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Post new topic The future of pedal steel today !
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Author Topic:  The future of pedal steel today !
Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 24 Mar 2007 7:26 pm    
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Check out John Neff's playing on these killer instrumental tracks:

http://www.myspace.com/johnneff

New tracks 7 and 6 with Japancakes are just perfect.

He is playing his new Rains S10 with a pickup I made for him.

John is a super busy player doing some great stuff with the steel.

Really great work John !
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Bob


Last edited by Bob Hoffnar on 25 Mar 2007 6:31 am; edited 1 time in total
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 6:13 am    
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I love this stuff. Country and Eastern at its best.
I'll have to get me some Japancakes--they taste good--maybe 'Waking Hours'?
Neff makes me want to work on my volume pedal technique.
Thanks, Bob.

(you may have an extra space in your link: try
http://www.myspace.com/johnneff )

Do you wind tapped pickups, like single coil/humbucker combo? His sound is great.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 6:40 am    
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Charlie,
Thanks for noticing the link. I fixed it this morning. The pickups are humbuckers. I haven't added a coil tap yet. Thats down the road a little bit.
I have been noticing more and more steel players showing up on some great new instrumental music these days.

Check out Gerald Menke with Downriver on "Ode" and "So Bad"

http://www.myspace.com/geraldmenke
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Drew Howard


From:
48854
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 6:42 am    
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Very cool, Bob. Thanks for turning us on to Mr. Neff.
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 7:17 am    
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Very cool - my kind of stuff!

Bob, the pickup sounds tremendous - really fat and nicely articulated. To me it has almost a Fender vibe, but with more...ahem...nether parts.

Jim
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional
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Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 10:03 am    
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The guitar sounds wonderful, and his playing is simple,tasteful and elegant.. Very nice stuff..
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John Neff

 

From:
Athens, GA
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 7:05 pm    
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Thanks! Embarassed The Emoticon is just blushing - don't feel sorry for it.

As Bob said, that's my new Rain's with his Tonealigner.
I think for both of those tunes, I ran it stereo. One side through a Line-6 DL4 to an AC-30, the other straight into an Ampeg V-4, to either a BW-15" or a Utah-12".

I'm pretty lucky, as a steel player, to have Japancakes.
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David Doggett


From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 7:33 pm    
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Nice stuff from John and Gerald. Smile
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Jon Hyde


From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2007 9:55 pm    
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Bob, thanks for this post. I'm a fan of Japancakes - I once heard them on the radio here in Seattle and I sat in my parking spot listening to the songs that followed just so I could hear the back announcement to find out what it was. I really like the "sleepy strange" CD - I'll be happy to have more.
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Larry Weaver

 

From:
Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 26 Mar 2007 4:08 am    
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Great stuff John! Thanks for the heads-up Bob.

-LarryW
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Gerald Menke

 

From:
Stormville NY, USA
Post  Posted 26 Mar 2007 2:00 pm    
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Thanks for the shout out Bob, I was wondering why my spin count was higher than normal on MySpace today.

John is up to something really cool, kind of reminds me of your work a bit. Interesting how he uses very little, or no vibrato that I could hear. Very pretty tone.

Gerald
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 26 Mar 2007 3:11 pm    
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Great stuff, Gerald. I enjoy the tone of all the samples linked here. I'm inspired.

Without fear of retribution on this topic--there's quite a bit of discussion on the future or lack of one concerning steel guitar. I don't see the problem with players like these on the forum taking it new directions.
You can't take the country out of steel, and that's why I like it. One needn't fear its demise when there's no limit on how it can be applied.
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Klaus Caprani


From:
Copenhagen, Denmark
Post  Posted 26 Mar 2007 11:26 pm     I befriended John on MySpace....
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.....and I must say I think his tone, in particular, is what really got me. That's really sweet stuff to my ears Very Happy
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Klaus Caprani

MCI RangeXpander S-10 3x4
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Frederic Mabrut


From:
Olloix, France
Post  Posted 27 Mar 2007 9:07 am    
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Great music and tone!
Tonaligners seem very good pickups, am I wrong?
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 27 Mar 2007 6:04 pm    
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Here is some instrumental stuff I did a while ago:

http://www.myspace.com/bobhoffnar
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Bob
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 28 Mar 2007 5:46 am    
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I love 'canto primo' and the cello duet. The latter is mesmerizing.

The future of pedal steel: I see it as one that no longer separates ambient music from other song forms.
The ambient quality of steel, like its inherent 'countryness', is a given and requires no genre of its own.

And there is a Tonealigner in my future, I think.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 29 Mar 2007 9:19 am    
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Here is another steel player that is doing quite well outside of the standard steel guitar world:

http://www.jonrauhouse.com/site/
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Bob
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Jon Hyde


From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
Post  Posted 29 Mar 2007 9:32 pm    
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Again, I couldn't agree more. Jon is a real cool player. I've been enjoying a solo CD of his a lot - I got it at his show here is Seattle some months back. He had picked a bunch of great local players and had some folks he brought with him. It was a real nice night of (mostly) instrumental music.
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2007 3:52 am    
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Thanks, Bob.
Rodeo and Air Show knock me out--those old standards, especially the very gritty 'Perry Mason Theme.' Where does he get those lovely vocalists like Neko Case?
I like everything about his presentation.

Keep it up. There might be a future in this thread.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 30 Mar 2007 7:55 am    
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Here is another band that is doing very well playing steel based instrumentals for the most part.
http://www.friendsofdeanmartinez.com/
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Bob
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John Lockney

 

From:
New Market, Maryland, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jul 2007 2:43 pm    
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The Japancakes are great. I was excited to see John Neff is touring with the Driveby Truckers!!

There is a video clip with Neff on the DBT site:
http://www.drivebytruckers.com/media.html

I've downloaded some recent DBT shows and they are doing a lot more acoustic sit-down music and you can really hear the steel guitar, which is nice.
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Joe Savage

 

From:
St. Paul, MN
Post  Posted 18 Jul 2007 6:29 am     Future or Pasture
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One of my favorite little sayings is "If I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture."
Try some of these at:

www.myspace.com/jrsavage

Muy Bien.

P.S. There is a Tonealigner PU on one of these tunes!
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Joe Savage
www.savagejoe.com
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