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Topic: Sitar Bar |
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 28 Jun 2022 4:44 pm |
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Asking for a friend who is looking (really)--
Do we know anyone making a sitar bar these days? |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 28 Jun 2022 5:33 pm
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| Michael Hillman of powder coated bars makes them. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 29 Jun 2022 4:15 am
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| Thanks. He actually told me that Hillman was what he had turned up and asked me if there was anybody else making regular steel or chromed bars. Looks like I'll tell him to go ahead and order the Hillman. |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2022 9:48 am
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| I bought a used bar from a forum member that is stainless. Not sure of the maker. Read the posts that had Paul Franklin saying he used a 1/4 inch thick aluminum piece for a sitar bar. I thought Tom Bradshaw used to carry them. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 29 Jun 2022 10:29 am
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Thanks Larry. Tom's site does not currently list them.
I have no interest myself and I've never had, so I never filed, mentally or bookmarked, any info on this subject.
I've sent my friend a link to this discussion so that he can follow and decide what he wants to do. |
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John Macy
From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
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Posted 29 Jun 2022 11:37 am
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That 1/4” aluminum stock is the best I have ever used. Paul’s Dad used to shape the top a little and sold them. Work great!
_________________
John Macy
Rockport, TX
Engineer/Producer/Steel Guitar |
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Billy McCombs
From:
Bakersfield California, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2022 6:11 pm
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If you have a old bar laying around get a belt sander with a 120 grit belt and sand the edge of the bar flat to 1/2 inch wide flat part. I did these to a old bar to keep it rolling on the strings while I was playing 6 String. Worked well and when I used on the strings little did I know that I also made a Sitar bar.
_________________
78 Emmons PP,Great tone.82 Emmons SKH #56
Last edited by Billy McCombs on 30 Jun 2022 6:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 4:16 am
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| Billy I agree but the standard seems to be 1/4 wide. Not sure how much difference that makes. I have one and use it on occasion. |
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Mike Bacciarini
From:
Arizona
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 5:30 am
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I had one of my old Emmons bars milled down to 1/2” wide then polished. Here’s an example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJTPtaYtc6s
_________________
MCI Arlington S-10 3+5, George L E-66, BJS & Emmons bars, Fender Princeton 65W, Fender Satellite SFX, custom FX rack, 1983 Dobro 60D, SX-8 lap steel, Martin D16GT, Ibanez AS73, 1978 Rickenbacker 4000 custom. |
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Tom Bradshaw
From:
Walnut Creek, California, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 7:48 am Sitar Bars
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The Dunlop Company used to make sitar bars for me. They were identical to the #921 bars they still make and are shown on my website (www.songwriter.com/bradshaw/tone_bars.php). All the Dunlop Company did was mill a 1/2" flat edge to those bars. The bars were (and are) 11.5 ounces and 3 1/2" long, and 1" in diameter. They stopped making them since the milling of the flat edge took too much time and I didn't order enough of them to justify the extra milling cost.
So, if you chose to, you could obtain one of these bars and mill the flat spot yourself. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 9:19 am
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| Thanks for that info Tom! |
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Billy McCombs
From:
Bakersfield California, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 9:20 am
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This easy to do if you have a belt sander and a 120 grit belt. No special tools just keep your fingers from making contact with the sanding belt.
_________________
78 Emmons PP,Great tone.82 Emmons SKH #56 |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 2:47 pm Re: Sitar Bars
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| Tom Bradshaw wrote: |
The Dunlop Company used to make sitar bars for me. They were identical to the #921 bars they still make and are shown on my website (www.songwriter.com/bradshaw/tone_bars.php). All the Dunlop Company did was mill a 1/2" flat edge to those bars. The bars were (and are) 11.5 ounces and 3 1/2" long, and 1" in diameter. They stopped making them since the milling of the flat edge took too much time and I didn't order enough of them to justify the extra milling cost.
So, if you chose to, you could obtain one of these bars and mill the flat spot yourself. |
Did they not make them as a standard option? I have a Dunlop sitar bar somewhere that I bought from a shop in London years ago. Maybe they special ordered a batch from Dunlop too? |
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