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Topic: New Member, Hello! |
Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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Posted 29 Apr 2010 8:15 am |
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Hi,
My name is Michael Elzey,
I've been learning Electric guitar for about 35 years now and play by ear. I've played professionally around the Delaware /Maryland area for years in a few different bands. Played classic rock/blues and country.
I've always loved the sweet sounds of well played steel. I finally picked one up yesterday, I got A Gretsch Cheapie to get started on.
Starting off the thing would'nt stay in tune for nothing, no lol! here!
Thought to myself "for 350.00 you'd think they would at least give you a decent set of tuners right?
Well , i yanked off the factory strings and put on a set of morrell's .014 to .058n.
To my dismay. they must have been sitting around in a warehouse for 20 years for they were dead from the git go. So i cut them off too. I then noticed the nut that holds the tuners tight to the wood were all loose, "A sustain killer" And tightened them all down. I then put on a set of ernie Balls 9-42 and tuned up again. Much better this time and stayed in tune after the stretch out period.
Compared to my electric's " PRS custom 22,Godin exit 22,Epiphone Wilshire, i also thought the pickup was a weak one but wasn't microphonic and the clean and distorted tone were pretty good imo. being i tightened up the tuning machines it had pretty good sustain too.
Tunings,
I tryed several different tunings, DBGDBG open E and i settled in with a C6 tuning 6th C 5th E 4th G 3rd A 2nd C 1st E. that tuning was making more sense to me and i was starting to find song pieces like the intro to ace in the hole by george Strait and some christmas stuff and a few classic country tunes.
I went to youtube and found some help from Georgeboards.com i think it was, and was shown where my major and minor chord were from C open to C at the 12th fret. that helped a lot!!! thanks Georgeboards if your out there. I'm looking foward to more info on how to make this guitar sing. Thank god for the internet for i'd still be in the dark without it or trying to understand some stinkin Mel bay book.
After all this I plug into my guitar's pedalboard and add a little compression, delay and digital reverb. I think we've found something here my new friends 
I find the steel finger picks and the plastic thumb pick a little difficult, so i've been playing without them useing my guitar technic's bare fingers and a regular med pick.
I have a little boss Br864 8 track i like to record with and post mp3s on the free soundclick site. I'll post a link if anyone's interested in checking out my music page. there's a little of both rock and country on there. that's been fun building a tune a track at a time. I'm no pro so don't expect to much.
I'm looking foward to hearing all the great players here, reading the posts and gaining as much knowledge as i'm able.
later,
Michael
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=907145&content=music[/b] |
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Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 29 Apr 2010 9:47 am
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Welcome Michael from Alabama. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.
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Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
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Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 30 Apr 2010 6:35 pm
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| Hi and welcome to the forum...... |
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Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 1 May 2010 5:56 am
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Welcome to the forums Michael! Lots of good folks and great info here.
Glad to hear you got your Gretsch sorted out. I've always liked how they looked and have borrowed design elements for a couple of the steels I build.
.
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Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
Follow me on Facebook here |
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Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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Posted 1 May 2010 8:08 am
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That's some beautiful work Tom. Do you do all your routing by hand too? I like the mahogany and what looks to be birdseye maple fretboard,P90 pickup,Bone nut?,solid steel bridge? and shaller tuners?
Thats some serious eye candy! Thank you!
Do you have a website where you sell these beauties or just do it for fun of it? Again, They look nice and i bet they have some sweet tones going on.
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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=907145&content=music |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Posted 1 May 2010 12:51 pm
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Thanks Michael, they are a labor of love and I enjoy building them, and yes, they are all hand crafted by me.
I don't have a complete web site setup at this time, though I am working on one.
I mainly do custom builds to order and from time to time have a ready made one to sell, mostly prototypes or one offs as I have time.
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| I like the mahogany and what looks to be birdseye maple fretboard,P90 |
Yes, thats African mahogany with a walnut inlayed birdseye fretboard and a hand wound P90 from BG-Pups.
Here is a pic that shows the fretboard detail a little better.
.
_________________
Some misc pics of my hand crafted steels
Follow me on Facebook here |
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Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 1 May 2010 2:00 pm
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Hey Tom, are you bringing' any beauties to the Lap Steel show at Steel Guitars of North County?
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Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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Posted 2 May 2010 8:42 pm
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Been playing for about 4 hours tonight and realized this Gretsch needs some help. for what i paid i know Gretsch / fender could do better. It is cheesey imo.
