| Author |
Topic: Sierra Brads-Rack Pedal Steel Guitar |
Al Gershen
From:
Grants Pass, OR, USA * R.I.P.
|
Posted 31 May 2005 6:24 pm |
|
Hi group:
My steel guitarist friend, Bud Fuller, is thinking about selling his old Sierra Brads-Rack D-12 pedal steel guitar.
I did some searching here on the SGF about the Brads-Rack and for the most part, the comments were mostly negative....the guitar's ugly, too heavy, etc.
Here's are some photos I took of Bud's guitar:
All of my photos of Bud's guitar can be seen at my Charter website at the URL:
http://webpages.charter.net/aldg/Miscellaneous/Sierra%20Brads-Rack%20PSG/
This guitar was probably made in the late 1960s or early 1970s. After Bud acquired it several years ago, he had his friend, Chuck Wright, change the setup on it so that all the pedals and knee levers are on one neck.
Someone buying this guitar with the anticipation of playing the E-9th and C-6th tunings would have to get the pedals and knee levers reset for both necks. This could be done by someone knowledgeable with the tuning system in this instrument, but additional hardware may be required.
I'm trying to get Bud some information about the fair market value of this guitar and that's a tall order because I've been unable to find any information on the Internet about sales of this guitar.
If you have some feelings about the value of this guitar...assume that it's in very good condition...please post them here under this thread.
I look forward to all your comments...whatever your views are about this instrument.
------------------
Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, Oregon. USA
Fender 1000 (1957),
Fender PS 210 (1970) &
Gibson Electraharp EH-820 (1961)
Al's Photographs at http://www.alsphotographs.com
|
|
|
 |
Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
|
Posted 1 Jun 2005 1:25 pm
|
|
I remember seeing a photo of that guitar in one of the early "Steel Guitarist" magazines -- I guess the forklift is just out of shot ??
|
|
|
|
Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
|
Posted 1 Jun 2005 1:50 pm
|
|
| I believe the Brads-Rack is the creation of Tom Bradshaw. He may have some idea about the value. It might not be ideal for an axe you are breaking down frequently, but for the bedroom or other stationary placement, I'd bet it's solid as a rock! |
|
|
|
Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
|
Posted 1 Jun 2005 4:31 pm
|
|
For all it's cabinet & brad-rack quirkiness (it does resemble a 1960's dinette table), the undercarraige of that guitar was technologially light years ahead of the competition.
The mechanism looks good even by today's standards. You can really see this as the precursor to the modern Sierra.
It looks like it would be fairly straightforward to re-configure, but additional parts would be the limiting factor. |
|
|
|
Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
|
Posted 1 Jun 2005 6:10 pm
|
|
| Tom may have got the inspiration from one of those old treddle sewing machines ! |
|
|
|
Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
|
Posted 2 Jun 2005 10:09 pm
|
|
Just imagine that rack in polished aluminum! 
--------------------
´75 Emmons p/p D10 8+4, '96 Emmons Legrande II D10 8+5, ´74 Sho-Bud Pro III Custom SD10 4+5, Peavey Nashville 1000 |
|
|
|
Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
|
Posted 3 Jun 2005 6:32 am
|
|
| Yikes.. It looks like it would be an effective torture device... bob |
|
|
|
John Bresler R.I.P.
From:
Thornton, Colorado
|
Posted 3 Jun 2005 3:01 pm
|
|
There's a great article about Brads-Rack by Tom Bradshaw in the Double Issue Steel Guitarist magazine, May 1981. Seems that the original idea may have been Chuck Wrights, but Tom followed up on the idea and built the first prototypes. There's even a picture of an MSA sitting on a Brad-rack. Good reading project.
|
|
|
|
Gary Walker
From:
Morro Bay, CA
|
Posted 4 Jun 2005 8:55 pm
|
|
| I took delivery on a new D-11 on a Brad's rack in '67. I had Chuck chrome the rack. Yes, it was rather weighty but what a beauty. One of the great things about the setup, you could set up the rack and pedal bar, then just set the steel down on top. There was no flipping it over like a standard steel. And talk about solid, it stayed where it was put like a piano. |
|
|
|
David Wright
From:
Pilot Point ,Tx USA.
|
|
|
|
Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
|
Posted 6 Jun 2005 2:45 pm
|
|
David Wright once had hair!  I guess it was during that brief period between infancy and adolesence. 
Seriously, the pictures at the top of the topic remind me of a church organ. Something that you install and don't move very often. I understand that they were very stable, which was the point of the design, after all.
