| Author |
Topic: Howard Pedal Steel Guitars |
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 12:56 am |
|
Somewhere around 1973 I had moved from New Paltz New Yawk to Dallas Texas,I was starting my pedal steel guitar adventure while planting trees on a new stretch oh highway in "Grand Prairie"the other guys who I planted trees with took me to a little shop owned by Tom McCormick who made the "Howard line of pedal steel guitars,A very nice man who would sit with me and explain stuff"at that time I was playing an MSA semi-classic"I remember they had some long springs,and sounded great...My good friend Diamond Jim Richmond played one with David Alan Coe.I didn't last very long in the tree planting bizz!
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
 |
Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 6:15 am
|
|
Only saw a few pics of them over the years, never saw one up close.. The Howard pedal steel guitar along with the Blanton, Mooney, Wheeler, Clark steel guitars have always intrigued me, and I would love to see one up close, and take one for a test drive... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
|
|
|
Ross Shafer
From:
Petaluma, California
|
|
|
|
Chris Schlotzhauer
From:
Colleyville, Tx. USA
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 8:36 am
|
|
| I remember seeing Frenchie Burke playing at the Sip N' Nip in Euless, where I fronted the house band, and a guy named Jerry Starr was playing with him. He played, if I recall, was either a 12 or 14 string Howard. It was solid white. And man, he could pick! |
|
|
|
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 9:31 am
|
|
Ross,Yes that's it!!
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
|
Jim Bates
From:
Alvin, Texas, USA
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 12:40 pm
|
|
I knew Tom McCormick quite well, and met with him several times when he came to Houston to drop some of his guitars and amps to a friend of mine who was distributor of Tom's products.
All are WELL built and had good sound. Some were cable pulls and some rods. Tom built his own p/u's.
Tom was and inventor and as a result no two guitars were the same! At one time I had a few spare parts, because I would put the individual set-up each player wanted on the guitars. I sold all I had to a Forum member several years ago. The parts would be easy to duplicate for a machinist.
If you find one that has all the parts on it you will need,
consider getting it.
Thanx,
Jim
_________________
Jim Bates, Alvin, Texas
Emmons LeGrand,Sho-Bud Super Pro, SB ProII - E13th,C6th on all. Many Resonator guitars |
|
|
|
Charlie Hansen
From:
Halifax, NS Canada and Various Southern Towns.
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 2:46 pm
|
|
There was one for sale in Nova Scotia a couple of years ago.
_________________
I don't know much but what I know I know very well.
Carter S-10 3X5, Peavey Nashville 112, plus Regal dobro and too many other instruments to mention.
Bluegrass Island CFCY FM 95.1 Charlottetown, PE, Canada, on the web at cfcy.fm.
A Touch Of Texas CIOE FM 97.5 Sackville, NS, Canada,
on the web at cioe975.ca. |
|
|
|
Bill L. Wilson
From:
Oklahoma, USA
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 8:14 pm Howard Pedal Steel.
|
|
| I went in that shop several times to look at his steels. I too had an MSA Semi-Classic S-10 3x1 which I felt was a much better built guitar. I ended up with one of the Howard volume pedals and it worked great but it weighed 5lbs. and was almost as wide as a sewing machine treadle. |
|
|
|
Darvin Willhoite
From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 8:24 pm
|
|
I owned a Howard for a few years, I bought it around 1981, out of a Pawn shop in Ft. Worth, Texas. It was a well built guitar, and was a 12 string extended E9th. The pickup wasn't very good, so I rewound it and it sounded much better, I really don't remember much else about it. I moved to Arlington, Texas in 1980 and worked on the east side of Grand Prairie, so I drove by the Howard shop almost every day until they closed it down not long after I moved there.
_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.
Last edited by Darvin Willhoite on 17 Feb 2020 7:41 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Bob Guichard
From:
Central Texas, USA
|
Posted 16 Feb 2020 9:37 pm Howard pedal steels
|
|
This thread brings back memories I though were lost forever. I remember the store in Grand Prairie where I would hang out drooling over the steels. Seldom were two guitars the same. I recall S10s made with phenolic cabinets that were to be painted prior to selling. I remember Tom explaining how he drilled square holes in the pull bars in the undercarriage. I purchased a S12 extended that I played several years before it went under the bed and sold years later. Later I received another S12 extended that eventually was given away. Once I bought the first steel I would visit the store just to say hi to the guys. Ever time I did Tom would give me a set of strings he would pull from a bank of tubes of bulk strings.
I thought the Howard steel was far advanced for the times even though tuning was unstable. Possibly the all metal body. |
|
|
|
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 17 Feb 2020 12:30 am
|
|
Every now and then Mr McCormick would hang a "Gone Fishing"sign on the door.
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
|
Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
|
Posted 18 Feb 2020 10:47 pm
|
|
I think I saw one of Tom's guitars in his shop that had a strap-type handle on the rear apron. When in the case, the handle would protrude out of the case and that's how the guitar was transported.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
|
|
|
David Wright
From:
Pilot Point ,Tx USA.
|
Posted 19 Feb 2020 4:45 am
|
|
I too remember Howard steels, had been to his shop a few times in the early 70's...
Funny, the guitar on Craigslist is in Modesto, my ol home town.. |
|
|
|
Lee Rider
From:
Fort Bragg, California, USA
|
|
|
|
