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Topic: How many Blanton players out there? |
Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 1:40 am |
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I bought a used S-10 in 1975. At that time they had the easiest pedal action of any guitar made. Too bad they are very heavy.
Roger |
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Winnie Winston
From:
Tawa, Wellington, NZ * R.I.P.
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 2:50 am
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Almost had one. Saw a S-10 for sale in New Jersey. Went to look and it was not in great shape so I passed.
As I recall, the Blanton tuned the changes by reaching underneath and turning a knurled nut which moved the fulcrum point on the bell-crank. No need for a 14 holer when you have an infinite number of positions.
AND this allowed you to have both changes start and end at the same time.
It was a great idea, but a little unwieldy.
Time to re-visit it?
JW |
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Gary Jones
From:
Mount Vernon, Wa
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 8:16 am
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My very first pedal steel, in 1975, was a Blanton. It had originally been equipped with 4 pedals, but someone had rigged up a table-leg as a knee lever. Luckily I worked in a machine-shop at the time and could fabricate something more suitable. I kept this guitar for about a year, and then aquired a Pro-I.
What I remember most about the Blanton is how heavy it was. I believe the frame was made of welded steel plates.
I have never seen another Blanton, and I am wondering when these guitars were made, and who made them. As sturdy as these things were I would think there would still be some of them around.
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Gary Jones, KLVX - Trying to keep it straight amongst the Gilded Palaces of Sin |
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Bill Flores
From:
Ventura, California, USA
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 10:54 am
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| I,ve got Blanton similar to Gary's.Originally 4 pedals, no knee levers.I understand this was a student model.Larry Petrie added knee levers to it and I used it for a number of years.Very heavy! but stays in tune very well and sounds great.Also liked the tuning from the undercarriage.Just not as practical as my Sho-Bud but I still keep it around. |
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Gary Jones
From:
Mount Vernon, Wa
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 11:07 am
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Bill, I wonder if this might not be the same guitar I once owned? I got mine in San Luis Obispo, and sold it to a fellow in Santa Maria. I believe I sold it in '76 or '77. Maybe it made it's way down the coast.
As I said, I don't know how common these guitars were, or in what time frame they were made, but I would be interested to find out.Does anyone have any information on them? |
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Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 1:14 pm
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The Blanton PSGs were made in San Antonio, Texas by Jerry Blanton. I saw the first one for sale at Bell Music in Minneapolis in 1968 or 1969. The selling price was $750. It was a S-10 w/ 4 pedals and no knees.
The Blanton has a chromed steel wrap around frame like the al-mag Fender 800 guitar. It's built like a tank, stays in tune very well. The underneath pedal tuning is not a problem, once a person gets used to it. It seldom needs to be tweaked. The changer works like a Fender, no axel. The changer fingers pivot on a knife edge and have a 1 inch radius. Except for the weight it's a great guitar. The strings are fairly close together at about 5/16" at the bridge and at the nut.
BTW: Jimmy Day played a D-10 Blue Darlin' Blanton PSG around 1970. It has the word
"PEACE" etched in the middle of the front of the chromed frame. I heard that this guitar now belongs to a relative.
Roger
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Ken Williams
From:
Arkansas
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 1:32 pm
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The only Blanton I ever saw was the one played by Charlie Day, Jimmy's nephew. This was in about '75. I think he told me that Jimmy had given it to him. It was blue and weighed a ton.
Ken
http://home.ipa.net/~kenwill
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 14 Dec 2003 4:18 pm
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The only guitars I ever saw Jimmy play were Sho-Buds and Mullens, but I knew he had a Blanton and I knew that Charlie wound up with it.
Bobby Flores owns B. Bailey's old Blanton, which is set up in Bill Green's studio in SA and is "taxicab yellow." I'll let the Flormeister comment on that horn.
Jerry Blanton is a mad genius steel builder. The last time I saw him, about 6 years ago, he was telling me about a guitar he was thinking of building... one made entirely of oak. I allowed as how it might be a cool idea, until he started talking about the amount of work it would take to carve or turn 12 crossbars, bellcranks, changer fingers, etc. out of wood. Of course, I assumed it was only the cabinet to be made of oak. Silly me... 
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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Posted 15 Dec 2003 12:46 am
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I remember Charlie Day's Blanton. I think there is a picture of him playing it on the James Hand website: http://www.jamesslimhand.com/entrance.html Click on the link that says "Band" and scroll down.
I had never heard of Blanton steels till I met Charlie, he thought the world of them.
I haven't talked to Charlie in years. I knew him when I lived in Nashville but I assume he is back in Texas. Does anybody know what he's been up to? If any of you know him, tell him Bob Watson says hi. [This message was edited by Bob Watson on 15 December 2003 at 12:49 AM.] |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 15 Dec 2003 3:08 am
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A friend of mine, whose name is Ron C., originally from Pelham, Ma., now residing in the Cape Cod area , gives a good account of his musical technique at steel guitar shows. He learned that I enjoyed tackling problems associated with steel guitars. He asked if I might be able to build a knee lever on the RKL, to actuate his volume control, on his BLANTON steel guitar. I took the job, with the thought in mind that Ron would understand, if I failed to achieve success. I recall the 1/4" pedal rods, and the "beefy" structure of the massive double-neck instrument. Ron is a man of great sincerity, and he said, "The guitar once belonged to Charlie Pride's steel player". I can't remember if he knew the player's name. I do recall that it increased my incentive, to accomplish what I had set out to do.
