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Topic: Early Pedal Steel Guitar. |
Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 2:22 am |
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Hi Guys
I know there has been much said and argued about the first real pedal guitar, not withstanding the cam action pedalled classical harp of the nineteenth century.
In the Excellent 'British Steelies magazine' edited by 'Uncle Roy Heap', there is an article on a Mr Bob Martin, a Scot from near Glasgow, who started playing lap steel in 1936.
He worked on essential war work and then in 1946 was approached by the Causley brothers (Bernie and Ken),whilst working a gig in Tunbridge Wells in Kent. He discovered they had built a pedal steel guitar in 1943. They agreed to build Bob a guitar with four pedals and in the picture below, Bob can be seen playing it. The year, 1946. It was a triple neck, triple eight guitar, which was part lap and part pedal steel. The top picture (1950), is a slightly later, single eight, pedal steel which he got in 1948.
Bob still plays for pleasure and plays a Fender with a Sho-Bud pick up, 3+4, and still tunes to E6.
A little bit of British (Scottish) steel guitar history.
Cheers
Barry |
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Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 2:34 am
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Hi Guys
The picture seems to be lost in the Ether.
I'll try again.
Barry |
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Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 2:38 am
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Yo ! Thar she blows.
Barry |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 3:32 am
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| Barry, not only a fine steel player, but his conditioning tablets are great , have used them for years, now have a lovely shiney coat and a wet nose.(this is a bit of Scottish humor, probably only understood by Brits).Keep on picking Bob you have done a fantastic job over the years. |
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Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 4:38 am
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I knew it, I knew it.
I wondered how long it would take for the dog reference to be alluded to.
Malcombe have you got nothing better to do up there than eat fried mars bars, lose to Manchester United, refer to dogging and catch small salmon 
Heh Heh
Barry |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 7:28 am
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| Barry,you seem to have forgotten you are up here on 25th, I do hope your passport is in order.Small salmon are Lord Thompson of Elgins province, by the size of my wasteline after my recent trip to Boston I think I will give up the fried Mars bars for a while.What football match ?, was someone playing, I didn't notice Beith juniors had a match this week.Border authorities have been warned of your impending incurrsion into Gods land.It is possible I may send the"boys" (Bill & Sandy) to pay you a visit.Och Aye... |
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Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 2:23 pm
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Malcolm
Excursion into Gods land ????
We are in Scotland not England !.
Have no fear we have a flight case full of brightly coloured beads and Tam O' Shanters to distribute amongst the natives, whilst keeping them amused with hilarious tales of redcoats and the clearances. And if that doesn't keep them amused we'll tell them it was an englishman who designed the kilt.  
Incidently our keyboard man is a Glaswegian and after many years training he can now say things like 'What ho! old fruit, pip pip, jolly good show, what, what, what ', without even rolling his rrrrs ?  .
Barry
P.S.
On a more level note. If you feel like coming to the show, let me know and I can leave a couple of tickets on the desk.
Cheers
Barry. |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 2:46 pm
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Bern Causley and his wife spent an afternoon at my place in the late 70's just prior to a Reece Anderson concert in Southampton. Bern was adamant that he built the first pedal steel guitar. I didn't feel like arguing with him as there have been many such claims from various quarters over the years - most undocumented. However, it is interesting to read your piece. Bernie must have passed on by now as he was not a youngster all those 30 years ago. A lovely guy.
_________________
Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E, |
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Larry Bressington
From:
Nebraska
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Posted 22 Oct 2008 3:32 pm
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Wait til they play Bristol rovers!
_________________
A.K.A Chappy. |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 23 Oct 2008 12:34 am
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I knew the town I was born in had to be famous for something more than rusty coloured water that
percolates up from the ground,but to be the birth
place of the pedal steel would be the ultimate !
All the best
Frank. Corfu
_________________
" The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you've finished "
ZBSD-10,ZB D-11/10, Franlin Tele,Epiphone customised Les Paul, 'Fender pro 185 amp. |
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Paul Frank Bloomfield
From:
Greece
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Posted 23 Oct 2008 1:32 am
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On thinking about it,would this first pedal steel
built by the Causely brothers be called a CB Custom ????