------------------
 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) |
|
|
|
David Wright
From:
Pilot Point ,Tx USA.
|
Posted 6 Jun 2005 3:25 pm
|
|
 yea, I did...
------------------
 M.S.A.
M.S.A. Millennium
S-12 9 & 6
Bb is where it's at!
Peavey-2000-PX-300
David's Web Page
|
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 9 Jun 2005 1:01 pm
|
|
| Sometimes, decent products fail just because of the "look" they have. So it was with the Chrysler Airflow, the Edsel, and probably...the Brad's Rack. Al's first photo in his post kinda sums it up. It just looks awfully "knock-kneed" from that angle! |
|
|
|
Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
|
Posted 9 Jun 2005 2:24 pm
|
|
Excuse my ignorance, but who is (was?) Brad?
Lee, from South Texas |
|
|
|
Mike Vallandigham
From:
Martinez, CA
|
Posted 9 Jun 2005 2:31 pm
|
|
Brad = Tom Bradshaw...The man, the myth.
Also a buddy of mine. Tom has helped me alot with my guitars.
Yo Tom! |
|
|
|
Tom Bradshaw
From:
Walnut Creek, California, USA
|
Posted 10 Jun 2005 9:51 pm
|
|
Hey guys, I think with a "Brads-Rack" under a pedal steel makes the steel look fabulous, simply fabulous, etc. etc. Could I be a little biased?
It was sometime in the '60s that I visited Chuck Wright at his shop in Proberta, California (north of Sacramento about 80 miles). On his shop wall he had made a drawing of a pedal steel being held up by a single post at the center of each endplate. The post descended to the floor, and was balanced there by a straight-across pedestal, like an inverted "T" at each end of the guitar. I thought about it all the way home. I quickly began making drawings. I came up with many, finally settling on the "Z" image (dubbed the Delta model). I also made a version that had a grapevine design in it. Many who saw it felt it made the steel look like an old Singer sewing machine. Only one of Chuck’s guitars was built with the "Concord" model Brads-Rack on it.
I made the first pattern out of wood, had it cast in aluminum and showed it to Chuck. He encouraged me to continue experimenting with the design. Following several modifications, I finally made a pattern board and had castings made. Chuck really liked it and put the Delta model on about 10 guitars. When Chuck sold his shop machinery to MSA and went to work for them in Dallas in the early '70s, MSA wanted to put the 'Racks on their guitars. I recall selling about 3 sets of the Brads-Rack stands to MSA. I don't know if all three were put on their guitars, but obviously, David Wright got one.
I currently have one of Chuck's guitars equipped with a Brads-Rack. I intend to restore it to its original "glory". That guitar has a remarkable changer in it that Chuck designed. It is a changer that appears to have none of the problems that I've encountered in one form or another on every brand of steel I've repaired or restored. Chuck only installed this particular changer in a few guitars. He would later modify that changer, putting it in several guitars he built after leaving MSA and before associating himself with Don Christensen in Portland, Oregon. With Don, Chuck was instrumental in the "3rd coming of Sierra Guitars". There, Chuck refined the changer even more, and it was used in most of the guitars that Chuck built with Don. Chuck would return to California a few years later, but Don continued building the Sierra Guitar, using the changer that Chuck designed. It should not be overlooked that Chuck Wright's craftsmanship became state-of-the-art after about 5 years into his steel-building career. And, he built guitars for at least 30 years.
The "Brads-Rack" has been just one of my periodic brain spasms. It was and remains fun, creating something unusual. Let’s face it, most brands of pedal steel look much alike. Except for the Multi-Kords and Gibson ElectraHarps, pedal steels have become nearly indistinguishable, except for their mechanical nuances...you usually have to read the name plate to know what brand one is. A guitar on a Brads-Rack, however, stands out as being different from anything built before it, or since! To some, it may stand out as a "sore thumb", but that is a point of view I don't share. Wonder why?
The 'Rack may look funny, but the guitar Chuck built on top of it played very well and gave stability similar to a concrete pillar, and about as heavy! You could stand the guitar on one corner of the 'Rack and nothing would bend or break. It is a guitar that you would want to transport assembled, a situation that is not bad idea among all players of the steel today. The 'Rack was unique; something that can't be said about any steel today.
[This message was edited by Tom Bradshaw on 12 June 2005 at 09:03 PM.] |
|
|
|
Russ Wever
From:
Kansas City
|
|
|
|
