The Steel Guitar Forum

I heard a disappointing but true question from a friend of mine. He used to own a music store that catered to steel players. He asked, "how many new young steel players are there in Dallas and Ft Worth in the last 5 or 10 years? The population for these 2 areas is about 3 million. How many new, young steel players are in your area? How many new guitar or piano players are there in comparison? What can we do to promote the steel to the youth? A friend of mine plays hymns now and then at his church. I'm sure that in time, this will attract, or interest someone. What about school assemblies? We may have to play material like "Sleep Walk" to attract the non-country music listeners. Any suggestions or opinions out there?
Ted

Great pic Larry

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

hey ted i think i found a salution up here in canada.....the biggest problem is the parents...people that no nothing about music....the child wants to play but at that age they change there minds alot ...so the parents go to the local music store and buy a desent guitar (6 string) for around 500.00 canadian...they can afford to loose that much if little johnny or donna doesn't want to play anymore...but ...let the same parent walk in and see the price of a steel .... DONE .... the kid will never play steel...the parent will not spend that kind of money no way no how. but you and i both know that if you could just let the child ( and the parent) here some steel being played... the parent loves it (because it's not rock ) and to the child ...the sound is different ...and there like a sponge they'll want to play it. trust me this has happened alot of times to me. so i came up with a idea....that old maverick is about to get reborne
#1 you must remember to get the child young between 6 and 12
#2 i buy the mavericks for 300.00 us plus shipping
#3 i restore them at my expence (it costs me about 3 days and mabe 10 dollars can.
#4 i sell the steel to the parents for 450.00 can. plus shipping which works out to about 300.00 us. with the understanding that when the child out grows the maverick i'll take it in on trade towards a better steel for the child
#5 then i redo it all over again

i have done this a total of nine times
this has worked nine times
i now have 9 new cutomers that are hooked on the steel and want to play better and do more on it
and the parent are hooked also they get to here there child in recitales ( sorry bad spelling) hehehehehe
and you should see there faces when there kid gets up and plays together again or steel guitar rag or blues stay away from me
it's bloody unreal
so this solution seams to be working for me up here
and if your wondering about monitary gain ...it's a win win situation
i have nine new students that pay for lessons every week ( for years to come)
i make money when they buy a new pro model guitar
and we have nine new young pedal steel players chomping at the bit to play
this is just what has worked for me and what i have found up here in canada...it possibly could work down in the states to if some of these teachers that play steel stop bashing that old piece of firewood ,doesnt stay in tune ,pile of scrap, maverick...and stop tring to re invent the wheel and use the maverick for what it was made for ...teaching....it works ... been there done that...it only takes a little bit of time and effort on someones part...think about it!!!!!


thanks for letting me ramble


wayne

carter sd-10 nashville 1000
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 04 June 2002 at 06:02 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 04 June 2002 at 06:02 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 04 June 2002 at 06:03 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Wayne Brown on 04 June 2002 at 06:05 AM.]</p></FONT>

A lot of you remember when you were a kid. That guy came to the door with the 6 string lap guitar which was loaned or rented very cheap. Lessons were $1.00 for a class lessons
with 10 other kids. It was very affordable to see if you would like it or had the talent.
Today you are talking hundreds of dollars
for guitar,amp and etc. and $20/$30 for an hour lesson.
Other instruments are rented by music stores or schools and the schools can teach at a no charge basis.
This is my take why the steel is not popular
with the young crowd.

I'm a 26 year old player in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I only have a little over a year under my belt, but things are starting to make sense. I was a piano player as a kid, spent 7 years in school band, became a jazz bass player in college, and only discovered steel after doing country gigs to supliment my jazz income. There are some great young players in the area. There are guys like Aaron Wynne who plays with 1100 Springs, and Joe Butcher who plays with a group called Pleasant Grove. I know I've talked to a lot of guitar players in this area that are looking at getting into steel.

Wayne, I want to commend you for a well thought-out solution which works (9 new steelers).
Another solution would be to buy a couple of Carter Starters ($700.00 USA retail I don't know the wholesale cost) and rent them for $32.00 dollars a month. Most music stores offer a deal where the first years rent can be applied to purchase. So, If the student buys it, he or she has to come up with $316.00 after one year. If the student decides not to buy or not to continue, you rent it out to another student. You get to keep the $384.00 dollars or use to add more stock. You also get the money for the lessons. By doing this, the student gets a much better student model to start with and 3 more Knee Levers.

Wayne, You are absolutely right about starting the students out young. By the time they get old enough to play professionally, they will sweep us older folks off the stage and not a minute too soon.

Karlis Abolins

I say yes to the mavericks and the carter starters. My father who was a muscian bought me my first steel guitar, sho bud maverick. I tried very hard to play the darn thing and failed my first try. During this time the nashville steelers were producing such great music that I tried again. I worked very hard and was able to make my way through those ten strings to put out something called decent music. One night a enibriated person fell over my maverick on stage and ended its short life. I went back to playing lead guitar and finally came up with the money to buy a LDG, which I still own to this day. A couple of months ago My mother loaned me part of the money to buy a zum D-10. I am having the time of my life! So to say this is that you have to start somewhere and the mavericks and carter starters are the source that new pickers can afford. Dont forget that the pickers recording also has such a big influence on new pickers also.

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Moved to "Steel Players" section.