Frank. Corfu
_________________
" The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you've finished "
ZBSD-10,ZB D-11/10, Franlin Tele,Epiphone customised Les Paul, 'Fender pro 185 amp. |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 23 Oct 2008 11:50 pm
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| Barry, thanks for offer of tickets,might be working, but will let you know if I can make it.By the the way Mr Lindsay is loaded, add a couple of hundred onto the Carter , he will never notice. |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 2:58 am
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So now you're saying it wasn't an American invention? 
I love to listen in to you Brits talk; so many references I don't get, I have to use my imagination.
You know, we McDonalds were the 'Lords of the Isles of Skye.'
And Bobby Burns is still the king.
_________________
Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 3:18 am
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While our Brittish friends across the ocean have given us many inventions, I don't think they have any claims in this area. It's pretty well documented that Jay Harlin made what was probably the first pedal steel in the mid '30s. Gibson brought out their own pedal steel in the late '30s, and subsequently had to stop producing it because they had (either accidentally or intentionally) copied Jay's changer design.
It's also pretty well documented that an acoustic steel guitar with knee levers was made even before that, around 1932. |
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Larry Bressington
From:
Nebraska
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 8:44 am
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It's amazing how many players claim they were the first to have a 3rd pedal, i have heard everything from lloyd green to curly chalker, ralph mooney etc etc.
I think the person who popularizes it gets most of the glory.
The light bulb was invented and exsperimented in Britain and france to be the first light bulbs, but Dident Edison get the recognition away from the history books, as inventing the lightbulb.
Dident Peugeot, have the first running car, or some frenchman it was i beleive,[ but thats always up for debate] but ole henry made the car famous, nobody will ever know who put a pedal for the first time on a guitar, it could have been in Thailand for all we know.
I was always told, that somebody in Tennesee used a throttle cable off a ford truck and that was the first for the PEDAL STEEL guitar.
However, being that history saye's that the slide guitar goes back as far as Cyprus, and was brought to the South pacific by immigrants, who knows what happened.I have heard it was Africa.
Those debates are endless, and we really dont have the true facts, but i think Barry was just making a comment about the possibilities of a pedal being added earlier than we may think, It wasent a Competition statement, and we should stay away from remarks such as ' you britts' or 'you yanks' because its a global forum and we are all brothers here!
As far as i am concerned, Sho-bud got the patent, so thats a far as i go back.
_________________
A.K.A Chappy. |
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Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 9:45 am
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Hi Guys
Larry is correct.
I wasn't saying it was the first pedal steel. All I was saying was that it was an early pedal steel and posted for no other reason than, I thought, an item of interest relating to the instrument that we all love.
It just adds to the knowledge and interest, and puts a bit of flesh on the bones of its development.
If anyone in England has any more information, particularly regarding the actual mechanism, maybe it might show a variation on the development of the American instrument.
Cheers
Barry |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 4:04 pm
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| Larry Bressington wrote: |
| It's amazing how many players claim they were the first to have a 3rd pedal, i have heard everything from lloyd green to curly chalker, ralph mooney etc etc.... |
I find those comments strange. You see, Gibson had 6 pedals on their Electraharp in the late '30s. That's FACT. I can prove it, and anyone who does a little research (instead of listening to stories and rumors) can verify it. That was about the time Lloyd was born, about the time Curly started school, and ol' Moon would have been less that 10 years old.
Geeze! I'm just trying to help by seeing that we have good info here on the Steel Guitar Forum, and I get jumped, slammed, and misquoted. I don't appreciate that, Larry.
I'm not pulling these dates out of my bum to impress anyone. I'm just trying to see that reliable information is found on the Forum. I do a lot of research to make sure I'm correct. I don't get brownie points from anyone, and I sure as heck don't get paid.
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| ...nobody will ever know who put a pedal for the first time on a guitar, it could have been in Thailand for all we know. |
I agree. Find me something factual about pedal steel being invented in Thailand and I'll correct my statements.
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| ...we really dont have the true facts... |
We? Who is we??? It's obvious by your statement...
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| As far as i am concerned, Sho-bud got the patent, so thats a far as i go back. |
...that you don't care very much about the history of pedal steel. The Harlin Multi-Kord, the Gibson Electra-Harp, the Bigsby, and even the Wright Custom were all in production before the Sho~Bud was even thought of!!!
