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Topic: Remember your first tone bar? What was it? |
Duane Reese
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Posted 18 May 2008 12:45 pm |
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Tell us all what your first tone bar (guitar steel) was, and what size.
Mine was a John Pearse 1", and I actually still have it (well, that was my first actual one - the very first was a piece of cast iron pipe). |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 18 May 2008 1:47 pm
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| there weren't any designer bar companies when i started...just steel company brand bars and no name bars...except a crappy ernie ball chrome one. |
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Bill Ford
From:
Graniteville SC Aiken
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Posted 18 May 2008 1:57 pm
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A flat one,about 3/8" thick about 1"X 3" long. Came with the acoustic guitar and lessons. S.Carter White was my instructor. Opted for a round one shortly after I started.
Bill
_________________
Bill Ford S12 CLR, S12 Lamar keyless, Misc amps&toys Sharp Covers
Steeling for Jesus now!!! |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 18 May 2008 2:31 pm
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| Sho-Bud |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 18 May 2008 3:02 pm
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| Standard Dunlop pedal steel bar - believe it was a 7/8", standard 10-string bar. |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 18 May 2008 3:43 pm
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A Blues Harp! I started experimenting on a thin hollow body electric guitar I "squeek-tuned" into some major chord (I think it was). Had a pencil slipped under the strings at the nut to raise the strings somewhat and found nothing more suitable than I Blues Harp to use as a steel.
A banjo player recommended some finger picks later on and two or some months later somebody else chipped in a Stevens bar which I wore out in 2 months. I remember I bar blocked in those days, for not knowing better.
That was way back in Switzerland, about 25 years ago and I was living in a house that had originally been build by folks who had been expropriated by Napoleon Bonaparte's army when it marched thru going towards Russia 
... J-D. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 18 May 2008 5:06 pm
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A length of brass bar stock that my Dad brought home from work...  |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 18 May 2008 5:52 pm
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My first tone bar was a Dunlop steel bar.
Brett |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 18 May 2008 5:59 pm
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| My first one was a little 1/2" x 2 1/2" round bullet bar that came with my first (lap) steel. When I got my Fender 1000, I had seen other steelers like Drake, Emmons and Charleton using big bars, and I decided I needed something bigger. (You have to understand how rare a pedal steel guitar or steel store was back in those days) So my Dad (who was a truck driver and diesel mechanic) brought me a bag of used wrist-pins (piston pins) from Mack and Autocar diesel truck engines. They were the right size, but hollow. I rounded the ends on a grinder, and that's what I used 'til I got down to Nashville in the mid '60s. One of my first stops was the old Sho~Bud store on Broadway, where Dave Jackson polished up a blank while I waited. He also introduced me to Pete Drake and Curly Chalker, whereupon I had my first major foot-in-mouth episode. |
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John P. Phillips
From:
Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Posted 18 May 2008 6:11 pm
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A pocket knife was my first, that is when I could sneak a little time on my uncle's homemade 6-string.
The actual first bar was a red covered stevens.
_________________
Just remember,
You don�t stop playing cause you get older,
You get older cause you stop playing ! http://www.myspace.com/johnpphillips |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 18 May 2008 7:35 pm I was just a little kid...........
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Mine was a 3/8's by about 2 3/4's...
It was a stainless steel bar, ground down from a bolt from a WWII aircraft carrier at Willamette Iron and Steel Co., Portland, Oregon.
Played good. I still have it. No nicks or scratches. |
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Mickey Adams
From:
Bandera Texas
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Posted 18 May 2008 8:45 pm Ernie Ball
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Mine was an Ernie Ball (1971 rough as sandpaper)...Still have it...Still save it as a "cant find my other ones" backup...But I think it probably needs a defib shock by now!
_________________
ARTIST RELATIONS: MSA GUITARS
2017 MSA LEGEND XL D10, S10, Studio Pro S12 EXE9
Mullen G2, Rittenberry S10, Infinity D10, Zumsteel 8+9
Anderson, Buscarino, Fender, Roman Guitars, Sarno Octal, Revelation Preamps, BJS BARS, Lots of Blackface Fenders! |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 19 May 2008 4:21 am
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Mine was a wrist pin outa some Ford engine.
