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Topic: Suggestions for a handicapped player |
Tom Karsiotis
From:
Oregon,Ohio
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Posted 30 Jul 2010 10:50 pm |
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A fellow who has only a thumb and index on his left hand asked me for advise on playing his Dobro. After trying to figure out how to make a steel that he could hold and slant, I had the thought of having him play left handed.
I figured that he would get better string damping that way. There is also a thumbpick flatpick combo I saw somewhere that might help too. There would be things he couldn't do without that middle finger but damping unwanted strings well with his left hand would be impossible. I thought I'd ask on this forum if anyone had any suggestions. |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 7:26 am
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I'm not real sure that being "right or left handed" is determined by presence or condition of the right or left hand. My father-in-law lost his right arm in a accident some 50 years ago. He says he's still right handed, in his head, even though he only has a left hand. I would think your friend would be able to grip a Shubb style contoured bar with his thumb and index finger. I would imagine that would be easier than training your mind to switch to the southpaw point of view. (assuming he's right handed, of course) Just my opinion.
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Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe.
Last edited by Rick Barnhart on 3 Aug 2010 5:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 7:41 am
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See Billy Hew Len. He had no left hand and made a leather glove with a bar attached to it. One of the best players ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IrSq1rOoL4
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Tom Karsiotis
From:
Oregon,Ohio
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 2:49 pm
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That's the kind of response I was looking for. The fellow is an auto mechanic and I'm sure he can come up with something that will work for him. I'm left handed and play guitar and steel guitar right handed. I am a retired sign painter and I paint left handed. Perhaps I'm a special case and not everyone is able to do that. Billy Hew Len plays better than I do with both hands! Thanks Mike. |
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Paul Bostic
From:
Grants Pass, Oregon, USA
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 3:35 pm
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Hey Mike, Billy Hew Len rocks man! 
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60's & 70's country rock is my favorite, Martin & Taylor acoustic, Fender & Washburn electric, Rickenbacher BD 8 lap steel, violin. |
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Nicholai Steindler
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 4:14 pm
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| I find a ring of velcro I can wear (as a ring) epoxied to a bar works pretty well. |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Alexa Gomez
From:
San Francisco
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Posted 1 Aug 2010 11:02 am Maybe this helps?
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Hi Tom,
I saw a chap busking on lap steel who was missing fingers on his left hand who had taken a conventional metal slide and had an ace bandage threaded through it and then wrapped around his hand. The slide edge was free to make string contact and it appeared he had a rather complete command since he was rocking out on some raunchy, distorted blues, much to the delight of onlookers.
Hope this helps. 
Alexa
_________________
Sister Alexa>SX Lap Pro>Rocktron Surf Tremolo>Pignose 7-100.
www.youtube.com/sisteralexa |
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Orville Johnson
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 1 Aug 2010 11:23 am
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Another person to check out would be Tom Doughty...
http://www.tomdoughty.com/
He has developed a way of playing lap-style with a slide on his index finger and is a brilliant player. If you've got the desire, you can make the music happen. |
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Tom Karsiotis
From:
Oregon,Ohio
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Posted 2 Aug 2010 12:49 pm Re: Maybe this helps?
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| Alexa Gomez wrote: |
Hi Tom,
I saw a chap busking on lap steel who was missing fingers on his left hand who had taken a conventional metal slide and had an ace bandage threaded through it and then wrapped around his hand. The slide edge was free to make string contact and it appeared he had a rather complete command since he was rocking out on some raunchy, distorted blues, much to the delight of onlookers.
Hope this helps.
Alexa |
Alexa
I tried your suggestion and I think that it will work for him. Here's a shot of the steel.
Thanks![/img] |
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AJ Azure
From:
Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.
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Alexa Gomez
From:
San Francisco
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Posted 2 Aug 2010 10:23 pm Very Swank!
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Hi Tom,
That contraption sure is swank! Plus, it'll help someone, which is even swanker.
Alexa
_________________
Sister Alexa>SX Lap Pro>Rocktron Surf Tremolo>Pignose 7-100.
www.youtube.com/sisteralexa |
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AJ Azure
From:
Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Aug 2010 10:55 pm Re: Maybe this helps?
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| Tom Karsiotis wrote: |
| Alexa Gomez wrote: |
Hi Tom,
I saw a chap busking on lap steel who was missing fingers on his left hand who had taken a conventional metal slide and had an ace bandage threaded through it and then wrapped around his hand. The slide edge was free to make string contact and it appeared he had a rather complete command since he was rocking out on some raunchy, distorted blues, much to the delight of onlookers.
Hope this helps.
Alexa |
Alexa
I tried your suggestion and I think that it will work for him. Here's a shot of the steel.
Thanks![/img] |
loads of tone loss though with this set up. Gary at gs steels will make one up with a wood handle molded to the specific person's hand need and can / has done a hand harness when needed. |
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Jim Konrad
From:
The Great Black Swamp USA
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Posted 5 Aug 2010 4:19 pm
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Looks like it should work/sound fine to me. Weight vs tone in almost a myth I think. The radius is what makes those heavy one inch bars sound so good. If you hollowed out half the weight of a one inch bar I'll bet it would sound the exact same. Weight does matter but only on really light steels like those old plastic ones.
Good job Tom!!
<*)))>{ |
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Tom Karsiotis
From:
Oregon,Ohio
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Posted 6 Aug 2010 8:32 pm
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| Jim Konrad wrote: |
Looks like it should work/sound fine to me. Weight vs tone in almost a myth I think. The radius is what makes those heavy one inch bars sound so good. If you hollowed out half the weight of a one inch bar I'll bet it would sound the exact same. Weight does matter but only on really light steels like those old plastic ones.
Good job Tom!!
<*)))>{ |
Hi Jim,
I tried the steel out on my Regal Dobro and there is no difference between the slotted one and the unslotted one I use. Thanks for not commenting on my milling job. |
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Nicholai Steindler
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 6 Aug 2010 8:47 pm
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I agree, the weight versus tone thing is a little overstated. I've been making bars for the last six months or so, out of glass which is much lighter than metal. What I've discovered is the bar has to be heavier than the strings mass for proper play. After that thew equation allows you a bit of additional sustain based on weight, to a certain point. If your bar weighs more than 3 ounces you are probably fine for any six string player and most eight. Go much under that you get a reduction in tone on the bass strings. Over that you get a marginally increased sustain on the bass strings. As I mentioned there is a point where you get diminishing returns and you're not really affecting sustain or tone. That number is a lot lower than I'm willing to state publicly because of the ridicule I'd probably receive. 
Density of the material effects tone, but not necessarily negatively. String tension affects tone. Shape of the material can affect tone to a certain extent, but again it's not an intuitive way. Think of the sweet spot on a golf club, that's the closest way I can come up with of explaining it. The way the string strikes the bar affects tone. You can compensate for a low weight with a large shape for some reason sometimes. Does any of this really matter to the average player? Probably not. Most people just buy whats popular.
The most famous slide in the rock 'n roll world, the Coricidin aspirin bottlemade famous by Duane Allman etc. weighs in at a superlight 50.4 g, or little more than an ounce and a half. Before you think I'm crazy, I'm recommending at least around twice that for the average steel player, but Duane sure did get famous on a darn light slide. |
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