Stan Getz's vibrato - rolling the bar

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Off and on for the past few months, I've been working on an arrangement of the classic Ralph Burns tune Early Autumn on my Weissenborn. The bridge is really hard on an open tuned lap steel - it's got about a zillion chord changes. I've been listening to Stan Getz's vibrato on this version of the tune with strings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVqJfSf-TTg&list=RDLVqJfSf-TTg

Man, he's really got more vibrato here than he normally uses but it's very pretty. When I roll the bar I can get a lot closer to his sound than using my usual too wide side-to-side vibrato. Any tips for you folks who regularly roll the bar for vibrato? I'm trying to switch over but it's hard when your playing is set in its ways.
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Jerome Hawkes · From: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

I've gone the exact opposite direction since taking up straight steel from pedals. i feel the larger pedal bars work best for rolling - probably an easy physics explanation. the rolling just doesn't work for me on straight steel because to do it effectively i feel the bar needs to be flat on the strings at all times (obviously)....and you just can't play that way on non-pedal like you can on pedals - you've got to tip the bar.
i use to use my index finger to just roll it - holding it very loose - if you do it "right", the middle finger should ride with the roll on the way up and stop it on the way down. that way the vibrato is not all over the place rhythmically, it stays in a set range of your choice. oh, and the thumb has to be loosely off the bar.
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Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Interesting. Thanks, Jerome.
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Peter den Hartogh · From: Cape Town, South Africa

I can hear a combination of Tremolo and Vibrato.
If you synchronize your volume pedal movement with your bar vibrato, it might sound more like his vibrato.

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