The Steel Guitar Forum

A question for those of you that play pedal or lap steel and the switch to Dobro.

Do you use the same bar or do you change?

Hi Smokey, I just recently bought a dobro and found a Stevens Bar with a semi bullet tip. Since I usually play 8 string steels I bought the extra long one, a SP 1 made by SHUBB. I have no problems playing the dobro with it and have tried it on my steels. I'm use to using a BJS 3/4" X 2 7/8". The SHUBB is about 3 1/2" so I can play slants on strings 1 & 8 if I want too and also slants up to 6 frets apart up high. The SHUBB SP 1 is kind od neat, but I'm still experimenting with it on console steels and having fun !
Back to parctice for me, Bobby

Hi,

When I first got my dobro I used my bullet bar, but found it impossible for fast, fluid hammer ons and pull-offs. When I got my acoustic lap steel the luthier gave me a Stevens, which is far easier to control. I even find it easier for slants, which goes against conventional wisdom.

Sounds bloody awful when I use it with the pedal steel, though!

I have no problems switching between the two different bars on pedal steel and dobro as the techniques required for each bar are so different.

Have had the dobro only a year so I'm still a beginner.
I tried using the bullet bar from my lap steel on the dobro but got tired of picking it up off the floor.
Prior to having the resophonic, I thought I had a good grip on the bar.
However, the technique is so different with the "hammer on's" and the "pull off's" that
the Stevens bar was a necessity.
I do miss the rounded nose and will probably buy a Shubb or one like it soon.
Blake

Hi Blake, I been messing with the SHUBB bullet nose Stevens bar for about a week now and have absolutely no problems with it. They also make a shorter one, if your use to using your thumb at the back of to kick it out for forward and reverse slants. It's also very highly polished so it does sound nice with electric steel and since it has a bullet nose you don't get caught in any strings. I used it on gigs this weekend, really made the hammer on's in "Remington Ride" easier for me.
Well, back to practice, Bobby
Remington Steelmaster T-8
'52 Magnatone Maestro T-8
'55 Fender Stringmaster T-8
'53 Gibson Console Grand D-8
Remington Rider S-8
EXCEL Jerry Byrd Fry Pan S-8
To many S-6 lap steels to list

I have a Broz-o-phonic bullet bar and a Shubb-Pearse with the cutaway bullet tip.
I use both on acoustic and electric. The bullet is better for slants and, being heavier (stainless steel), has a slightly better sound. If it was half an inch longer I'd learn to deal with the fact that it's a little harder to hang on to and use it most of the time, but the Shubb-Pearse is better for 8-strings, and I can hold it more securely for string bends and hammer-ons.

So for me it depends on the playing style, not the instrument.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by John Kavanagh on 19 March 2001 at 12:47 PM.]</p></FONT>

I had played some Dobro, using a Stevens bar, in the 1970s, then sold it and played a National Tricone and various electric non pedals with a bullet bar for about the last 10 years. I had grown to hate a Stevens, or anything like it.

When I bought a Dobro a few weeks ago, I also purchased a Scheerhorn bar--like a Stevens, but with sharper edges--because I had heard such good things about them. And, it's all true IMHO.

If you are at all interested in doing the hammer-ons and pull-offs that figure largely in contemporary bluegrass and country Dobro styles, I recommend the Scheerhorn bar--available from Elderly, Reso Outfitters, etc. for something like $35-40. A lot of bread, but it makes those pull-offs so easy and clean, much better than with a Stevens. The end contour makes for easier reverse slants than with the Stevens.

I feel like using the Scheerhorn has not taken anything away from my abilities with a bullet bar. In fact, it seems to have helped my bar hand dexterity in general.

I'm another Scheerhorn convert (for Dobro). Still love the bullet bar for Hawaiian and electric.

Somebody say "amen!"
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Stone on 20 March 2001 at 12:29 PM.]</p></FONT>

I use a bullet bar for electric lap steel and Dobro. Sounds like I'm missing something by not getting a Stevens-style bar.

You can get a Dunlop LapDawg for $25, its almost an exact copy of the Scheerhorn bar, which goes for $40 in my Beard catalog. I've heard that the end is a tiny bit less sharp then the Scheerhorn. Scheerhorn is 1/32" higher & 1/16" longer & weights 5.4 oz. Dunlop weights 5.0 oz.

I've had good use from a Ron Tipton bar, which I've heard is what the Sheerhorn is modelled after. Also Lapdawg is a lil lighter, and easier to move with good sustain. Shubb Pearse cutaway has been good for the the 8 strg Melobro. Like Stevens on my old oahu 6, for some reason.

Hi Andy,

My impression from previous exchanges is that you've never used a Stevens bar and have no desire to play bluegrass. IMHO you are definitely missing something by not trying a Scheerhorn, or other sharp-edged bar (forget the Stevens) on the Dobro. But if those pull-offs are something you are not interested in, you might not find much application for the Scheerhorn in the music you play. I have tried the Scheerhorn for acoustic Hawaiian and it works. Slants are easier than with a Stevens, but not not as nice as with a bullet bar. And of course, you can't get 2 strings on the same fret with the nose of the bar without pulling strings like Stacy Phillips, et al.

I see the Scheerhorn as a Dobro bar, the main benefit being strong, clean and easy pull-offs. I haven't really tried it on an electric yet.

By the way, sacred steeler Chuck Campbell (12-string PSG) uses a large custom made bullet bar which has longitudinal channels machined into the sides for easy lifting. He frequently turns it around backwards and uses the sharp end to do pull-offs--very much like a Dobro player using a Sheerhorn or Tipton type bar.

I believe it is correct to say that the Tipton was the first sharp-edge design and is the bar that the Scheerhorn and others are patterned after. My understanding is that the Tiptons are hard to get--but that information is dated. Anyone out there know current price and availability for a Tipton?

Bob- Chuck Campbell showed me something else he does with the sharp end of the bar that I've never seen anyone do. He PUSHES it into the strings and actually plucks them with the sharp edge of the bar giving him a lightning fast ascending scale. Man oh man! See you in Orlando- Sage

I use the same bar for everything, a Dunlop 920 7/8" available everywhere...and I'm used to it...I guess it's considered a pedal steel bar...but it works for me,
Mike

Can anyone post a picture of the Sheerhorn or a website I can go to, so I can see the difference in the Sheerhorn and the Shubb bullet tip bar ? Thanks all, you have my interest at a peak ! Bobby

There are pics of several popular reso bars on www.beardguitars.com

The pic of the Scheerhorn is not the clearest. The bar's strongest feature, which is not evident in the photo, is the sharp front edge--just a little sharper and it could cut you.

Thanks, Bob, I'll have to try one. I also turn my bullet bar around if I have lots of pull offs.