The Steel Guitar Forum

I bought this guitar and have been unsuccessfull in learning to play it. It has wonderful tone, and I am willing to study and practice hard, but I have been unable to find a DVD that will help me in my quest. Does anyone out there know of such a DVD?

The Cindy Cashdoller stuff, any Herb Remington stuff.

Howdy Robert,
Check the Chord Finder site at http://www.mightyfinemusic.com/
This is the site of Ricky Davis, MONSTER STEEL PLAYER.
Stacks of invaluable info on many 8 string tunings, and others as well. Enough to keep ya pickin & learning untill the cows come home. Lots of other goodies & info there as well.
Pete

Robert with that beautiful sounding Lyric Magnatone which all of the great performers used in Hawaii at one time or another, you really need to consider some Hawaiian training. The Magnatone is a sweet Hawaiian sounding steel guitar.

The following will help:

Jerry Byrd Hawaiian Course Book and Video

By the way, I own a D-8 Magnatone. It is sweet.

Aloha,
Don

The video Jerry Byrd did with the HSGA is excellent , also the Cindy Cashdollar DVD's and the 2 volumes of non pedal VHS videos Bobbe Seymour did are helpful

Don't give up that is too sweet of a guitar to let it set. I have one and wouldn't trade it for the world

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Steelin' away in the ozarks and life,
Scott
www.scottyhenderson.com

Robert, what kind of music would you like to learn and play on your Magnatone?

I have a Magnatone D-8 and T-8. Love them both. If you're just starting out, I would urge you to get Jerry Byrd's coursebook and video, as well as Herb Remington's two videos. It will probably run you about $200 for all if it, but it will give a good visual foundation, as well as an in depth study of a wide variety of tunings. They will all keep you busy for a long time, and I think you'll find them a worthwhile investment. Cindy's videos are great too...she uses a G on top of her C6th, so you'd have to make sure your guitar is strung with the correctly gauged strings for that. She also teaches from a beginner standpoint, so if you like the G on top, then you could certainly go with her two videos. Bobbe's videos are also good...but I would consider it to be a little bit more advanced than beginner level. Lot's of great chords, slants, and thumbstyle picking. He uses an F at the bottom of C6th which gets some nice chord voicings. You can pick these up down the road. But overall, and I think you'll find many others who agree, Jerry's study course is the basic framework needed for all styles, as well as providing the most in depth study of steel guitar available. Get it, and a couple of videos, and you'll get that Magnatone singing. Best of luck to you

With all of these Magnatones running around we could start a Magnatone Club.

Aloha,
Don

Robert, I also used Cindy's video and it was a great help. I too have a Magnatone T-8 that my dad bought for me in 1997 at an auction. He gave $35.00 for it and brought it home. I stripped everthing off of it and cleaned it up. When I put it back together, it looked like a new guitar. He couldn't believe it was the same guitar. I think these steels are under rated for their quality of sound. I've had a lot of other steel players compliment on the sound that this guitar puts out. Cindy's video will give you a general direction to go with your playing but as with anything you have to dedicate a lot of time to practice. You will eventually create your own style. Good luck

I heard Anthony Locke playing one at The Hukilau in October with Combo Mahalo from Austin, and it (and he) sounded fantastic on it.

It was the model with the chrome (and visable) pickup with the oval ends on it. The body had kind of a square-ish end. Not sure of the model name. He played it through a Fender Pro Jr., and it sounded great. He tunes in a Gmaj7/Bm sort of tuning which is essentially an open G (high bass) with the higher G tuned down to an F# so you get (l-h) G-B-D-F#-B-D

I really loved the tone of that Magnatone, as well as his playing. If you get a chance, check those guys out.

I wouldn't mind finding a double neck of one of these.

TJW

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Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Regal resonator (C6); 1938 Epiphone Electar (A6); assorted ukuleles; upright bass

Like this one?
Auction on eBay. <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 24 December 2006 at 04:29 PM.]</p></FONT>

I had a '57 Fender Stringmaster D-8. Played it for about a year, then got the double pickup Magnatone D-8 which I immediately liked better for its tone and string spacing. Dumped the Fender. Then recently I got the Stringmaster itch again. I think a lot of it was me buying into the hype. Got myself a '53 Fender Stringmaster D-8. Now I'm realizing I don't care for the Stringmaster sound at all. I'm sure now that I prefer the Magnatone sound over the Fender. The Magnatone's a great instrument. <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jeff Au Hoy on 24 December 2006 at 03:44 PM.]</p></FONT>

Jeff, you might like the Fender trapazoid pickup guitars. They sound rounder, fatter and fuller than stringmasters.

Gary, I have one like that for about half the price. I liked it fine until I got the pickups fixed on my old Dual-Pro. Now I like it better. Billy

Jeff says,

<SMALL>...I got the double pickup Magnatone D-8 which I immediately liked better for its tone and string spacing.</SMALL>

I am in complete agreement with his sentiments.

I have a '60 Fender Stringmaster D-8 which I have had for over 10 years, but unlike Jeff I have not dumped the Fender. I got a D-8 Magnatone Lyric 2 years ago and it has a much warmer sound which goes with the Hawaiian music which I like.

I don't mind the Stringmaster sound and there are some features that I like, but it's just that I prefer the Magnatone sound over the Fender sound.

Aloha, and Happy New Year
Don

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>Like this one?
Auction on eBay.</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Gary -- those are the pickups, but his was just a single six-string lap with just one of those pickups on it. Again, not sure of the model name. I had a chance to buy one once for a very reasonable price, but just didn't have the money at the time. Should have just taken out the cash advance, I suppose.

TJW

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Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Regal resonator (C6); 1938 Epiphone Electar (A6); assorted ukuleles; upright bass

Are we talking about one of these?


Jay

Has that been refinished? Or maybe transported here by a time machine?

Oh man that is super Sweeeet!!!!

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Steelin' away in the ozarks and life,
Scott
www.scottyhenderson.com

About the Magnatone, what do those pickups sound like? And what's the scale length?

(By the way, Robert, good luck in your quest!)

The 1960's Magnatone is a beauty.

Here are some pictures of my 1950's Magnatone Lyric. A little different design.









I have only done one photo before on the SGF, so this is an experiment to see if I can actually do this again the right way.

Aloha and Happy New Year,
Don<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 26 December 2006 at 11:55 PM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 26 December 2006 at 11:59 PM.]</p></FONT><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 27 December 2006 at 12:00 AM.]</p></FONT>

Don, from one Magnatone lover to another, that's a beauty!

Jay, that is the same guitar that I own. I believe the legs on mine flare out a little more than the one you have pictured. Does anyone know if it is possible to find out what year of manufacture by serial number? All I was told is they were made in the 50's & 60's.

Here's my "Pre-Lyric" Double 8.



The pickup is freakin' primitive ... a row of rod magnets ... surrounded by a paper wrapped air coil ... with a second set of rod magnets (opposite polarity up) ... behind the first.

All just sittin' in a block of wood.

I remaged it ... pulled out all 32 individual magnets ... one by one

The quarter-round aluminum bridge just butts up against the wood block ... and is held in place by string tension.

Sounds great though !!!

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<font size=1>Dustpans LTD.
The Casteels
HSGA </font>



<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 27 December 2006 at 08:34 AM.]</p></FONT>