I ordered a better set of tuners and i believe this thing would be better with a new nut and bridge to boot. the bridge and nut, looks to be some kind of cheap dicast.
the pickup is weak too but i've been pumping it up with a compressor/sustainer and thats getting me by for now.
I'd probably would have been better off buying the rondo sx for 115.00 with case and doing the up grades, then keep this one. Well , hey! i've got a chunk of mahogany for a foundation
I wonder how many of these got sent back? does Anybody know where i can get some good parts for this thing? I'm thinking , i could get this thing up to par for a couple hundred bucks maybe.
Still having fun learning and i've found a few double stops for 3 chord old country stuff. Its starting to sound like i can play a little bit. I was messing around a little with Green green grass of home and i'm so lonesome i could cry. The cats are staying away and the dogs howling
later Ya'll 
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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=907145&content=music |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 3 May 2010 5:43 am edit
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edit
Last edited by George Piburn on 23 Jun 2012 11:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Michael Elzey
From:
Delaware, USA
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Posted 3 May 2010 8:31 am
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Hello Mr. George and i want to thank you for the Vids you've done on youtube, they've helped me alot.
As far as school books for learning lap steel that may be good for some people but its never worked for me. I'm a see, hear , do player. I agree knowing theory you may learn quicker and its the proper way.
Some have learning disabilitys and some are just naturals when it comes to music. they can hear a phraise and find it and play it. I've played guitar professionally for 35 years and half of what i do, i could'nt tell you what its called and i'm fine with that.
I respectfully disagree about upgrading what i've got. A piece of mahogany is a piece of mahogany tho one may be a better grade. I've bought many cheap guitars and did upgrades like pickups, fret leveling,tuning machines etc. As long as the basic's are there, you can modify a stringed instrument to suit your needs.
A nut of brass, bone tusk plastic, Alum. All have a effect on tone and sustain, same with the bridge on a guitar.
The Scale also has an effect on tone and playability. Guitars, "fender" 25 1/2"scale PRS 25"scale Gibson 24 3/4 scale all differ a bit in tone and playability. I've got a 2800.00 PRS custom 22 and a 450.00 godin exit 22 and a 379.00 epiphone. One does'nt play any better than the other. the intonation on all are perfect, all are cut out on a CNC router and all have great sustain and tone. The prs is beautiful and not a flaw anywhere the godin and epiphone a satin finish , nothing great. They are a sweet playing and sounding guitars at any price.
From a experenced guitar players point of view. A lap steel would be a easy instrument to make. No frets no truss rod to worry about, no fret leveling or radius. Its bassically a short scale, fretless guitar with high action designed for slide playing.
I agree with you on the building and it being a labor of love. I've seen some beautiful woodworking with your work and the pieces Tom posted in here and others on the net.
A instrument could be a ugly dog but have the bassic's and sound a play wonderfully and a beautiful piece sound like crap! Eye candy can be deceptive but thats is what drawl's our attention first, its looks.
I could buy any instrument i wanted, cost is not a problem. Like i said, i'm just finding my way around and it would imo be foolish to throw 1800.00 down on a instrument i don't know how to play YET! Tho someone with no guitar experence or knowledge they would be better off for they don't understand the tweaks or soldering etc.
I'm sure there's been a many person buy a bad instrument thinking "I can't play or i'm just not cut out for it" but if they had something decent they would have gone on and enjoyed it and progressed. Like the one i got, the tuners are a pos! they would'nt hold a closeline tight. A beginner would have lost interest.
I understand this is a great place for boutique builder to sell and show their creations and i'm into seeing what you artist's come up with. The big companies imo left quality #1 a long time ago with very few exceptions that are affordable to the average guy.
If it was'nt for the boutique builders lap steel would probably be history. I understand keeping things affordably is difficult today with the cost of doing bussiness. I look at the sum of parts = XXX and the rest labor and overhead which seem to be 75% of the cost,if not more. My PRS is a nice guitar but is it worth 2800.00? IMO no But you'll get a good instrument with a company that stands behind their product.
I'll go check out stewart Mac and see what they've got for parts.
any instructional DVD's you've done like whats on youtube, i'd be very interested in, but mel bay may be good for some but not I! I hated school as you can probably tell by my writing skills
Does this site have any of your vids for sale?
Have a great day and keep it fun!
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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=907145&content=music |
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