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Topic: RIP Mr.Dusan Papic (Promat guitars) |
Ned McIntosh
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 17 Jan 2017 12:35 am |
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We have lost yet another uniquely-talented builder of the pedal steel-guitar. No ordinary steel-guitar, and no ordinary builder, either.
He built metric push-pull guitars which are regarded as the equal of the best push-pull Emmons produced. No other builder anywhere has done that, and now his skilled hands are forever still.
Into every steel-guitar he put his love for the instrument. Truly hand-crafted, each one a tribute to his skill, now these steels stand as his monument and our arcane little musical community is united in grief and diminished by this terrible loss.
To Mr Papic's family and friends I offer my heart-felt condolences. We also bear Damir Besic in our thoughts, for it was he who recognised the quality and value of Mr Papic's work and became his champion. To Damir I also offer my condolences on the sudden loss of a close friend.
RIP.
_________________
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.
Last edited by Ned McIntosh on 19 Jan 2017 10:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Pat Moore
From:
Virginia USA
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Posted 17 Jan 2017 6:16 am
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My deepest condolences to his family & friends! I never met him, but his reputation always preceded him. His steels are as good as they get, and they will always be his lasting legacy!
We have all lost a great person, and I wish much strength to Damir in his difficult time, as I know they were close.
Pat Moore |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 17 Jan 2017 6:56 am
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thank you my friends... here are few more pictures you may like
son Slobodan testing a new Promat SD10 before shipping to France
another son Sava, working on guitars
one of Dusans favorite photos, with one of his heroes on Promat
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 17 Jan 2017 8:03 am
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| Nicely said Ned. Your words are right on target. |
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Mickey Adams
From:
Bandera Texas
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Posted 17 Jan 2017 2:56 pm
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History is passing before our eyes so quickly now it seems..
RIP...Mr Papic...
_________________
ARTIST RELATIONS: MSA GUITARS
2017 MSA LEGEND XL D10, S10, Studio Pro S12 EXE9
Mullen G2, Rittenberry S10, Infinity D10, Zumsteel 8+9
Anderson, Buscarino, Fender, Roman Guitars, Sarno Octal, Revelation Preamps, BJS BARS, Lots of Blackface Fenders! |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 17 Jan 2017 3:04 pm
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| Mickey Adams wrote: |
History is passing before our eyes so quickly now it seems..
RIP...Mr Papic... |
I just thought about that today... you are so right my friend... in the last couple years we lost a lot of good people in our small steel guitar community ... 
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Bruce W Heffner
From:
Payson, Arizona
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Posted 18 Jan 2017 4:58 am ProMat
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Sorry for the loss of your friend Damir. Anyone who would build a high quality pedal steel guitar in the push pull mechanism had to be a true lover of the music.
Bruce
_________________
Bruce W Heffner AKA Wally
"We live in Arizona now."
Payson, AZ |
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Roy Carroll
From:
North of a Round Rock
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Posted 18 Jan 2017 7:21 am
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So Sorry Damir,
Please pass on the regrets to the family. I know their loss is huge. I spoke with him about my Promat, His was a labor of love for sure! Great guitar, Great builder and Great Innovator! The attention to detail is unsurpassed. He will be missed.
_________________
Just north of the Weird place, south of Georgetown |
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Allan Thompson
From:
Scotland.
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Posted 18 Jan 2017 11:08 am
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So sorry to hear of Dusan's passing. I spoke with him many times via email, he was a lovely man.
R.I.P. Dusan. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 18 Jan 2017 7:51 pm
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I dont think anyone knew he didnt feel good, he was very private person...he was working on D10 lefty for a customer in US, guitar is 70% finished, parts are all done ,and guitar is ready for assembly...this is Promat #27 ,and it will be finished and delivered, but after that I don't know, that could very well be the last Promat ever built...
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Andy DePaule
From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
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Posted 19 Jan 2017 12:33 am A sad truth
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A sad truth that it may be the last at #27. Maybe his sons will take up the effort?
I never had a PP guitar but those that he made were so beautiful in the photos I saw.
The other sad truth was something I think many of us have thought of recently. That is how many wonderful people in this community have passed away in the last couple of years.
Again Damir, sorry for your loss.
_________________
Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 19 Jan 2017 8:19 pm
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thank you Andy,he will be missed...I still remember years ago when I first brought a Promat to US, one of the coments was that Promat looks like it was made "out of parts from Lowe's, using a hammer, and a file" ...I can't remember who was a idiot who said that, but it's not important at this point...loosers like that never discouraged Dusan to keep making high quality instruments...
