Steel Players.. New toys at the old school..

Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

You know, I was thinking about steel guitarists.. We are up to our receding hairlines in tradition... Our styles for the most part were perfected by others 40- 50 years ago.. no flames ,I KNOW there are exceptions.. I AM generalizing... Many of us are still "studying at the feet" of long ago masters... after all whom among us wouldn't want Buddy,Curly or Lloyds chops from 1965... I would swap mine for those ANY day...

Many of us [not all, but most I would wager]are playing the same licks we played decades ago also... Many of the same tunes too... I often wonder why then, do steel players as a group, ALWAYS run and gear up with the latest and greatest???.. Guitarists don't seem to as much.. They find gear they like and settle in, and replace when needed... Why do steel players RUN for the newest hi tech gear and dodads, when great tone has always been a part of the game for steel players, using time honored gear... I just wonder about what makes us tick..

Does a new Millennium with 2 NV 112's and a Hilton REALLY sound better than a PP or ProII .with a JBL equipped Twin or Vibrosonic with a Goodrich pot pedal with 500 K AB...???

I find it kind of amusing that a bunch of crusty old guys that do SO many things the way we did them in 1970, want to do them on gear that features the latest in space age technology,,,, Just an observation from a way too overactive mind with NOT enough to do.... bob

[This message was edited by Bob Carlucci on 01 July 2006 at 10:29 AM.]

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

Bob, your description certainly seems to be true of many of us. I have personally taken advantage of my share of the technology available, but I acknowledge that it doesn't make me play any better, but does seem to make what I do play sound a little better.

However, in mitigation of the above, I admit that during my 60 years of playing a steel guitar, I have only owned a total of seven (7)steel guitars....a Sears, a National, a Fender Custom, two Fender 1000's, a Sho-Bud Super Pro, and my current guitar, a D-10 Carter. My guitars are analogical to my marriage....when I have one that works, there is no need to change it.

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www.genejones.com

Charles Davidson · From: Phenix City Alabama, USA

Once heard the Big E say,every time a new do-dad came out,he could't wait to try it.Toys are great when they are used RIGHT.

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

When I started playing modern instruments 10 years ago, it completely changed the way I play. I was reinvigorated and had a whole new sense of what is possible.

Henry Nagle · From: Santa Rosa, California

New things can be fun and inspiring. Some people probably feel that new gear is more reliable. They're probably right. I personally prefer the old and simple stuff.
Being interested in and experimenting with gear and tone is not a bad thing (not that you were implying that, Bob). As long as the kids have shoes, I think it's great. Even if digital reverb does sound horrible

Russ Tkac · Posted 1 Jul 2006 9:55 am

Check out how many old golfers are using new clubs!

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Marlin Smoot · From: Kansas

I think new equipment keeps thigs interesting to a point.

Actually, I can't wait to be able to afford Brads new rack mount Rev. That with a great rack mount delay/reverb unit should have me set for a while on outboard gear.

However, I keep looking for an updated modern steel from my 74 D-10 Emmons (which I'll keep forever). I'm leaning towards a Zum maybe a Carter... Maybe next year...maybe a SD-10 with 5 & 6...

Steve Spitz · From: New Orleans, LA, USA

Funny you should ask. I play a Millenium through a NV112 with a Hilton. I also have a Pro ll and a Vibrosonic. Both rigs are a lot of fun. Obviously, I`d rather haul the new lighter rig, but the major advantage is the mechanics of the new rig. To me , a steel is a machine. Newer and high tech has some real world advantages. I know I play better with the new rig. The Sho-Bud and Fender ? It`s not for sale.

Rick Garrett · From: Tyler, Texas

I love getting new gear. I've tried several different amps in the last few months and just yesterday ended up with the best sounding amp I've owned yet. A Fender Steel King. New stuff keeps my interest up as I'm learning to play.

Rick

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Bob, some players want a guitar that sounds good (or rather, what they think sounds good). Some want one that some famous players uses. If Buddy or Lloyd woud endorse a Deefenbaker or Fasbinder, there'd be players lining up to buy one. Some want one that's really good looking. To them, wood is the only thing they'll consider...none of that mica, aluminum or plastic stuff! Lastly, some want one that's reliable and easy to work on, or just cheap! Everybody's looking for something, but no single maker has it all together yet.

There's good and bad in every steel made, you just have to find one that suits you. For some people, though, this is quite a challenge, because they buy what some one else plays or recommends, or sounds good on. They don't really know what they want, so the odds of them finding "Mr. Right" are slim. No steel out there today will keep you from becoming a great player. Conversely, no steel out there today will make you a great player. I've seen too many players with the best of everything who fell 'way short, and I've seen guys play what I consider junk, and flat amaze me. Straight guitar players and steel players are the only musicians out there that get "g.a.s." so bad.

It's always easiest to blame the gear when we don't sound good. Can't get a good sound? Just remember...that's you talking, and not your gear.

The weakest link, and the biggest problem (most always), is between the seat and the steel.