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| ...but i think Barry was just making a comment about the possibilities of a pedal being added earlier than we may think, It wasent a Competition statement, and we should stay away from remarks such as ' you britts' or 'you yanks' because its a global forum and we are all brothers here! |
Well, my post wasn't made to correct or compete with Barry, but only to interject some facts when another poster thought that the thread was saying the pedal steel was developed in England. I have no problem whatever with anything Barry posted.
And by the way, HINSON is an English name.
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 5:31 pm
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| Donny, you keep up the "Due Diligence" it's a pity a few more don't appreciate the cumulative knowledge here and research via the search function before interjecting with such uninformed statements as Mr Larry Bressington did. |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Oct 2008 5:44 pm Re: Early Pedal Steel Guitar.
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| Barry Gaskell wrote: |
Bob still plays for pleasure and plays a Fender with a Sho-Bud pick up, 3+4, and still tunes to E6.
A little bit of British (Scottish) steel guitar history.
Cheers
Barry |
I set it up for him Barry, it's one of the Fenders made by Sho-Bud. A pull release mechanism that's simply hell to get right.
_________________
Steelies do it without fretting
CLICK THIS to view my tone bars and buy——> |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 25 Oct 2008 12:58 pm
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| Donny, I think guys were referring to the function of the third pedal as we use it today. Not just the presence of a third (or more) pedal. |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 26 Oct 2008 2:36 am
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Aren't some people tetchy??
Barry - this is a good post that deserves more participation from those who can offer more development of your thread. Bernie Causley was very proud of his pioneering of pedal steel guitar in the UK, particularly as he didn't have anything to model it on at the time. Bern was primarily a player in the Hawaiian style of playing, and people like John Marsden would be able to shed more light on him and perhaps his early pedal steel.
Ken
_________________
Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E, |
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Danny James
From:
Summerfield Florida USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2008 3:24 am
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Donny Hinson is correct about Jay Harlin and the Multi-Kord. Jay held the first patent on a pedal steel guitar.
There was in fact a dispute with Gibson over patent infringements. Alvino Rey was the one who designed the Electro Harp for Gibson with a changer similar to Jay Harlin's Multi-Kord but never patented it.
I still have a cast aluminum 4 pedal Multi-Kord my father bought for me in 1948 when I was I was 10 yrs. old. There was an earlier model marketed than that and I have a picture of Jay Harlin who was a personal friend playing it.
Later they went to all wood bodied Multi-Kords. I have four Multi-Kords and three have wood bodies. I still play a 6 string 6 pedal M.K.
Jay Harlin's last personal Multi-Kord had 15 pedals on it and I also have pictures of him playing it.
They were listed as Hawaiian Pedal Steel guitars in their advertisements.
I have always thought Jay Harlin should have been inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of fame. |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 26 Oct 2008 6:14 am
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| Quote: |
| particularly as he didn't have anything to model it on at the time |
Except of course for Roland Peachey's one..that used A combination of palm levers and pedals, built in 1939 by Abbott Guitars, utilising Rickenbacher Horseshoe pick-ups (Brought in by Henri Selmer). . The aforementioned John Marsden has one of the necks from that particular guitar..VERY long scale 30", Roland had to use special strings, supplied by Clifford Essex (BMG) 20 Earlham St. London W1. (As it was in those days) |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 26 Oct 2008 11:50 am
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| basilh wrote: |
| Quote: |
| particularly as he didn't have anything to model it on at the time |
Except of course for Roland Peachey's one..that used A combination of palm levers and pedals, built in 1939 by Abbott Guitars, utilising Rickenbacher Horseshoe pick-ups (Brought in by Henri Selmer). . The aforementioned John Marsden has one of the necks from that particular guitar..VERY long scale 30", Roland had to use special strings, supplied by Clifford Essex (BMG) 20 Earlham St. London W1. (As it was in those days) |
Bern Causley told me that he'd never seen a pedal steel before he built his, but Roland Peachey was a fairly renowned player in the UK around that time. My mentor as a teenager - Kealoha Life - felt that Peachey was a phenomenal player and technician. I have seen pictures of that long scale guitar. What a beast.
_________________
Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E, |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 26 Oct 2008 11:59 am
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Ken, I didn't know you knew Kealoha, he was also a very good friend of mine, and the Moe Family.
Do you know Dorina Sugondo?
She's a subscriber and contributor to our magazine. |
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