The Steel Guitar Forum

Scholarly historian and fellow Forum member Guy Cundell has agreed to let me host his papers regarding the history of the steel guitar. They are now freely available to download in PDF format at https://b0b.com/wp/articles/guy-cundell/.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Guy on behalf of steel guitarists everywhere for his dedication and diligent research on this subject. Much of this history would have been lost forever if not for his endeavors.

Thank you, Guy!

Excellent! I’m looking forward to reading this.

Thanks to both Guy and Bob for making this available.

Thanks Guy! And thanks b0b!

I am very pleased that b0b has seen fit to make this work available and thank him very much. I hope members will find some value here.

This work is a snapshot of my thinking and observations at the time, but I hope to revise it in the future.

For those interested in reaching back, forumite John Troutman’s history, Kika Kila: How the Hawaiian steel guitar changed the sound of modern music, is a must read.
https://uncpress.org/book/9781469627922/kika-kila/

Also, thanks Eric and Bob B.

Guy is an enthusiastic and diligent researcher with a clarity in his writing. I appreciate all of his efforts in trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, which is no easy feat.

There is much to the history of the steel guitar that most of it's players are not familiar with. Along with Guy Cundell's work, and John Troutman's book, I also recommend "The Hawaiian Steel Guitar, ans its Great Hawaiian Musians", by Lorene Ruymar. This 200-page book delves into the history of the instrument, it's accessories, and also most all the early players. There are hundreds of pictures, as well as biographies of the most famous early players and descriptions and pictures of most all the early guitars up though the 1950s.

Excellent resource! Looking forward to reading this. These pandemic times have got me exploring traditional tunings and history more than ever before. Thanks for making this available.