The Steel Guitar Forum

You guys aren't going to believe what washed up on the beach at Kahala.....A beautiful long-legged blonde!!??....
Hey, I wouldn't believe it either. Might as well put her to work.





Big Mahalo to Todd Clinesmith. He spent nearly a year in modifying his designs and in fabrication to meet my needs. The quality of his work and the level of his dedication and professionalism is exceeded by no one. She arrived last night and joined us at the gig tonite. My wife has named her "Patsy" .

That rascal is a beauty ...

Issac - what kind of mods did u have Todd do. He is a master. Another beauty.

What a beauty!!!!!!!! I love that Todd Clinesmith is keeping these legendary guitars alive. Nothing better than a long legged birdseye blonde.

Hi Jerome, the biggest modifications were related to string spacing. Top to bottom, the original Bigsby dimensions weren't going to work for me on a 24-5/8 inch scale. Todd had to effectively redesign and custom fabricate a whole new nut and tuning assembly. I had never seen, heard, touched, or played a Bigsby or a Clinesmith , ever. I think he told me that this was his first one West of California. Todd had to trust me that the narrower spacing wouldn't work for me , and I had to trust that he could deliver, and he has. I can't go into everything here, but this man was incredible to work with. As I told him, the Bigsby braintrust is in safe hands.

Isaac Akuna wrote:Hi Jerome, the biggest modifications were related to string spacing. Top to bottom, the original Bigsby dimensions weren't going to work for me on a 24-5/8 inch scale. Todd had to effectively redesign and custom fabricate a whole new nut and tuning assembly. I had never seen, heard, touched, or played a Bigsby or a Clinesmith , ever. I think he told me that this was his first one West of California. Todd had to trust me that the narrower spacing wouldn't work for me , and I had to trust that he could deliver, and he has. I can't go into everything here, but this man was incredible to work with. As I told him, the Bigsby braintrust is in safe hands.

That is a stunning guitar, Isaac. Congratulations!

I agree about Todd. He embodies everything good about building musical instruments: his craftsmanship is unequaled, his respect for the instrument and history is evident, his love of music and the fact that he is a player, and his warm, professional, friendly manner.

Wow. The only thing that washes up on my beach is kelp! Thanks for sharing your experience and the beautiful pics. I'm really intrigued about a Bigsby style guitar in a Hawaiian music setting. This may be a first. It no doubt sounds wonderful. Congrats!

Clinesmith on stage at the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. 1/12/2014
Using the house system.

What a beautiful guitar!

Are there four neck selector buttons, or is that a reflection off the side of the neck?

Hi Rick, yes, just reflections . There are only 2 selector buttons.

Thank you for the comments. It really adds fuel to the fire.

I am very excited to have a Clinesmith Steel Guitar in Hawaii !

I have always felt these instruments have a great tone for Hawaiian style . I am surprised that Paul Bigsby's instruments never did make it over there . With the musical communications between some of the West Coast, Western Swing musicians and the obvious Hawaiian influence on there playing. I also think some Hawaiian steelers were in return influenced by a few of the Western Swing players too. What steel player who heard anything Joaquin Murphy played could not have been influenced.
The only Hawaiian style player that had a Bigsby that can think of was Elsie Jaggers. I am sure there were others. I have heard a few of her wonderful recordings tho, I am not sure which instrument she was playing. I am sure she owned a few different guitars. Last I heard she lived out of Salem, Oregon. Not too far from me.

Thank you Isaac, I look forward to hearing some music from you and Patsy.
Todd

Tonite we performed aboard the Seabound Sojourn cruise ship in Honolulu Harbor.


We had lots of nice comments about the steel tonite. My bandmates all agree that it carries such a nice tone for our kind of music.

Todd Clinesmith wrote:I have always felt these instruments have a great tone for Hawaiian style, I am surprised that Paul Bigsby's instruments never did make it over there.

With the musical communications between some of the West Coast, Western Swing musicians and the obvious Hawaiian influence on their playing. I also think some Hawaiian steelers were in return influenced by a few of the Western Swing players too. What steel player who heard anything Joaquin Murphy played could not have been influenced.

Don't be surprised if one hasn't, and if not then it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. Bobby Seymore was the magic name back in the '80s for anything Bigsby, it took the internet to unveil that secret much too late. But I think another Clinesmith on Oahu would make up quite well for all that.

Roland Ball's music store in (near Echo Park?) LA was a pivotal part in perpetuating that Hawaii meets Cowboy Swing thing. All Ball steel student's of the '30s (like Earl Murphey) learned Hawaiian standards and styles to perfection, then mixed jazz into it and made it swing all the way from Hollywood back to Honolulu.

Issac, since you're posting and playing more now, please mention your public performance schedule for the known future.
Any CD plans for your group (name)?

Great looking steel guitar, Isaac.
Glad that you got your heart's desire in this steel.
Hope to hear you play it next year in Hawaii!
The Kahala is a beautiful setting to play Hawaiian Steel.
I have many memories of the Kahala Hilton and the Danny Kaleikini shows with Barney Isaacs playing steel.
I visited the Kahala many times when I lived in Hawaii.

hey Ronn, maybe we can talk about my performance schedule, recording, travel gigs, etc. another time or place. I'm real happy to have been busy in the Hawaii music industry for a very long time. More than people know. My steel teacher gave me some great counsel to go ahead and get out there and get it done. If he were here he'd tell you to do the same thing. Life comes with obstacles and we all have to overcome.

The reason I posted this discussion was to convey two things.

For those of you who are out there, gigging on a regular basis, you know what a rush it is to be on stage. My opinion, it's one of the most fun things you can do in life. And to do it with a brand new axe , custom fitted for you, Whew! What a kick in the head. I promised Todd ( and Rick Aiello before him) that any guitar he fabricated for me would be a working instrument. All I've tried to do was to show Todd on this Forum the four venues we've performed with "Patsy" in the four days since her arrival. From now on it'll just be private mailings between Todd and me. It's what I've been doing with Rick and his "Dustpan" for some years now.

The more important reason for sharing these photos with the Forum is to showcase and support the efforts of these fine craftsmen.

Todd told me that Bigsby's design is both genius and simple. To which I immediately thought : Simple doesn't mean easy. To build a working instrument that will hold up under the scrutiny of public performance year after year is a goal not often achieved. You've got to have enough brain cells to wrap around some pretty heavy science and construction disciplines; metallurgy, electronics, woodworking, chemistry, physics and engineering. Having the smarts to bring it all together with the perspective and passion of a player would be an added bonus. I've jammed with Rick in Joliet and Todd performs up and down the West Coast. They've dedicated a ton of time, energy, and financial resources towards these fabrications, with little prospect of great financial reward. I'm in debt to these guys because they have allowed me to end "The Search", G.A.S. , Collector Disease... whatever you want to call it. No more shopping. No more cruising Craigslist, Ebay, or pawn shops or crawling around somebody's dirty basement. One less worry in my life. Now I can get along with it, focus on the woodshedding and getting to the gig. Mahalo guys.

Final shots : last night at the Waialae Country Club, East Honolulu
btw: sending a donation to SGF. If it weren't for you...

Congratulations on a breathtaking instrument.

I sure have enjoyed all the photos over the years ... Have them all saved ... I only wish I could have seen 1/10 of the places that Dustpan has been ...

Enjoy "Patsy" ... She is a real beauty

Beautiful instrument Isaac!