Bill H. [This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 15 December 2003 at 03:55 AM.] [This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 15 December 2003 at 07:51 AM.] [This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 27 December 2003 at 04:16 AM.] |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 15 Dec 2003 7:28 am
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Bob W.
The guitar Charlie Day is playing on James Hand's website is not a Blanton, but a guitar he made himself, a green single neck called a "Day Custom." Charlie's guitar is prettier than the Blanton guitar, but IMHO doesn't work as well.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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Justin Griffith
From:
Taylor, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2003 6:32 am
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Don Sowersby Where are you?
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Reggie Duncan
From:
Mississippi
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Posted 23 Dec 2003 2:18 pm
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Yep, Don Sowersby still plays one, I think.
I have a Cathedrals Qt album with some great steel playing on it by Don, "Sunshine and Roses". |
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Don Sowersby
From:
New Braunfels, TX
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Posted 23 Dec 2003 8:36 pm
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I still have my Blanton. It is a double 10 with 8 pedals and 2 knee levers. I got it in march of 1972. I have played it on and off since then. To be honest I have played it more than any other guitar I have owned, and have the bad back to prove it. Jimmy Day did play one for a while and so did Dickey Overby.
It went missing in 1973 during the old DJ convention. I had worked a show with Sammie Smith and left it back stage until I was ready to leave. When I went to load up my stuff it was gone. I called everybody that was on the show and nobody had it or had seen it. About 2 months later I got a call from a friend of mine saying there was a guitar in the lost and found in the newspaper. I called the number and there it was. I met the guy at a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop at midnight to pick it up. He didn't want to do it any other time. So my friend Michael Chapman and I drove seperate cars, picked it up, and asked no questions. I guess I was meant to keep it and I have.
It still plays good and sounds good. It does need some work and I hope someday to restore it.
Don
www.steelguitarbar.com [[This message was edited by Don Sowersby on 23 December 2003 at 09:28 PM.] |
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Boo Bernstein
From:
Los Angeles, CA
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Posted 24 Dec 2003 4:56 pm
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| In the mid-70s, I was working with a band in NJ. The singer was from Texas -- one day said that he had heard from a friend back in Texas that he wanted to sell a "home made" steel. If I remember correctly he was asking about $200. I figured I had nothing to lose and got the guitar. It turned out to be a Blanton. It was a single 12 with four pedals and 3 knee levers. It had a few unique features: a three position telecaster switch which changed the tone; a built in volume pedal; and a small piece of metal that was shaped so the player could put a cigarette on it without burning the wood. It was a great sounding axe but it needed work and I never really found the time to focus on it. It's actually still back in NJ -- I hope to one day get it shipped out to me in LA and give it a "spin." |
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Harley Morris
From:
Riverside, California, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Dec 2003 8:35 pm
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| Roger----- Look what you started.... Harley |
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Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 27 Dec 2003 1:44 am
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Harley, Someone had to do it. Ha
BTW: Dave wanted to play my Blanton S-10 4 X 4 on a gig, after I had it over to his house in 1975, but somehow we didn't connect on that deal.
I honestly believe Blanton Guitars would have been more popular if they would have had a standard wood cabinet.
Roger [This message was edited by Roger Shackelton on 27 December 2003 at 01:45 AM.] |
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Emmett Roch
From:
Texas Hill Country
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Posted 27 Dec 2003 3:16 am
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| My Blanton was an S10 with 5 pedals, no knee levers, and tortoise-shell-colored plastic on the pickup. |
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Smokey Fennell
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 27 Dec 2003 9:52 pm
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| I would have been the one that added the table leg to Gary Jones' Blanton. That was my first steel guitar. It was bought used from a small music store located in a mall in LA in '73 or '74. It had 4 floor pedals and I wanted a knee lever so I bought a table leg at the hardware store and connected it with a hinge. When I sold it I bought a single neck Pro I. That was quite a step up. |
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Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 28 Dec 2003 12:43 am
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Hi Smokey, Perhaps you bought your Blanton guitar from Blackie Taylor at his store in Hawaiian Gardens.
Roger |
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Roger Edgington
From:
San Antonio, Texas USA
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Posted 28 Dec 2003 9:38 am
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Just saw Jerry Blanton about 3 months ago at a party. Jerry had a small shop in San Antonio for many years. I met him in 1966. I don't know how many guitars he built but they were all built with TLC. They are very popular around Texas. I've played one but never owned one. A few years ago I ran across Jerrys pick-up winder in a flea market. Jerry is not only a good builder but a super player and a great guy.
Most of his guitars had full metal wrap around as mentioned above but the later ones were cut out in the front to show a wood insert.
Herb I haven't seen the solid oak yet, but if anyone could build one it would be Jerry. |
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Sonny Jenkins
From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
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Posted 28 Dec 2003 12:36 pm
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| Hey Roger and Herb,,,I saw an ALL wood psg at David Parkers shop that he said he had started building back some time ago,,,,I wonder if this could have been the one Jerry was building? or maybe they both had the same idea? I think David said that at one time he had the wood guitar up and running and it sounded great??? Quein Sabe??? |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 28 Dec 2003 1:20 pm
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David Parker is ANOTHER of those "mad geniuses."
I've decided I'm going to build an all wood guitar, but mine is gonna be carved from a solid block of wood, like those "ball-in-a-basket-on-a-chain" thingies!
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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