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Topic: Kayton Roberts - Kayton's Rag |
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Jim Newberry
From:
Seattle, Upper Left America
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 6:42 am |
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And the ring finger behind-the-bar bends. Kayton's something special!
_________________
"The Masher of Touch and Tone"
-1950 Fender Dual Pro 8
-1950's Fender Dual Pro 6
-Clinesmith D8
-Clinesmith 8-string Frypan
-Clinesmith Joaquin
-~1940 National New Yorker
-~1936 Rickenbacher B6
-Homebuilt Amps |
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 8:15 am
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CRAZY STUFF and so expertly played ! Wow ! I met KAYTON 2 years ago and found him to be such a great gentleman. I do feel that old RED Fender Custom steel which he has played since the early fifties should eventually be destined to the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. The thing I enjoyed when I met Kayton, he held back no secrets. He wrote out his tunings and gave me undeserved compliments. What a guy !  |
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Chris Byars
From:
Denver, CO
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 12:41 pm
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| I'm still looking for tab to this myself. I tune my C6/A7 neck to D9, and can get the first couple bars, but then it all turns pretty hard after that. It sounds like he switches necks back and forth. Isn't his other neck an F#13? Kayton should put out a book, I say. I'd love to get this one down-pat. |
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Chris Byars
From:
Denver, CO
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 12:48 pm
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| ...and then I watched the video. Apparently there is a neck change, duh. |
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Rick Collins
From:
Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2012 1:12 pm
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Darn, I hate elevator music. 
And, all of this time I thought Kayton's fretboards looked that way because he loaned it out to Willie Nelson. |
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Chris Byars
From:
Denver, CO
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Posted 15 Mar 2012 4:19 pm
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| By the way... does anyone know what the thing is on Kayton's volume knob? Looks like some kind of cable the feeds back into the guitar. You can see it real good here |
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Danny James
From:
Summerfield Florida USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2012 6:51 am
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I always love to see & hear Kayton Roberts play. He inspired me to buy a guitar like his.
That cable is just where the cord / cable going to the volume pedal or the amp. plugs in on a Fender Dual Professional. which is what Kayton is playing.
I have tried to figure out from many pictures I have seen Kayton playing that guitar,-- if maybe he has shortened the legs some from the standard issue length.
Judging from the position of his arms and also his knees, it looks to be somewhat shorter in height than the Dual Pro. that I have. Mine is a 1953. |
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Eric Davidson
From:
Kentucky, USA
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Posted 20 Mar 2012 11:06 am
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Kayton's guitar is all stock unless he's had some repairs done to it over its 60 year lifespan but the legs are the same length as my guitar and it is a 52 model. The black piece you see on the end is a piece of electrical tape but Ive never considered its purpose. I have taken quite a few photos of the guitar so if i can find one with a picture of that part of the guitar I'll post it.
The tuning for Kayton's Rag is AAC#EFACE I think. I will look when i can get to my notes but I know that he tunes his G down to either an F# or an F. Hope this helps. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Eric Davidson
From:
Kentucky, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2012 4:38 pm
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You can also download the original album that Kayton's Rag was released on which is no longer available besides Lps (if you can find'em) or these digital downloads.
http://kaytonroberts.bandcamp.com/album/steelin |
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Eric Davidson
From:
Kentucky, USA
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Posted 21 Mar 2012 4:45 pm
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Here is a pic I took of Kayton's guitar and you can see the electrical tape a bit better. If i had to guess he must have had some issues with his volume pot 
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Chris Byars
From:
Denver, CO
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Posted 21 Mar 2012 4:52 pm
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Oh man that's fantastic, thanks for the link! That tape looks like some shade-tree I would think up  |
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J. Wilson
From:
Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 21 Mar 2012 7:25 pm
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The Master! Thanks for posting this! Kayton's music is so full of life!
_________________
If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On. -Shakespeare
___________________________________________
1941 Ric B6 / 1948 National Dynamic / 1951 Bronson Supro / Custom teak wood Allen Melbert / Tut Taylor Dobro / Gold Tone Dojo / Martin D15S / Eastman P10 |
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Chris Scruggs
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Mar 2012 8:06 pm
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Kayton's Rag was originally recorded for an LP called Kayton Roberts Is Steelin' which came out on Stoneway records in the late '60s.
The tuning is (hi to lo) E, C, A F#, E, C#, A, A. The neck "hopping" is just for playing a hot solo in the middle. It is not crucial to the melody of the song.
The electrical tape on the volume knob is because Kayton had trouble with his hand accidentally turning the volume down when doing the tone knob "wah wah" effects. Once he was doing a lot of "wah wah" playing and then out of nowhere his level dropped dramatically. He didn't know what happened and thought something had happened to his amp when all of a sudden he checked his volume knob and "duh!", he figured it out. The electrical tape was his solution.
The guitar is all stock. The pickups became weak and were rewound by Fender in 1957 but were wound to original spec.
The legs are standard length. His guitar is the same heighth as mine. He just doesn't extend them at all and then sits in a regular standard hieghth chair instead of a pack-a-seat. Bear in mind, Dual Pro legs are shorter than Stringmaster legs and sit considerably lower than pedal steels do, too.
The tune pretty much plays itself in that tuning. Just watch the video and play along. There are two half step string pulls and no slants at all.
No need for tabs! I don't know how better explained it could be than with the tuning spelled out and an overhead youtube clip.
You guys just have to want it more!  |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 28 Mar 2012 4:02 am
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Love Kayton's playing, lots of cool stuff on Youtube with Hank Snow.
Chris, that F# in Kayton's tuning, does he retune that string from a G to play certain tunes? ...Jerry |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 28 Mar 2012 5:27 am
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That was great. His playing has a unique swing to it.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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