Later I graduated to a Stevens bar (circa 1965). |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 19 May 2008 4:43 am
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I got my first "steel" in 1949 and I don't remember what I had. Later I recall getting a Stevens bar at some point.
My first pedal steel guitar bar was a Sho-Bud that I bought in 1969 when I got my first pedal steel guitar (a Fender 2000). |
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Terry Wood
From:
Lebanon, MO
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Posted 19 May 2008 5:33 am
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Well, my brother who got me started in all of this steel guitar stuff had some sort of a plastic bar, we experimented with a plastic pocket comb, kitchen knives and finally he got us a Steven groove bar. I couldn't play very well with any of those.
I noticed when our special guest Don Helms played at our 2nd Annual Marshfield Steel Show last year 2007 he was using one of those Stevens finger grooved bars. He used it fine and never missed a beat just as he always has. I was amazed at that!
GOD bless!
Terry Wood |
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Don Sulesky
From:
Citrus County, FL, Orig. from MA & NH
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Posted 19 May 2008 6:11 am
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My 1st bars were all made special for me back in 1976 by a model maker in our machine shop.
They were 7/8", 15/16" and 1" Stainless steel and all were hollowed out to lighten the weight.
I used them for 25 years before I got a BJS bar.
I now use my favorite bar, a 15/16" hollowed out Bullet Bar. |
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Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
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Posted 19 May 2008 6:15 am
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| It was a Dunlop |
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Charley Wilder
From:
Dover, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 19 May 2008 6:35 am
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| Stevens steel-1962. Still have it. It is pretty well grooved so I retired it a while back. |
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Roger Light
From:
Sheldon, IL
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Posted 19 May 2008 6:46 am
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| An Old ZB, hollow on one end. Still using it. Kind of like an old par of gloves. |
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Jody Cameron
From:
Angleton, TX,, USA
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Posted 23 May 2008 11:50 am
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My first tone bar was a chrome plated Sho-Bud bar that I got from clyde's Music in Clute, TX in 1981...I still use it as my main bar!
jc |
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Danny Hammers
From:
Danny & Patricia of Floral City, Florida formerly of Fairdale KY.
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Posted 23 May 2008 12:29 pm
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Nick Manoloff Brown Bakelite Tone Bar
About 1957
I wish I still had it, just because it was my first
Thanks Duane, for making us put our thinking cap on.
Danny
_________________
Gibson Console Grand D8 - Weenick DT-10 - Dynalap S8 - TriboTone Bars
Nashville 112s - Vegas 400
Member:
Life Member of R.O.P.E. (Reunion Of Professional Entertainers) , NTSGA, GaSGA, PSGA, ASGA, MSGC, LMSGC, OzarkSGA |
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 May 2008 1:53 pm
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SHO BUD
7/8 |
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Rick Anderson
From:
Niskayuna, NY USA
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Posted 23 May 2008 4:31 pm Bar to Bar
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Thanks for the question
Mine was a MSA hollow 3/4" x 3"? I also still have mine. I use BJS and my emmons sit-tar now.
Rick Anderson |
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John Drury
From:
Gallatin, Tn USA
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Posted 24 May 2008 4:59 am
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Black Rajah.
First metal bar was a 650 Triumph wristpin out of a 66 TT120.
_________________
John Drury
NTSGA #3
"Practice cures most tone issues" ~ John Suhr |
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Keith White
From:
Norfolk, UK
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Posted 24 May 2008 9:57 am FIRST TONE BAR
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Im still using mine , i make my own out of stainless then have them polished . its still in good shape after four years heavy use.
_________________
Sho-Bud 'LDG', Sho-Bud 'The Professional', Rains SD10, Fessenden D10, Hilton Pedal, Peavey Session 500, Peavey 112, Lots of PV PA, And of course, the BJS Bar (for the best tone)! Love all Steel Guitars! |
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