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Topic: PA Replica Bigsby Steels |
James Pennebaker
From:
Mt. Juliet, TN
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Posted 14 Feb 2002 10:24 pm |
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I know these are probably not non pedal guitars but in searching the archives here I've read some comments about "PA Reissue" replica's of the old Bigsby's. When were these produced? How many and what was the going price? Could anybody enlighten me with a little history on those guitars?
Thanks,
JP |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 15 Feb 2002 11:01 am
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| I believe the gentlemans' name is Paul Warnick....a Forumite. If you go back 30 days I believe you can find him listed or whatever way might be faster for you. As I understand it, all the spare parts were made for/by Paul Bigsby and later acquired by Gibson. If I have his name right (It's still early in the morning for me!)..he purchased the stock and constructed the replica's. That's all the limited info' that I have and hopefully it's not too much wrong from the real facts. |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2002 11:51 am
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James P-The "P.A. Re-issue" is a name for several Bigsby triple neck steels that were made by myself and my partner Dave Peterson from Wheeling Il.-In around 1992 I made several visits to the Bigsby Accessories Co in Kalamazoo,MI. during which time I bought out from Ted McCarty all of the remaining inventory of Bigsby related steel guitar parts,steel guitar part moulds and assembly jigs,plus all the strings and other misc stuff that I could get-this enabled me to first of all to upgrade and repair several original Bigsbys in my collection-second of all I was able to provide parts to others in need-I also had the realization that with what I had acquired-I could probably make two complete triple eights-and with some investment and labor perhaps even somewhere from a half dozen to a dozen or so more steel guitars could be made-but where could I get all the work involved done??? I am certainly not a skilled machinist,woodworker,or electronics guy-so when Dave came along the questions were answered-I already had four triple neck maple Bigsby cabinets made up by a local cabinet maker that I went to school with-those first four guitars have the "Murphy Jones" signature with mine underneath-My association with Lee Jeffries who was then out playing his original Bigsby with "Big Sandy and the Flyright Boys" is what started the ball rolling for us in building them-With Lee travelling all over and being asked constantly about his Bigsby-when people asked where they could get such a guitar he told them of the rarity of Bigsbys but also that He knew of my project to build them up-so I started getting a few calls-the first guy who wanted one cancelled out regrettibly-so the first guitar went to the next guy wanting one and that was Billy Dye-guitar number 2 was delivered to the one and only RY COODER at Scotty's show in 1996-at that time good buddy HERBSTER  committed to buying guitar number 3-guitar number 4 went to Frank Blandino in Weymouth,MA.-all four of these were triple eights with five pedals-guitar 5 was the first to have the cabinetry work done by Dave Peterson and he improved the finish and wood to metal fit-it went to Henry Bogdan in New York City-guitar number 6 was ordered By JUNIOR BROWN-he wanted a strictly non pedal guitar and we had a little party right here when he came to get it at my house with his tour bus parked out front-Junior has been great to us and Dave is almost completed Junior's new "Guit-Steel" with a Bigsby steel guitar neck-but that is another story in itself-the seventh and last pedal steel that we built was unlike any one before because it was a 8-10-10 string triple neck-ten string Bigsby stuff is really rare and I had two original 10 string necks-so we built that one for Billy Wilson in Oakland,CA-We may be able to build a few (2) more triple necks in the near future when Dave is done with the Guit-steel for Junior-we hope to deliver it to him im March when he is here in Chicago at the OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC-If Dave and I can complete two more triple eights we have prospective customers already waiting-so I cannot say that anymore orders will be taken to build more-I am proud to have in some ways carried on the tradition of the late Great Paul Bigsby and I admire all of The Greats who played instruments He built[This message was edited by PAUL WARNIK on 16 February 2002 at 11:57 AM.] |
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Chris DeBarge
From:
Boston, Mass
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Posted 17 Feb 2002 8:56 am
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| Paul, I'm very familiar with Frankie's guitar, it's beautiful! And the sound, you know it's a Bigsby as soon as he hits a chord, even if your head is turned. I've tried to buy it from him, no dice! |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 17 Feb 2002 11:35 am
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| Chris-thanks for the kind words-I wish somehow we could make more of them-but the pedal steel market is a limited one and few players would want a "retro" guitar like it-most players want the newest and best mechanics available-those who bought the guitars from us really did so because they wanted "that Bigsby sound" |
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Jussi Huhtakangas
From:
Helsinki, Finland
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Posted 17 Feb 2002 10:47 pm
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| I had a chance to sit behind Billy Wilson's guitar a couple of years ago, it's an amazing axe. Very smooth pedal action and of course the sound was...(sigh) |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 18 Feb 2002 5:32 am
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| Jussi-thanks-I am very proud of that guitar-I was tempted to keep that one for myself as it has the 10 string necks [This message was edited by PAUL WARNIK on 18 February 2002 at 03:48 PM.] |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 18 Feb 2002 3:53 pm
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| herb-I have no endplates or mould to make single neck Bigsby steels-we only have triple neck endplates-and only half the mould to make double necks-there is some possibility that a lap model could be designed from a single neck casting though |
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James Pennebaker
From:
Mt. Juliet, TN
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Posted 18 Feb 2002 11:00 pm
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Paul, thank you for the very interesting story of those guitars. Whata great adventure!
JP |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2002 10:20 am
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herb-if you are talking about making a left hand guitar-that is possible and I have heard that at least one left handed supposedly original Bigsby steel was made-if you are talking about the necks being tiered
opposite so that the tallest neck plank is closest to you then that would not work |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 21 Feb 2002 1:41 pm
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| herb-I'm sorry to tell you but as I stated in my initial post on this thread-Dave and I are planning to build one or two more of these soon-they will likely be the last-I already have several players who have expressed commitment to a guitar when we start-I don't see these guys backing out as they seem willing to make long journeys to come here and get their guitars(which by the way we DO NOT provide cases for) so it is not likely that we would get around to making a left handed model(although it would be totally possible)we will be delivering JB'S new Guit-Steel in a few weeks and with the weather soon to break into Spring we can start up production-it has been suggested and it is considered that we could continue making something like a lap steel made from a single neck casting and components-how well this thing works out for JUNIOR may determine the marketing worthiness of that prospect-that might be a later available choice for you as a "lefty-lap" [This message was edited by PAUL WARNIK on 21 February 2002 at 01:43 PM.] |
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