Frank Parish · From: Nashville,Tn. USA

That's very well said Donny, couldn't agree more. I've got enough gadgets to keep me busy for years if I wanted to experiment with everything they'll do. It's just endless. After playing now for about 23 or 4 years I'm using just one old 75 Session 400, a Boss DD-5 delay and a late model Carter D-10. I prefer Digital delay and the spring reverb is just fine. I'm not using too much of either. Just enough to thicken it up a notch so I can concentrate on tone. Last night I used a NV-112 and that's a truly amazing little amp. It handled everything and the C6 too and in a room big enough for for several hundred people. No more racks and too many effects for the standard country gigs. I do take a Fender Vibrasonic out once in a while just because tubes sounds so good and I did get this old Twin the other day. Not new stuff, just very cool old stuff that still sounds great. You can take that Vibrasonic or the Twin and a guitar and nothing else and get the job done unless you're playing r/r. I'm talking country here.

[This message was edited by Frank Parish on 02 July 2006 at 10:49 AM.]

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

The quality of craftsmans work
is a direct extention of
the quality of his tools.

When newer and better tools are made
it is prudent to try, them out,
and oftimes upgrade to them.

I don't play anything like I did in 1970.
My improved tools have allowed for that.

In addition, with steels,
a new steel can be set up
for different uses.
Same as an ES335 isn't
the right tool where
a tele is at home.

Nigel Mullen · From: Cassilis, New Brunswick, Canada

A Fender steel king made me a better player for sure

Joe Smith · From: Charlotte, NC, USA

Bob, I have gone full circle from a rack full of effects and two speaker cabinets to one amp, a Hilton pedal and and my steel. I do like my Carter becouse it is much lighter and easier for me to carry than some of the older steels. I still sometimes use my Fender Vibrosonic amp in large rooms but mostly I use a Peavey NV112. I can remember when I was young and strong, I could carry my Fender Twin with one arm and my Sho-bud Permanent with the other.
Now I use a hand truck to move everything. Hey, I'm still kicking just not kicking as high

Damir Besic · From: Nashville,TN.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I think 6-string guitarists are, as a rule, even more fickle about equipment than steel guitarists. The main difference is that many are much more fixated on vintage or vintage-style instruments, and things that will give them the "old mojo" vibe. This is an entire large industry now, and I believe the term G.A.S. was first coined to describe such guitar players (in Guitar Player mag in about 1990). I know lots of guitar players with anything from 10-50 guitars and loads of amps. Most of us guitar players are extremely suspicious of "new and improved" or "high-tech" guitar items - it goes all the way back to when CBS started "improving" on the great designs of Leo Fender, and we react with frustration when engineering and marketing considerations trump musical ones. We have reacted by hording the things we love before they disappear into the vaults of yuppie collectors and "investors".

Pedal steel guitars, on the other hand, are as much "mechanism" as "instrument" - I think that's why new technology is more relevant. Unlike guitars, which were for the most part perfected decades ago (IMO), pedal steels have evolved in response to the practical needs of working steel guitar players. I think both the older and newer designs I've played sound good, but the new mechanisms play easier, and the weight is a huge practical consideration. I love my old Sho Bud through a Dual Showman Reverb amp, but a lightweight Carter or Zum through a NV 112 sound fine also - I just played my first NV 112, and Bobbe Seymour is shipping me mine this week.

All my opinion, of course.

Damir Besic · From: Nashville,TN.

Steve Spitz · From: New Orleans, LA, USA

What Dave sez:The new mechanisms play easier. We play machines. I dig the vintage vibe as much as anyone, but I take the new tech axe on the gig. Wouldn`t you say Leo Fender was more a machineist than a luthier ? As such , which axe would he take to the gig? The old Shobud, or the new Millenium ?

Kyle Everson · From: Nashville, Tennessee

I'll take the old Sho-Bud, cause that's all I got

. If I could afford a new guitar, I would probably have one or five. I tried an overdrive to boost response, but I personally just like steel -> volume pedal -> amp.

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Kyle Everson
Sho-Bud Pro-II
Fender Twin Reverb
Goodrich 120

Skip Keane · From: Rhode Island, USA

Hi
Well I'm from the old school but I'm not that old. I own all vintage equipment and my wife is still telling me that I don't need another amp or something, she right. I believe that things always come back to the best sound/equipment; the sound of vintage reverb instead of transitor reverb. It like digital radio was the craze and everyone had to have it but when you get right down with it,it was not as good as the anolog system that allows the owner to fine tune in stations. Cd's are not as good as Records just because they are the new thing. Watch the best steel player and you'll see that they use very little equipment other than an amp and the steel. It's the sound they can produce that makes them who they are. I try to play clean as possible with a little reverb and my steel, and every once in a while I just have that sound too.
trying in Rhode Island
Skip

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I come from the guitar world, and can relate to the G.A.S. comments. Most of my guitars are old, or have an old-guitar vibe (even my Trussart Steel DeVille/Les Paul looks like it's 50 years old. Same with amps - all tube except one. Most of my effects are new, but are made to emulate older types.

But I'm not averse to newer equipment. I bought a Variax modeling guitar that's amazing, and a Fender GDec MIDI practice amp that I think everyone should own!

My steels are old Fenders, but someday I plan to get a more modern one primarily to go through educational material with.

The one thing I've never done is scramble and change instruments any time some player does. My instruments are mostly weird, and the primary ones are semi-clones of particular guitars - but that's because it just happens to work for me. Heck, I used to play Yes stuff on a Clarence White style bender Tele...never shopped for an ES 175 just because Steve Howe played one.

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

Luddite here. Fender 1000 > Fender V/T pedal > Fender Twin. I have tried modern steels and I have no desire to change.

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

what new gadgets?

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