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Topic: Show Us Your Bethel Steel Guitar |
Don Mogle
From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
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Posted 14 Oct 2023 7:24 pm |
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I would like to see pictures of some of the Bethel pedal steel guitars out there. This could be one you currently or previously owned. I would also like to see some close-ups of the undercarriage.
This might be a real short thread, but would still appreciate your cooperation if you own one.
I just watched a YouTube video of Mickey Gilley doing a show in Branson several years ago. The steel player played a Bethel and it sounded great.
https://youtu.be/cglJ4nhgS9k?si=RW35T4VqPdO-q_Vx
Thanks,
Don |
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Greg Cutshaw
From:
Corry, PA, USA
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Posted 14 Oct 2023 7:58 pm
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From one of my old SG Forums posts. Bethel had guitars on display at the ISG Convention one year when I was there.
I dropped in to visit Dick Miller at his machine shop a while back (I had called ahead of time). I knocked at the door and Jerry Fessenden answered! I was sure I was in the wrong place. Anyhow Dick let me play one his guitars for a few hours and showed me a few riffs. Dick, Jerry and Dick's wife were super friendly and Dick was going to build me a guitar out of some birdseye maple he had been saving for himself. Never met more accommodating people than these. I never did order a guitar from him. First Bethel I played was at St. Louis and it was great in all respects. Turns out the Bethel that I played at Dick's shop belonged to Jim Murphy and it was in to get a knee lever added. Jim called the Bethel a Sho-Bud on steroids!
From this thread:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=234365&sid=4786e9d0dafdea2e22b3885a734b8692
I believe Richard Nelson is playing a Bethel steel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xCd7OOq8LY
and here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD1fQ_CAfLQ
Last edited by Greg Cutshaw on 15 Oct 2023 1:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Don Mogle
From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
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Posted 15 Oct 2023 11:20 am Bethel
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| Thanks for posting Greg… |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 15 Oct 2023 4:39 pm
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| There's an episode of the Opry back in 2002 where the show was a tribute to Waylon Jennings, and Travis Tritt was one of the artists there, and his steel player at the time, Steve Sturm was playing a white Bethel D-10 with a blue apron. I think Steve told me it was one that Dick Miller had worked on. There were four steels onstage that night-Tommy White's blue Derby D-10, Fred Newell's GFI, Mike Daly's Sho-Bud, and Steve Sturm's Bethel D-10. The Bethel sounded awesome onstage with Travis's Country Club Band. Porter Wagoner hosted the show, and Steve's Bethel was heard a lot while Travis sang two songs recorded by Waylon, "Where Corn Don't Grow" and "I've Always Been Crazy". The Bethel got a few closeups on the show too! |
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Don Mogle
From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
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Posted 16 Oct 2023 5:49 pm
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Hey Brett,
Can you post the link here. I couldn’t find it.
Thanks,
Don |
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Dave Stagner
From:
Minnesota, USA
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Posted 18 Oct 2023 6:45 pm
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There’s an hour-long concert on YouTube with Big Jim Murphy playing a Bethel through a Randall amp, along with Redd Volkaert and a killer rhythm section. I think it’s my favorite pedal steel tone I’ve ever heard, even though it’s far afield from my own sound.
I don’t know how much is the Bethel, how much is the Randall amp, and how much is the genius at the wheel. Probably mostly that last part.
_________________
I don’t believe in pixie dust, but I believe in magic.
1967 ZB D-10
1990 OMI Dobro
Recording King lap steel with Certano benders |
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Don Mogle
From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
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Don Mogle
From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 28 Oct 2023 6:12 pm
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| Don Mogle wrote: |
Hey Brett,
Can you post the link here. I couldn’t find it.
Thanks,
Don |
Here's Steve Sturm's Bethel on "I've Always Been Crazy-he appears towards the end of the song;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xklhiBsRO58
and here's "Where Corn Don't Grow"-the steel plays the guitar solo heard on the version you hear on the radio:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9MI-G6RI9U |
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