that´s why I like the sound of my guitars better than many new ones that I´ve heard.