The Steel Guitar Forum

Octave mandolin, banjo uke, harp guitar and three Hawaiian steel guitars - one of which is a 12-string!

Wow, love love love the stands!

Let me guess: deep plain vanilla groove.

had to have been cool for their day. one of the guitars is a 12 string. girls with thumb picks.....nice.

The idea of stands for non-pedal steels has been floating around for a loooong time.

Andy Volk wrote:The idea of stands for non-pedal steels has been floating around for a loooong time.

Of course it would have been unladylike to put them on their laps with legs spread. Lol.

I bet they sounded....bitchen?
Or maybe like they needed a bass player.
The Dixieland Chicks.
The lady on the left, “Somebody is NOT tuned to C6”.

Seriously, a group featuring 3 women playing lap style guitar? That is cool on a scale of One to Forever!

Great looking combo. I guess the mando-cello and harp guitar are covering the bass. Every time I see one of these photos with multiple steelers I'm reminded to spend a little extra practice time just making sure my intonation is tight.

Fred Treece wrote: Seriously, a group featuring 3 women playing lap style guitar? That is cool on a scale of One to Forever!

In that era, there may well have been more women who played Hawaiian style than there were men who did. Two of my old pals have moms who played, one of which learned from her mom. One told me that all of her girlfriends played Hawaiian guitar when she was young. When I asked her why, she said guitars were cheaper than accordions.

Kathy Wilson in the Jazz Age FB group said ...

"1926 c. Skirts had just risen to below the knee in 1925 and progressed upward another inch by 1926. Skirts fell by the 1930's. So 1926 c. is my best guess!"

When I see vintage pics, I always think in terms of the instruments. it never occurred to me to think in hemlines!

And yes, Mando-cello more likely than octave mandolin.

Wow,
Love am,
I wish I could hear
Them.
Sam.

I am thinking Robert Crumb material.

These three couples are the parents of ZZ Top. They are pictured here performing an embryonic acoustic version of what would become "Sharp Dressed Man".

We can always count on you for the accurate historical reference, Noah.

David Matzenik wrote:I am thinking Robert Crumb material.

^^ This.

Noah Miller wrote:These three couples are the parents of ZZ Top. They are pictured here performing an embryonic acoustic version of what would become "Sharp Dressed Man".

Good one, Noah!

It may have been Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers, you never know.

I noticed that the steel guitars get progressively shallower left to right. It never occurred to me that such bands may have progressed to the point where multi-steel guitar bands separated themselves by different registers. If that's the case, the 12 string may have been strung as a six and used for its relatively larger/deeper body.

I would guess something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEIIB5hVy4

"I finished MILES ahead of you chaps!"

Noah Miller wrote:These three couples are the parents of ZZ Top. They are pictured here performing an embryonic acoustic version of what would become "Sharp Dressed Man".

...or "Legs"...hubba hubba.

An extraordinary photo on many levels. Not even the banjo looks normal. And you wonder who these people actually were. Three couples? Total strangers? One family?

Adam, I may have asked you this before but remind me - in your avatar pic, who's the guy in the background?

This group is from Baltimore, MD.

From writer Michael John Simmons:

I have the original of that photo. This is what’s written on the back. No date but some interesting info. The 1923-26 dates people are suggesting feel right. I don’t see many flattop Hawaiian guitars in photos after Nationals came on the scene 1927 and Rickenbacker electrics showed up in the early 1930s.

Picture file

isn't that H. L Mencken on mando-cello?

Ian Rae wrote:An extraordinary photo on many levels. Not even the banjo looks normal.

Is it a banjo-uke? 4 course mandolin-tuned banjo?

Wow, that sure does look like Mencken. If it is, this catapults this already great photo into another dimension .

As cool as the photo looks, having three or more acoustic steels (or dobros or weissies) all playing at once, tends to sound like a Chinese marching band IMO.
At least that’s been my experience at reso-summit or other jams where multiple steels are playing.
Never-the-less, classic photo!

It appears to me that the lady on the left is playing with a round steel bar and the other two with a flat steel guitar bar.

That would make a difference in the sound for sure.