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Topic: A "REAL" Steel guitar? |
Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 9:12 pm |
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I was at a local jam session, having a great time impressing all the armpit guitar players, when one of them asked me: "can you play a real steel guitar too, you know with all those pedals?"
I am sure my expression was not a pleasant one... as I launched into a scathing response to his question. Noting that the Hawaiian (steel guitar) was invented many years before the pedal guitar was created...
I hope I didn't come off sounding too condescending, as I would really like to be a pleasant example of
the steel guitar community, not to mention a good Christian witness!
Dom 
_________________
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYG9cvwCPKuXpGofziPNieA/feed?activity_view=3 |
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John Rosett
From:
Missoula, MT
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 9:15 pm
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You said the right thing. If they think that you're too nice, they'll be calling you to play freebies all the time.
_________________
"it's not in bad taste, if it's funny." - john waters |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 9:45 pm Dom, I agree with you!
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What really grinds on MY nerves are the ones that want to play steel that have been too misinformed or
too lazy to look into the history of the instrument...
and, then proceed to project an image to others that they are experts in the game and more confusion arises.
Some of the younger, newer players of standard guitar couldn't carry Chet Atkins guitar case yet with all of the electronic gadgets, wild paint designs and glitter........and high horse power amps seem to feel that they're in the same league as Chet or Grady Martin or Hank Garland
Some of them could actually lighten the weight of their instruments merely by removing all of the strings except for the TOP "E" string that they play so LOUD on while taking the vibrato units and jerking the heck out of it to get some kind of racket.
At least DOM, "WE" do know the difference, did our early day homework, took lessons and worked on getting melodious sounds from the guitar while striving at the same time to learn and develop some real playing technique.
My hats off to you. You do a great job with your
YOU TUBE SGF/postings. |
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Marty Forrer
From:
New Zealand
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 1:24 am
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| Haha.... I get this a lot with my double bass. People want to know if I play the real bass.... ya know, the one that looks like a geetar. I dont even bother to tell them the double bass was around for 400 years before Leo Fender. |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 5:21 am
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| Dom Franco wrote: |
| "can you play a real steel guitar too, you know with all those pedals?" |
It sounds like he was expressing a genuine interest...and perhaps he just used the wrong adjective to describe a pedal steel guitar. There is so much to learn for the uninitiated. As a small example "non-believers" wouldn't think twice about calling every resonator out there, a Dobro.
_________________
Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Robert Allen
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 6:55 am
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| Rick Barnhart wrote: |
| There is so much to learn for the uninitiated. As a small example "non-believers" wouldn't think twice about calling every resonator out there, a Dobro. |
I've seen some very well known reso players with other brands introduced on stage as the Dobro player. I have many recordings that list the reso player as "Dobro with the name of artist" and these musicians knew they weren't playing a Gibson Dobro. There are many name brand words in our vocabulary that take on a generic meaning. Have you ever called a facial tissue a Kleenix? Here in the South, we call every brand of carbonated beverage a "Coke" but we're still smart enough to know the difference between orange soda and Coca-Cola. For many years everyone called a reso guitar a dobro and the name stuck. The genie was out of the bottle 50 years ago and they aren't going to put it back. I think the usage is common for both believers and non-believers. No one except Gibson expects every mention of the word dobro to be a Gibson Dobro. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 7:49 am
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| Rick Barnhart wrote: |
| As a small example "non-believers" wouldn't think twice about calling every resonator out there, a Dobro. |
Absolutely!
If I had a nickel for every time someone called my 1929 metal-bodied squareneck tricone a "Dobro," I could buy... something nice (like a new set of strings, maybe). |
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Mike Spieth
From:
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 8:20 am
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| another dumbass non-player, explaining the intricacies of an unknown something or other, incorrectly. |
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Stephen Abruzzo
From:
Philly, PA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 8:27 am Re: A
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| Dom Franco wrote: |
I was at a local jam session, having a great time impressing all the armpit guitar players, when one of them asked me: "can you play a real steel guitar too, you know with all those pedals?"
I am sure my expression was not a pleasant one... as I launched into a scathing response to his question. Noting that the Hawaiian (steel guitar) was invented many years before the pedal guitar was created...
