The Steel Guitar Forum

I am currently playing with the basic $15.00 Ernie Ball chrome tone bar. What improvement can I expect to get from a high-end (a.k.a. expensive) tone bar? Thanks!!!

My opinion, Jim--depends on your level of playing. As long as you have a real bar(as opposed to a sparkplug socket) this is the least significant piece of gear in your sound chain. The better a player you are, the more you will appreciate a finer bar and the more you can take advantage of what if offers in tone and feel. The less developed your skills, the less difference the expensive bar will make in your playing. Again, this is comparing a $55 bar to a $15 bar of similar size and shape. If the choice were a $100 bar or a potato, I'd say spend the $100.

The tone will sparkle a bit more, and you'll get a bit more sustain. But as a beginner your biggest tone problem is in your hands. The bar isn't going to make a big difference.

When I was a beginner, I spent a lot of time and money trying to get a good tone by buying the "right" equipment. I eventually discovered that equipment wasn't the problem. When I started solving the problem in my hands, I was able to get a good tone from any steel, and amp, any bar, any picks.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

OK -b0b-, If it's really all in the hands, howsabout you swap me even up that Webb amp of yours for a Nashville 400? I'll even throw in a sparkplug socket!<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steve Feldman on 23 August 2002 at 04:25 PM.]</p></FONT>

What Jon said!

The best investment I ever made in a bar, was
one I bought from Bobbe in 1995. It was a 1"
and seemed to feel good to me, so I tried it.
I never had been any good at handling a bar.
I played from 1947 til 1968 (when Bobbe took it away from me!) with a Stevens bar that one of the band guys had rounded one end off so it didn't catch on the strings. Bobbe left me a tapered bar that I seemed to be able to hold. I didn't know yet you weren't supposed to hold onto it for dear life! That lesson came later yet! Anyway I used the 1" bar for
a few years (I liked it!) and then bought a used 7/8" BJS from Dick Cochran @ a jam one time....he was going to a 1". All the forumites were praising the BJS, so I needed one. It was fine & the 1" training session had made me realize more about HT use a bar, plus Joe Wright's book (a lifetime of steel instruction!) and finally I'm getting the idea! and someday I'll be able to use a bar properly??!! Maybe....but forget the Jerry Byrd reverse slants & all that jazz!<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Doug Seymour on 24 August 2002 at 08:28 AM.]</p></FONT>