The Steel Guitar Forum

Aw man. Someone outbid me by a long shot on this sol Hoopii branded steel bar. I had no idea these existed. No information online that I could find: Pretty neat. http://m.ebay.com/itm/111631342497

Sorry Bro, I needed it

here are a couple photos and the info from the ebay listing:






Measures approximately 3" long. Here is the copy from the paper insert pictured above.
A new Hawaiian guitar steel bar under the registered trademark name Sol Hoopii has just been introduced to the musical merchandise trade by the Western States wholesale music corporation, importers and jobbers of musical instruments, Seattle, WA. And Los Angeles CA. Sol Hoopii is the internationally famous Paramount Pictures, radio and recording artist who has firmly established himself as one of the leading electric guitarists in this country. Mr. Hoopii says that to assure perfection in playing the Hawaiian or Electric Guitar you must have a perfectly round steel. Precision lathes are used to turn out perfectly round Sol Hoopii Steels. They are machined from specially processed adamant steel. Adamant steel is diamond hard and wear resistant. Moreover, Mr. Hoopii says that his steel is designed for correct weight and balance. Western States take pride in launching the original Sol Hoopii Guitar Steel and firmly believes it will win and hold the Blue Ribbon of Leadership for the perfect Guitar Steel.
Reprint from Musical Merchandise, March 1937

I saw this come up once before about a year ago. (I lost that auction too) That time it had the box. Unfortunately I lost the original photos now, but at the time I downloaded the images from ebay and photoshopped them into a template for a reproduction of the box. The top one is just the photos of the box skewed into a flat perspective. The bottom was my cleaned up photoshopped version.

I'm afraid that just by posting this and making more of you steel guitar forum people want one, I'm probably going to make these even more valuable .. if they come up again the auctions will go even higher and I'll never be able to own one. Ha. Oh well.

I was just pullin your leg Bro.
I didn't buy it

Sebastian, you can't always believe what Americans say.

These things caught my eye too. Many people can afford a $122 bar, but I see they don't hang out here.

Adamant steel ...

Rick Aiello wrote:Adamant steel ...

Lol! Coffee out my nose!

Bwahahahahahaha

does anyone know what the dimensions of this bar are? i imagine they'd be different to the brozophonic? has anyone made a replica like this with two rounded edges? thanks!

I was interested in this bar too and asked the seller what the diameter was and he said it was close to 1/2 inch. I thought that was pretty small and asked him to be more specific and he responded...

"I am coming up with .6667 - hope that helps!"

To small for my large hands.

I found this old thread...
I actually bought both of the Sol steel bars from eBay.
I have the bars in storage but I will give proper dimensions when I can.
I will say that they are very small bars, short and narrow. Almost a novelty more than anything. Not sure anyone would choose one as a main bar.
Helping with the mystery of the rare bar.

I am getting so wierd. I used to THRIVE with a 1.25" crystal or delrin bar, now I have some smaller-yet 4" long double-ended stainless ones, 0.75" and 0.675" diameters, and some ordinary stuff - 0.9375", 0.875", 1.0", 1.125" - etc. - crystal, mdf nylon, delrin, steel, brass, hollow, tapered and... it doesn't matter anymore. (?) They all work the same. I guess this is a good thing, except I have more bars than excuses anymore. Waah!

You know, like, when you're listening to your favorite steel players, the best of the best tearing off those wondrous ululating howls and sighs, launching moonbeams - and how you can tell INSTANTLY how long their bar is, what diameter their bar is, the weight and what it's made of?

Because YOU are a deity of tone analysis!

Yeah baby, Git'm! Ummm....

For many years I played with a 5/8 inch diameter bar, but as older age came along, it was too difficult to hold onto.. So I gave it to Jeff Au Hoy, who I believe has smaller hands than I do...