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Topic: Steel Guitarist With Cerebral Palsy & Polymer Bars |
Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 13 Jun 2024 9:49 pm |
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| I have cerebral palsy in my left hand, and am now at twenty-four years as a steel guitarist. When I started playing the pedal steel guitar at the age of eighteen, I was using a Dunlop steel guitar bar and I loved using it, but due to the way my left hand doesn't work, the bar would slide around on the steel, not allowing my left hand to have full bar control, but I didn't get discouraged. A few years later in '03, I went to Scotty's International Steel Guitar Convention, where I met Billy Phelps at the Carter Steel Guitar booth, where I'd gotten a bar with grooves on it-it was my main bar from '03 to '17, and in 2021, I was sitting in my house thinking about how I wanted to get back to steel, in addition to playing the dobro, so in 2023, I went to the Emmons Guitar Company in Sevierville, Tennessee, and tried out two different steel bars on a 1994 Emmons, but then a man named Kaleb said, "Try out this white bar, and at the time I had no clue about polymer bars, so, sitting at the Emmons, I noticed the white bar was staying on the strings. I really liked the bar and wondered what kind it was, and they said it was an Ezzee bar, with a polymer coating, and I wanted one like it since I was wanting to start playing steel again, and I'm proud to say I now have an Ezzee bar just like the one I used at Emmons, and it's my main bar for pedal steel-it's the Sneaky Pete type bar and it feels awesome while playing steel! Just recently, I used the bar to play an instrumental version of John Conlee's 1978 song "Rose Colored Glasses" and quite a few of my favorite 90s country hits! It's my best pedal steel bar and favorite bar to use on steel! |
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Garrett Foster
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 15 Jun 2024 5:12 am
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| I also have cerebral palsy impacting my left side, but it’s incredibly mild (I had a brace for about 8 years, but I could always walk). I’ve always been curious how the instrument could be made more accessible to people less fortunate than me, mobility-wise. Do you have any videos of you playing you’d be comfortable sharing? |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 15 Jun 2024 8:39 am
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| Garrett Foster wrote: |
| I also have cerebral palsy impacting my left side, but it’s incredibly mild (I had a brace for about 8 years, but I could always walk). I’ve always been curious how the instrument could be made more accessible to people less fortunate than me, mobility-wise. Do you have any videos of you playing you’d be comfortable sharing? |
Yes, I have several on YouTube, just look up Brett Day steel guitar. My cerebral palsy affects my left hand-that's why I now use a polymer bar, and I'm now having to wear an ankle brace because without it, I can't be in a standing position for a long time. I also sing too, in addition to playing dobro. My pedal steel is a Jackson Blackjack Custom built in 2010. |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2024 11:04 am
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| Brett, I don't have your condition but I developed arthritis in my hands mostly at the base of my thumbs. I bought a Zirconium bar long ago and it quickly became my favorite. In more recent years I have the Ezzee slide and a Clinesmith poly bars which are similar to my Zirc bar. These along with the Hillman Powder coated bars are warmer to the touch and easier to grip. I seldom use the stainless bars now. |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 16 Jun 2024 5:10 pm
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| Larry Dering wrote: |
| Brett, I don't have your condition but I developed arthritis in my hands mostly at the base of my thumbs. I bought a Zirconium bar long ago and it quickly became my favorite. In more recent years I have the Ezzee slide and a Clinesmith poly bars which are similar to my Zirc bar. These along with the Hillman Powder coated bars are warmer to the touch and easier to grip. I seldom use the stainless bars now. |
Larry, with my cerebral palsy it means my left hand is partially paralyzed, and I couldn't hold and grip a stainless steel bar very well, so in 2023, I went to Emmons Guitar Company and had to try out several bars while playing a 1994 Emmons, but after trying one or two stainless steel bars, I was introduced to the polymer bar, which was an Ezzee Slide bar at Emmons, and I quickly decided it's the one that works best for me!
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 17 Jun 2024 4:55 pm
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| Brett, I understand your condition, I was adding to the virtues of the poly and Zirc bars. I'm glad it works for you as well. |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 3 Jul 2024 4:05 pm
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Brett, you might want to check out my friend Mike Nagoda if you haven’t already. He does some amazing work with multiple slides on non pedal lap steel.
May not be obvious from the video but he also has cerebral palsy.
https://youtu.be/fYB5tvFOr6Q
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G – G B D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D (re-entrant)
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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