The Steel Guitar Forum

For most of you I see that any professional playing basically involves playing in a band doing covers of country songs. You are expected to play the PSG licks rides etc. as they are on disk. Many are in pro bands on tour and must play what the session player played on the CD. This is why we have a lot of questions about what new pedal Paul Franklin has, if we need it or can get those new licks any other way.

¿Would your choice of number of necks/number of strings/copedant be different if you DIDN'T need to emulate others playing?

Imagine you are a solo player, or fronting your own band with your own material and saying "let THEM copy ME".

Jeremy Williams
Barcelona Spain

Hi Jeremy,

I've pretty much done what you mentioned. I play a single neck 12 string and use a linear set-up (heresy). I've relocated the traditional 1st string F# between the 4th string E and the 3rd string G#. This leaves my 1st string a D# which I have lowered to a C# and raise to D and D# using independent knee levers. This set-up allows for some nice ending chords utilizing the top four strings. Also, I have two full octaves between strings 10 and 2. I won't go into what I did with my foot pedals unless you really want to know.
No one else can play my guitar and after playing this set-up for awhile I can't play a standard set-up...But I don't really care...it makes all sence to me and I really enjoy it. I guess one would call it "playing- out-of-the-box".

I think the pressure to play and sound "exactly" like what the studio musician played is totally ridiculous...as if anyone (but a steeler) would really notice! (LOL!)

When you see a movie where a 20-million dollar Hollywood star plays a famous character, do they sound look/sound "exactly" like whoever they're playing? Did Leonardo Di Caprio look/sound exactly like Howard Hughes in his latest movie?

Nope. Not hardly!!!

You get "reasonably close". You try to convey the overall feel, and that's good enough.

(Even when you're making 20-mill.)

Actually Tom, I'd love to know.

A wierd hobby of mine is putting peoples copedants into an excel spreadsheet I did for myself and which shows me just about everything a copedant can do with all lever and pedal combinations.

Jeremy Williams
Barcelona Spain

AMEN, DONNY, AMEN !!!!!

Jeremy,
I'd be very interested in seeing that spreadsheet of yours.
Did you use formulas to work out the various combinations within a given copedant?

Rev.Brent LaBeau

(edited for spelling<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Brent LaBeau on 23 February 2005 at 01:06 PM.]</p></FONT>

But Donny,
You just gotta throw in a Buddy,paul,John,etc,etc, lick for the occasional player in the audiance,especially when your group plays "Look At Us"..LOL

All seriousness aside, I agree with everything you said.

Bill

I've been playing country music for 30 years, and I've never been in a band that expected me to play anything exactly like the record. Of course, I'm just a weekend warrior, but it seems to me that just getting the essense of a signature lick is enough.

I'd never change my copedent to get a popular lick. You can get real close to any popular lick with a standard E9th. Any lick that requires a copedent change isn't worth learning, IMHO. It's a gimmick lick.

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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6)</font>

Bobby- Touche' I will have to agree 100%. ...al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Well I'm guilty..sort of..We play many covers and I choose to play whats on the recordings..or close to it..if I can..like what b0b said..the essence..sometimes even more...

A couple of things happen here...you sound like the real song..and as a player you may actually learn a new position for a phrase..

We cover several AJ , GS , Brad , Skagg tunes..etc...and I gotta say I have learn't plenty from those tracks...

and there ain't nothin' wrong with it..I say...

But I also say..do your own thing as well..make a party of it...

No one has ever died from learning a Loyd, Paul, Mike Johnson , Bruce Bouton, Buddy, John H. etc. phrase.

I would not change my tuning or copendent at all...

t

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 23 February 2005 at 04:19 PM.]</p></FONT>

Hey bOb,
they may be gimmick licks...and I wouldnt change a copedant for a lick...but it must be fun to have something noone else has and invent a gimmick lick.

There's a big difference between "a" gimmick lick and "my" gimmick lick.

But ¿what am I talking about? Maybe Im preaching to the converted because you are quite an inventor of copedants yourself

Jeremy Williams
Barcelona Spain