Stan west

[Ron Epperson]

Bluesman musican STAN WEST has passed away in March 2022 R.I.P MY FRIEND

[Dave Zirbel]

I didn't know him but I went into his store once in the 80's and he let me sit down at his Dekley pedal steel that had the pedals on the right because of his condition from a stroke. Until then my Maverick was the only steel I had played....or tried to play.

Rest easy Stan.

[Ron Epperson]

Hi Dave iam hosting this event on July 24th if you are in Riverside come and join us STAN WAS good friend

[Bob Sigafoos]

I didn’t know Stan well but bought and sold a few guitars from him. Stan sold me a MOT lap steel in 1986 or so and that sparked my interest in steel guitars. I bought and traded in a Maverick for a ShoBud pro one. Bought a VHS tape of Tim Mc Casland and have been addicted since then. I frequently eat at a sandwich shop across from his old store in Glendora. http://www.stanwest.com/

[Peter Huggins]

In 1969 John Fogerty posed with a Dobro on the cover of the CCR album Green River. Years later he said in an interview that he didn’t really know anything about resonator guitars but at a Guitar Show in Southern California he met and talked with a gentleman who patiently explained the differences between Nationals and Dobros, Wood vs. metal bodies and tricones vs. single cones. (I was at that show and actually witnessed that encounter. Afterwards I approached Mr. Fogerty and told him “I don’t want to bother you, I would just like to shake your hand and say thanks for your songs”. At that time he was embroiled in various lawsuits with Saul Zaentz and was not performing any Creedence songs).

The man that John was talking with was Stan West. The next day at the show I approached Stan with the faux - resonator that I had bought out of a pawn shop (I didn’t know very much about resonators at the time either). He explained how that guitar was not really a National or Dobro to me (funny thing about that guitar - somebody had removed the metal disc under the cover, cut a hole in the top, and mounted a paper cone from a loudspeaker! I replaced that with a genuine Helms Olympic Bakeries pie tin, making it a real Pie Plate guitar!).

I got to be pretty good friends with Stan over the years. He was a formidable slide player and singer. He had to use a slide customized so he could grip it due to his stroke. We talked a lot at various guitar shows and the like, but I only got out to his store once, when he was in the process of shutting it down. Still had many old blues posters on the walls.


He self released two CDs, “My Blues” and “Live At Mr. Mikes”. Worth searching out, especially the live CD, which also featured Jeffrey Ross, sometimes known as “The 4th Hellecaster”, on 2nd guitar.
I’m going to miss the man. RIP

[James Collett]

Stan was a family friend and my first pedal steel teacher. A good guy, a great teacher, and an even better musician. He will be missed!

Most people that knew Stan knew him as a blues player, but he loved (and loved playing) just about anything—especially classic country and jazz. As what I think was a cautionary tale about not putting oneself into a box stylistically, he had me watch segments of several “out there” numbers from guys like Monk and Coltrane he had compiled onto a VHS tape. I had never heard music like that before as a 13-14 year old, and at the time I didn’t really understand what that had to do with playing steel guitar. Now I know it had nothing and everything to do with it, at the same time.