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Mark Durante


From:
St. Pete Beach FL
Post  Posted 19 Nov 2006 7:49 pm    
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Who can come up with the first triple neck steel made?
Was it Les Anderson's Rickenbacker or did National or others make one earlier?

[This message was edited by Mark Durante on 19 November 2006 at 08:15 PM.]

[This message was edited by Mark Durante on 19 November 2006 at 08:16 PM.]

[This message was edited by Mark Durante on 19 November 2006 at 08:17 PM.]

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Mark Durante


From:
St. Pete Beach FL
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 5:50 pm    
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Wow, nobody knows? I think this is the only topic Jim Sliff hasn't disagreed with yet.
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Ron Victoria

 

From:
New Jersey, USA
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 5:54 pm    
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I don't have the answer but I bet Rick Alexander has it!!!!

Ron
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Alan Brookes


From:
Brummy living in Southern California
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 5:54 pm    
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The other corollary is who has the most necks ? I once saw a 5-neck steel. Has anyone seen any more?

Maybe I should build a 20 neck steel and get it into the Guiness Book of Records.....
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Ray Montee


From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 7:42 pm    
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I always thought, perhaps mistakenly, that it was Leo Fender in the early, early 1950's.
Or was it Paul Bigsby?

Great guitars!
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chas smith R.I.P.


From:
Encino, CA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 10:18 pm    
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I know there were very early 2 neck Rickenbachers, but I'll bet the 1st triple was Joaquin's T-8 Bigsby.
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 10:36 pm    
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Bigsby is the earliest T-8 (1947) listed in the vintage guitar books (George Gruhn & Vintage Guitar Magazine). But I wouldn't be surprised if another manufacturer made a one-off T-8 earlier than 1947. What year was Les Anderson's guitar made? I don't know much about Les, but I read that he started gigging with Spade Cooley in 1948-49, and later played with Bob Wills?

The Fender Custom T-8 made it's first appearance in 1949. National T-8: 1953.

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My Site - Instruction

[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 20 November 2006 at 11:21 PM.]

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Paul Warnik

 

From:
Illinois,USA
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2006 11:48 pm    
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I believe that I have a copy of a pre-WWII National catalog showing a triple neck version of "The Console" in black bakelite
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Mark Durante


From:
St. Pete Beach FL
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2006 6:06 pm    
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Paul, That's what I thought. Gruhn's book has the Console between 1939 and 1942. They had angled headstocks, although he only lists double necks in my edition.Tom Bradshaw's Steel Guitarist number five(Ralph Mooney cover), on page39 shows a Michael Lee Allan photo of a NewYorker style triple that looks Pre-War.
Les Anderson's Rickenbacker was probably 1944.
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Marty Smith

 

From:
California
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2006 6:22 pm    
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I think I seen a Epiphone tripple about a 39 or so?
Marty
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Rick Alexander


From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 8:13 am    
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Quote:
The other corollary is who has the most necks ? I once saw a 5-neck steel. Has anyone seen any more?


5 Neck Steels

8 Neck Stringmaster
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Les Anderson


From:
The Great White North
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 10:28 am    
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Ok, now for the inevitable question about multiple neck steel guitars. Why?

I can see two or, at the very most three necks or tunings for some rare occasions. In reality however, how many necks or tunings does one use or even need during a gig or a session?

Five and eight necks? How in blazes can you reach anything beyond the fourth neck? How do you keep the cuffs or buttons of your jacket or shirt from dragging on the lower neck strings while reaching out or beyond that fourth level. You would need to be an orangutan to reach that seventh and eighth neck

I hate to spoil the fun but, is there any viable reason for these multiple, multiple neck guitars?


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(I am not right all of the time but I sure like to think I am!)

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basilh


From:
United Kingdom
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 3:25 pm    
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Les.
'Tis is only my opinion, but in general to be comprehensive and "All Round"
Not in any specific order :-

Neck 1. major tuning with a root as the top note. (usually E6 or E13)

Neck 2. Major tuning with the third as the top note. (Usually C6)

Neck 3. Major tuning with the fifth as the top note. (Usually A6)


Variations of these tunings would be employed for special numbers i.e. A6 retuned to B11 for 'Sand' et al.

C6 retuned to D9 for ?
and E13 retuned to F#9 again for ?

To be 'Comprehensive' the Pro player would benefit from 3 necks and be somewhat limited with less.
Notwithstanding of course the stylists whose trademark is the SPECIFIC tuning.

As for catching the strings with cuffs etc. Short Sleeves !!

As I said, if you want to cover most styles and emulate most of the sounds of console steel that have become definitive, three necks. EOS.


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Les Anderson


From:
The Great White North
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 4:00 pm    
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basilh; I agree with you heartedly. Three necks on an 8 string should cove most tunings for even a pro when doing a set or a gig.

Truthfully, I have not had a need for that third neck as of yet.

The 4th, 5th, 6th necks and so on? I'd buy a harp and use a very long bar.

------------------
(I am not right all of the time but I sure like to think I am!)

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chas smith R.I.P.


From:
Encino, CA, USA
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 5:48 pm    
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I played a non-pedal T-10 for a number of years with a western swing band. I had E13 on the front neck, for the "big" dominant chords.

C6 (with G on the top) in the middle, which is the neck I was most comfortable on and I could get the 3-note dominants, or diminished, with a bar slant easily, but they weren't the big ones that I could get on E13.

The bottom neck was A6 with a G# on top, which made for some really nice chords. Also the beauty of A6 was when we did songs in C or B or Bb. I could get the root chords on frets 3, 2 or 1. To me, they always sounded better than the 12th, 11th or 10th frets.
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Mark Durante


From:
St. Pete Beach FL
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 6:57 pm    
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Rick, How's it going. Those five necks look to be put together triple and double necks. I'd be interested to see pictures of any all original brand name five necks, if any exist.
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Bryan Bradfield


From:
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 7:10 pm    
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The original question pertained to dates of triple neck appearances. This came up once before in the following thread - http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum10/HTML/201813.html
In this thread, I stated "Les Anderson was with Bob Wills from 1942 until 1946. Then, in 1946, he had his own band, Les 'Carrot Top' Anderson & the Melody Wranglers. Photos from both bands show him playing the same guitar as in the video.
In the Western Swing Newsletter #16 of January 1991, Les indicated that he recalled playing a triple neck Rickenbacker during that time period."
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Les Anderson


From:
The Great White North
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 7:19 pm    
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quote:

Rick, How's it going. Those five necks look to be put together triple and double necks. I'd be interested to see pictures of any all original brand name five necks, if any exist.



You noticed a little shinannigans as well did you Mark. He wouldn't bite the hook!
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Rick Alexander


From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2006 9:33 pm    
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Dang, nothing gets past you guys . .

So, 1942?
What year did National make its first triple neck?
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