Aussie Steelers Get-Together - Part 2

Ned McIntosh · From: New South Wales, Australia

Nick Oneil of Sydney, Australia, has been at it again and organised another steel-guitarist's get-together on Sunday 9th October in the inner-western suburb of Greystanes.

Attending were Nick Oneil, Mike Tyne, Kerry Donlon (bass-guitar), Tomi Graso, Michel Rose, Ned McIntosh, Geoff Barnes and Damien Odell, although he had to leave early due to a family committment (but not before he had shown us his new Mullen S12 Universel Royal Precision steel, fortunately.)

We began this session with a couple of technical matters. Nick wanted to install one of Jim Eaton's "Knobguard" units on his Nashville 112 (we had half a dozen NV112s there actually) and below are a couple of photos of the procedure Nick used:-

Above: Nick Oneil strides purposefully towards his NV112 with a large barbeque fork in hand as he prepares to install the "Knobguard". Far left is Kerry Donlon, standing next to him is Damien Odell with Mike Tyne absorbed playing Geoff Barnes' newly-acquired GFI D10, and Michel Rose at the right. (We never did find out what the barbeque fork was actually used for during the installation!)

Above:- Nick made a jig to keep everything squared up whilst drilling the holes. Behind him at his new Mullen S12 Universal RP is Damien Odell, and to the right of Nick are a Carter and a Williams D10 ready for "taste-testing".

Above:- Voila! Nick shows us the newly-installed and highly-polished "Knobguard". Job done!

So it was onto the second technical matter - installing a set of Ken Fox's hot chips into Michel Rose's NV112 so he could audition them and see how they sound...

Above: Tomi Graso (left) and Ned McIntosh (right) performing open-heart surgery on Michel Rose's NV112. It was a very simple matter to remove the five old chips and insert the hot new ones from Ken Fox. Then it was time for Michel to A-B his amp with a non-modded NV112. The best way was for Tomi to play his left-handed Le Grande II through Michel's amp whilst Michel sat and listened.

Above: Here he is checking out the difference whilst Tomi fills the room with tone galore! We all agreed the difference between the amps was very easy to hear. You might want to back off the highs off a tad on a modded NV112, but the mids and bass are beautiful! You can clearly hear the difference. Mike Tyne watches on from behind his Sho-Bud S10 with Geoff Barnes at right.

Damien Odel also wanted to hear how His new Mullen sounded so Michel obliged by playing it for him:-

And we all agreed this was a "keeper" so Damien now has "the agony of choice" when it comes to playing steel a a gig...the BMI or the Mullen? Tough choice!

It was my first meeting with Mike Tyne, who played steel for Slim Dusty before Michel Rose did. Mike brought along his very vintage Sho-Bud S10, which was loaded with pure vintage 'Bud tone. Here he is playing Geoff Barnes' new GFI D10. We were all very impressed by the elegance and neatness of the GFI undercarriage...and the tone was every bit as impressive. Geoff is a studio sound engineer by profession and plays via a rack unit and twin NV112s.

Tomi graciously also played Ned's Carter and Williams so we could all hear what the differences were. The Willy has BL-705s, the Carter has Alumitones. Although he liked them both, I suspect Tomi has a slight preference for the tone of the Williams. Needless to say they both sounded terrific under his skilled hands. Tomi can play left or right-handed...here he is giving Ned's Williams an audition.

We are very fortunate to have such fine players in our local area, and Nick's idea of these get-togethers is nothing short of inspired. We spent the latter part of the afternoon swapping licks and jamming. Huge thanks to Nick for organising these events and Nick's wife, Anne, who supplied us with enough food to feed a small army!
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The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being.

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Geoff Barnes · From: Sydney, Australia

Hey Nick, Thanks for inviting me to what amounted to a most excellent day out. You guys all seriously rock!
I had the opportunity to meet a bunch of decent folks who share the same passions, heard some stellar playing, got to check out a selection of highly desirable instruments and absorbed heaps of interesting info.

Inspiring!

(I suspect there will be a few orders for various odds and ends flowing across the interweb over the next few months as a result…. Boys do love their toys…. Shiny ones especially!)
Ned, thanks for posting the pics… your “vid” is sitting on the desk here at the studio and I’ll get it up on the telly sometime today.
Lemme know when you wanna play this game again.
Smile

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Too much equipment....I think I need help.

Damien Odell · From: Springwood, New South Wales, Australia

Yep, it was good fun as always.

Pity I had to leave but have the wife and young kids at home....

Ernest, Tomi can play left or right handed. He plays better left handed, but can more than hold his own on a RH guitar.

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Hey Guys -- I am jealous that I wasn't there, looks like it was a fun day ... so Nick, I expect to be on the next invitation list ok - so I can dig around for a cheap air fare across the ditch! Very Happy

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14'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
08'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
94' Franklin Stereo D10 9+8
Telonics, Peterson, Steelers Choice, Benado, Lexicon, Red Dirt Cases.

