The Steel Guitar Forum

What style of tone bar do you use and why?

I use a Shubb SP2.
It fits my hand perfectly and it has what I guess you would call a semi-bullet nose on one end which comes in handy at times.
Also the little bit of extra weight gives a better tone at least to my untrained ears.

I had to vote "other" because I use a Shubb SP-2 sometimes and a TriboTone 3/4 x 3" bar other times.

If my hands are in good shape it's the TriboTone because it is very quiet. But, the SP-2 is a great bar and I like it a lot. For me, using a bullet bar is more tiring, it's more work to hold onto for single-note work etc. But, I prefer it. On a dobro...the SP-2 exclusively.

Definitely a non bullet tone bar. Tried a bullet. Cat spent a lot of time chasing my dropped bar!
I am trying all types. Shubb SP2 is my do it all, but I like the EG Smith with the sawtooth grip for fast work. Recently a Dunlop Long Dawg has been hogging fretboard time. Curiously, my Beard 20/10 Wave bar - a much pricier affair, is nearly identical to the Dunlop, but the Dunlop feels a touch better in the Hand. Keep trying stuff. you never know.

If you're doing slants, you need a bullet bar.

The bar by Asher is my fave...2nd is a Shubb.

Lap Dawg is the best I could find so far.

I use a Shubb SP1 for all of my acoustics and electrics. I use the flat end for Dobro type hammer-ons and pull-offs, and the round end for pretty much everything else. And it is plenty long enough for 8 string. Slants are no problem as long as I don't try any crazy stuff. It would be nice to see a slightly longer, beefier version, but it's the best of both worlds for me.

I added my 2 cents to the poll, but I'm curious...

What's the purpose of the poll and what are we supposed to learn from the information?

Erv Niehaus wrote:If you're doing slants, you need a bullet bar.

Erv, unless you are talking about 3-string slants, I have to disagree. I use a Scheerhorn bar and have no problem with 2-string slants.

To do a proper slant you need to pivot the bar without twisting your wrist. How can you do that with your finger laying in a trough?

You got me thinking Erv...I had to pick up the closest lap to see. Seems that my finger raises up out of the trough when I do a slant. Not sure if this the right way, but it is how I have been doing it.

You're still twisting your wrist.
Watch a Jerry Byrd clip to see the proper bar and method.

Erv Niehaus wrote:To do a proper slant you need to pivot the bar without twisting your wrist. How can you do that with your finger laying in a trough?

For a magician like Rob Ickes, it's easy. Too bad he holds the bar back so far in his hand that you can't see the pivot. He does perfect slants in any direction with a Scheerhorn bar. Check out his instructional DVDs sometime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAkWLF9ZY38
(this is not from his DVDs)

and this is the bar (with a trough) he's using:
http://robickes.com/product/scheerhorn- ... steel-bar/

Gee, somebody should have advised Jerry Byrd, he was doing it wrong for, oh, so many years.

Terry VunCannon wrote:You got me thinking Erv...I had to pick up the closest lap to see. Seems that my finger raises up out of the trough when I do a slant. Not sure if this the right way, but it is how I have been doing it.

it gets tricky going from, say, a forward to a reverse slant w/ the dobro bar.
not like it's impossible, but a bit tricky.

also, that's a hell of a long bar you're using!

No right or wrong way to it. That's like telling a fiddler (like Byron Berline) he's no good 'cuz he holds his bow in a non-classical manner.

Erv Niehaus wrote:Gee, somebody should have advised Jerry Byrd, he was doing it wrong for, oh, so many years.

Not sure what you mean: Ickes is playing slants different than Jerry Byrd?

Let me rephrase my last, because on re-reading my post, it seems snarky, and I didn't mean for it to be: From my perspective, both Byrd and Ickes use the same excellent technique, wrist straight, moving the tail of the bar with their thumbs, and pivoting , but the former uses a bullet bar, and the latter uses a bar with a 'trough' on top. I guess my point in this is that I don't think a bullet bar is necessary for proper slants. It's proper technique, regardless of the bar that one likes to use.

I learned the (more or less) right way to slant my stevens steel on my dobro from Stacy Phillips (books/video). I do not turn my wrist. I'll admit I still struggle sometimes with reverse slants, but I still don't turn my wrist. Forward slants, no problem, do them all the time. If I can don't need a bullet on my dobro then I don't need one on my Weissenborn.

I've tried the bullet on lap steel, have an assortment of them. I can manage it, and its probably just a matter of spending more time with it, but I've resorted to an SP-2 there as it fits my hand better and is familiar, and I do find the rounded tip necessary.

I might have to go with the words of one of my fave guitar players here...Jeff Beck...
"I don't care about the rules. In fact, if I don't break the rules at least 10 times in every song then I'm not doing my job properly."-Jeff Beck.

I may try to change...but at this point, no promises. LOL

My instructor told me that if music comes out I must be doing it right.
He is more concerned about results than he is adhering to strict technique guidelines, within reason of course.
Besides, in old farts like me arthritis will outweigh quite a few guidelines.

For reverse slants Rob (who incorporates slants into his playing as effectively as anyone out there) bends his wrist at least sometimes - I've discussed that with him at Resosummit. On weissenborn I started with bullet bars because that's what I was used to from pedal steel , and I used one on dobro at first as well. Now I use a typical dobro bar like a Tipton or Scheerhorn mostly on both dobro and weissenborn and a bullet bar on pedal steel. There is no absolute right or wrong.

Tipton and Scheerhorn bars

Rob Anderlik wrote:What's the purpose of the poll and what are we supposed to learn from the information?

The purpose of the poll was mainly to satisfy my own curiosity. Some folks may possibly find something of value in the responses; others will not.

The information I have amassed from a few select contributors to this Forum was essential to the successful resurrection of my 1922 Weissenborn. I learned that the metal saddle is a good thing; I had no idea it was original and likely would have changed it. I learned that the wood nut was not a good thing, and after I cut a new bone nut was astonished at the difference.

Thanks to the posts from Tony Francis I learned how to set up the instrument. From George Noe I learned its age. My thanks to George and Tony, and to everyone else who offered their expertise.

Now that I have a fully functional instrument, I deemed it appropriate to learn how to play it. I'm all in on bullet bars, having not touched a Stevens bar in decades. Just wondering what bar everyone else is using.