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Andy DePaule
From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
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Posted 19 Jan 2017 9:28 pm Dumb people
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Dumb people have no idea of all the skills a person must learn and master as well as the tooling and supplies required to even start a project like a pedal steel guitar.
Least of all can they spot a master craftsman when they see one. Just stupid and you can't fix stupid.
I'll bet you are going to treasure that last Promat you brought back. It looks to be one of the finest I've ever seen by any builder.
I loved the colors and the gold tuners with the polished aluminum parts.
I'm sure it plays as good as it looks.
_________________
Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 19 Jan 2017 9:34 pm
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it plays great. Henry Matthews went through it, and did service and adjustments ... last weekend friend of mine, Gary Morse had a chance to look at it, first thing he said after I opened the case was "this is work of art" ... we'll be taking it to his studio, for some pickin'.... thats going to be fun 
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2017 12:52 pm
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| As I was playing my Promat two nights ago at a job, I looked down at the guitar and thought about all the things Dusan and I had talked about, the experimental things we tried on other guitars which always proved to improve the tone, the metal composition of guitar parts, and so many more things, I realized that I had lost more of a friend than I realized. There probably were very few weeks that went by since I bought my guitar in 2008, that we had not talked on some issue. He was also a very patient man. Communicating, given his English, was not always easy for me but he always patiently re-explained things until I got it. As for the comments on the workmanship, I am a Mechanical Engineer and I will argue with anyone that the parts and workmanship of my Promat will match or supercede any other guitar out there. I believe many of the negative comments ever said were because this was not an American made guitar. But comments were always all positive about the fine work they saw. I remember playing a job once where I was playing my Promat and a gentleman who was standing in the audience came up to me afterwards so excited going on and on about "I have heard so much about those Promat guitars but had never seen one and man you just made my day". He went on raving about how great it sounded as well. Just a testament to these fine instruments Dusan "hand" manufactured. I will miss this man so. |
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Joseph Torres
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2017 8:33 pm Damir Besic
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I'm sorry to hear of the lose of your dear friend, my condolences to you and his family. Prayers for the family and may he rest in peace.
Joseph Torres |
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Mirko Tomic
From:
Serbia
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Posted 21 Jan 2017 4:47 am
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My dear friend Damir,I can*t explain how much i*m, sorry
becasue our dear Mr.Dusan Papic passed away.I knew him since 1987 and we were really close friends.We were every week on the line,about PSG and music in general.He was unique person.Last time I saw him was two months ago when I tested his guitar which is now in your posesion.He will live through our playing on his guitars. |
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Ron Grant
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2017 6:24 am
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| I am the very proud owner of the lefty #27 [day set up ] 8 floor-- 7 knee. it will never be for sale. |
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Jimmy Douglas
From:
Raceview, Queensland, Australia
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Posted 8 Feb 2018 7:17 am
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Very sad and shocked to just learn that Dusan has passed away. My respects and best wishes to his family and friends. A very nice gentleman.
Sincerely
Jimmy |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 8 Feb 2018 1:39 pm
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| Mr. Papic had engineering ideas which would have done a lot for the Pedal Steel Guitar. But those ideas passed with his passing. He was VERY proud of his work and one of the most patient and brilliant people I ever dealt with. I owe him a lot for what I learned from my discussions with him. I played my Promat on a job last night and it played and sounded as nice as any other guitar out there. |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 8 Feb 2018 2:01 pm
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my problem with Promat is that I don’t like push pull mechanics, but after playing over 500 different steel guitars I just can’t find anything that sounds better... 
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 8 Feb 2018 4:55 pm
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| I'd rather work on a Push Pull anytime over an all pull. Mr. Papic studied these mechanics in more depth than anyone else I know and knew so much about material theory and their responses. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 9 Feb 2018 3:56 am
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Damir's probably best placed to answer - how did Mr Papic get into building steels in the first place? Did he spend time in the States (like Mitsuo Fujii)?
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Godfrey Arthur
From:
3rd Rock
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Posted 9 Feb 2018 8:56 am
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Godspeed Mr.Papic
Sorry for your and our loss Damir.
_________________
ShoBud The Pro 1
YES it's my REAL NAME!
Ezekiel 33:7 |
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