I hope I didn't come off sounding too condescending, as I would really like to be a pleasant example of
the steel guitar community, not to mention a good Christian witness!
Dom |
My $.02......You missed out on a golden opportunity to "educate"....assuming that your comments in paragraph 2 are accurate.
The "innocently ill-informed" (those without malacious intent or "an axe to grind") are the ones who need a little TLC along with information. |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Larry Carlson
From:
My Computer
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 8:46 am
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Actually I have also been the recipient of that attitude from other steel players because
I have only 6 strings on this "cute little thing" that sits in my lap.
It seems that if I don't have what looks like the inside of a piano in front of me I am not a real guitar player.
What I think bothered me most is not the criticism, but the fact it was coming from another musician.
(I'm not really a musician yet but I'm trying)
I always thought we were all members of the same club and would be supportive of each other.
_________________
I have stuff.
I try to make music with it.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
But I keep on trying. |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 8:54 am
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I think they call it real steel because of all the steel in the body and legs and changers and heads,
as if a wood guitar couldn't be steel; it's just ignorance, and I mean that kindly.
There it is, in the article: "Strictly speaking, a steel guitar is any guitar made out of metal...."  |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 10:03 am
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This thread reminds me of a thread I posted on the "old forum" back in 2002. The thread was titled OBSOLETE INSTRUMENTS?
I quoted what a vintage guitar dealer/collector had posted on his web site. This caused quite a stir on the forum!
| Quote: |
Note on LapSteel Collectibility.
I don't individually rate each lapsteel model for collectibility, because they all pretty much fall into a "D" or "D-" category. Remember, they are basically obsolete instruments by todays standards. Therefore they are only interesting as historical sidenotes.
Lapsteel for Sale?
"No, lapsteels are not worth a lot of money. They are basically obsolete as musical instruments (the pedal steel did them in), though some rare musicians still use them today. They do have historical significance, but since they aren't viewed as "viable" instruments today, their values are fairly low. Because of their historical importance, I am interested in buying lapsteels if they are priced "reasonable". Just thought I'd mention this before you email me asking $1000 for your lapsteel!" |
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My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 10:19 am
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Then, there are those who would suggest that a single neck pedal steel guitar is not a real steel guitar, because all the pros play double neck steel guitars.  |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 10:29 am
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| I quoted what a vintage guitar dealer/collector had posted on his web site. |
No doubt this "vintage guitar dealer/collector" would think nothing of stripping the parts (pickups, tuners, pots, knobs, etc.) off classic Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, etc. lap steels to install on his beloved and non-"obsolete" armpit guitars.
So sad. Hopefully, times have changed since 2002. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Mike Spieth
From:
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 11:26 am
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A less known to the public instrument will always draw interest and questions, and it is a perfect place to educate. However, when some guy's opinion leads to spouting off at the mouth, or their ignorance has them pulling stuff out of the other end of their anatomy, rather than a little research, I have a bit less patience.
Some instruments don't get no respect, and sometimes an instrument is seen as a "lesser" version of another. Think accordian:piano or ukulele:guitar. And then there's the banjo....  |
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Steven Pagano
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 12:18 pm
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| some of the younger and newer players are quite good. And humble. |
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John Speck
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 8:07 pm
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| One once bought a Shobud Pro II from a guitar store. The young guy that sold it to me called it a lap steel. |
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Todd Clinesmith
From:
Lone Rock Free State Oregon
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Posted 2 Feb 2015 9:27 pm
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| Tom Pettingill wrote: |
| Its up to us to educate the uninformed. Its all steel guitar, just that some have pedals, some have legs, and some we just sit on our laps. |
Tom's right, It's up to us to educate the uninformed. I get the "lap steel"comments sometimes when I am playing a D-8 or T-8 console, and it irks me a bit, but they are just uninformed. And as Rick B. says they are expressing genuine interest, and always mean well, and are impressed with the over all set up.
The funniest comments I hear is.... " the necks are all tuned the same right ?" or "So they are all tuned the same in a different key " ? |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2015 5:30 am
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(never mind)
Last edited by Jack Hanson on 3 Feb 2015 7:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 3 Feb 2015 6:15 am
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| who cares? |
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