The Steel Guitar Forum

Back in the mid 70's there was a guy in Nashville that played at the DJ Convention at The King of The Road (for us old guys) that played a six string electric guitar and hooked a set of pedals to it to make give it a steel guitar effect. Can anyone remember who he was? And by chance, any pics? He was awesome with it.

Do a search for Phil Baugh. Had T 60's with an array of pedals, 6 I think, on the floor. Fabulous player. Played with Emmons a lot back when.

Thank you. I thought his first name was Phil but it has been so long. That is him. What a show they put on.

I recently saw a youtube video with Buddy doing Four Five Times. Phil playing on that video. Check it out if you want. Probably other links to Phil's playing too.

They had a band called Nashville Super Pickers or something like that too.

I had forgotten about the Nashville Superpickers. I think I have a recording of them somewhere.

Leland Green in Dallas also plays a rig like that.

Phil Baugh "Shadow of Your Smile"

Yes, there is more Phil Baugh footage out there. This is from a performance with Buddy Emmons and the Lawton Kicks Jazz Ensemble, Cameron University circa 1984-85. Enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX6J0mgX4bc

Buddy Emmons & Phil Baugh "Killer Joe"

Here's Buddy and Phil playing with the Lawton Kicks Jazz Ensemble, Cameron University in the mid 80's on the tune "Killer Joe".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7e0TxtbqFs

Slightly off topic, but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwws6XPZ1JM

I owned this one for several years, I think there were only 4 or 5 units ever built.

I saw Phil Baugh play one of these at a music store in North Dallas back in approx. 1974. Maurice Anderson was with him on steel. Jess Hudson, owner of the store, was on bass and the drummer was one of the top jazz drummers in Dallas at the time.

Phil was using a solid body Gibson L5 with this string bending contraption.

My good friend & forum member Donnie Wade did the install of these mechanics into several of the guitars. He showed me a bunch of pictures of one installed to a black Les Paul. Per Donnie, this guitar ended up in LA with Mack Dougherty.

Best Regards,
Sam

Here was the "official" demo video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbUR6wI5w8s

I know that Reese Anderson made the Phil Baugh guitars but seems to me that Dekley also tried to build one of those and had a prototype at a Summer NAMM in the mid to late 80's. I tried it having been interested from listening to Phil Baugh play with the Nashville Superpickers on Austin City Limits. The pedal action was really stiff. I still want a Telecaster set up like that.

Several years ago I almost bought one. It was on a Tele. Seller was in Oklahoma. Just too much money for me at that time.

Topic from 2016. Just felt like I needed another dose of Shadow of Your Smile played on 6 string pedaled T60 from Phil. Made my morning.

No video here, audio only. Use your imagination. There's an earlier link to a live video with Phil above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5zTwFUHnhc

Thanks Jerry. Phil was quite the talent and well respected in the guitar circle. I regret never seeing him perform live. What a player.

Swedish steel builder AVM (Arne Holmedal) built a similar pedal guitar in the early eighties, based on a Telecaster, a pedal rack with PSG pedals, motorbike type cables and a custom built changer bridge – obviously inspired by Phil Baugh's MSA/Peavey, but a bit less refined looks-wise.

As far as I know only the one prototype was ever built, and I happen to own it after buying it from a guy who had no idea what it was. I haven't managed to make it work yet, but someday I will.

If I'm not mistaken I saw BE and Baugh together in a band called The Sound Factory.

I remember the Sound Factory. Don't remember all the band members however. Buddy was involved in a few of them.

The link I posted was another band called The Nashville Super Pickers.

I saw Phil with Buddy at one of the shows somewhere several years ago. Always a hot show.

I read somewhere the original recording of George Jones' HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY, Has the first part of the kickoff done on 1 of the Floor Pedal Guitars, I can get close on 8-9-10-11 on a 12U tuning, But no Cigar.

In the late 1960's or 1970 there was a guitar player in a package show at Fairmont Theater at Fairmont WV.
He had a guitar with what looked like 2 lite weight saddle stirrups that sat on the floor, Had what looked like a Bibsby Whammy bar tail piece on the guitar, With cables or chords that ran to Stirrups. He got some near steel licks out of it just by putting his right foot in a stirrup and leaning back for a pull or pull it up pick a string and then let it return to Open.