Jeff Spencer · From: Queensland, Australia

Hi Guys. Well done and fantastic pics again. To our non ozzie friends, these are some of Australias finest steelers and yes Earnest, Tommi can play right or left. Dosn't seem fair really!! Rolling Eyes

Thanks for posting these great pics.
Cheers

Tomi Graso · From: Sydney / Australia

Hey Paddy, if you decide to come for a visit...will put a band together for you and maybe a small audience so you can have even more fun ( if you decide to come that is ). The whole day was fun although i was running late a bit as my son had his 7th birhtday; had to go to ToysR'Us to choose a train set for a present, hehe....The joys of fatherhood ! Really liked the Fox mod for Nashville 112, produced more solid bottom end and more mids...
Highs had to be rolled back form 2 o'clock back to about 12...i am sure Michel will let us know how everything goes. Although i was very surprised how quickly it took to install those 5 upgrade chips, no more than 10min ...too easy and with a nice result.
Regarding my right-handed playing, i wouldn't even go there as this is only to hear the tone of the guitar and how it feels playing wise , my preference was deffinitely a Williams steel with reissued 705's. The guitar was so alive and sounded great.
And with Michel watching wasn't easey to concentrate...hehe...
Hopefully we can do it again next month , Thanks Nick for the invitation and Ned for letting me twinkle with your nice steels , it was a real buzz !

Bob Alloway · From: Queensland, Australia

Hey Nick,there may be a road trip coming up for me and Wazza(besides,we'll have to hold Paddy's hand if he's let loose in Sydney!)
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'93 Zumsteel 9x9, Fender 400, Peavey Session 400, Fender SteelKing, Goodrich,Boss, Peterson,'76 USA Tele,'88 USA Strat, '61 Gretsch Anniversary.

Michel Rose · From: Australia

Hi Guys,
I had a great time , a big thank you to Nick for putting it together , Anne for the food , Tomi for putting the chips in my 112 . But next time i'm bringing
my Little walter. it had just arrived ( Kenny brought it back from the States for me.Thank you Kenny!!) I want all of you to try it. I Did a session yesterday and i used the line out because i think the speaker, a BW 1201 needs to be played in , it is still sounding a little honky . But you wont believe this Amp. It is a Beast. Looking forward to seeing Bob,Paddy and wazza.

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

Hey yes guys I will definitely be there, now that I know Wazza and Bobbie will keep me on the straight and narrow hehe !! (more like the blind leading the blind)

Michel I would just love to try out your little Walter mate ..sounds awesome I believe!

Keep me posted on whats happening.
_________________
14'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
08'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
94' Franklin Stereo D10 9+8
Telonics, Peterson, Steelers Choice, Benado, Lexicon, Red Dirt Cases.

Nick ONeill · From: New South Wales, Australia

Ned, thank you so much for another great batch of photos and some very nice steel playing.

I never did find a use for that BBQ fork ?????

I had a great day. Thanks to all for supporting and the kind words.

Geoff ( Barnes), it was great to meet you and I do hope you will make it to many more of our get-togethers.

Paddy, Bob and Wazza, I will make sure your names get onto our "list". Not sure when our next meeting will be but it sure would be good to have you blokes in the room.

Kerry, it was a slow start for you on bass ( all that "Amp surgery") but we did going in the end.

I think we should tie one of Tomi's hands behind his back next time. Maybe that might slow him down. ( knowing him, probably not).

Michel we are all looking forward to hearing "Little Walter". Sounds exciting.

Thanks guys. Please let me know when you are up for another session and I will book our little home away from home. Nick.
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Mullen SD10G2 4x5 (Black), Carter S-10 3x5, Peavey Session 400, Peavey Nashville 112, Fender MS80, Boss DD3, Goodrich and Telonics volume pedals, Alesis QuadraVerb, Fender Strats x2, Fender Nashville Power Tele, Takamine NP-15C, Boss TU-12, Peterson VS-11, Strobo-flip and strobo-clip tuners, D2Fcovers,seat,legs, amps,guitars.

Tomi Graso · From: Sydney / Australia

Hi Guys ,

I just have to tell you this, all of you :
I was just at work and looking at some steel guitar photos on the forum during the lunch break , colleague of mine walked pass as quickly had a look at my computer screen and commented this :

"Oh wow is this... a custom made pinball machine"

( Na it was actually an Emmons D10 i was looking at)

There you all go.......what others see our instruments like "pinball machines", never heard this before , i just thought i share it with all of you to have a laugh........Cheers , Tomi

Jeff Spencer · From: Queensland, Australia

Not sure if you spotted this in the humor section Tommi.

cheers

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