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Topic: Tone bar recommendations for playing after a stroke |
richard burton
From:
Britain
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Posted 30 Dec 2023 7:54 am |
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I had a stroke about a month ago, and initially I completely lost the use of my left arm and left hand.
However I am slowly recovering some movement of my arm and hand(not enough to hold my regular tone bar though), and I was wondering if there are any tonebars on the market suitable for someone with limited hand dexterity |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 30 Dec 2023 10:42 am
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I have cerebral palsy in my left hand, and I use a polymer bar. Basil Henriques makes a great polymer bar in England called the Ezzee slide and it's a great bar!
Last edited by Brett Day on 14 Mar 2024 9:05 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Bobby D. Jones
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2023 6:02 pm
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Prayers for a quick recovery from your stroke.
If you have a bar with a hole in the back end. May want to insert a piece of wood into the hole, Add a strip of flat metal, With a screw. Bend it over and along the side of the bar. Then add a ring of leather or metal to slide on a finger. Or a piece of metal or wood that could fitted between 2 of your fingers to allow you good control of the bar.
Good luck in a solution and Happy Steelin. |
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Bob Shilling
From:
Berkeley, CA, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 12:13 pm
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I have tremors and coordination problems due to Parkinson's. On good days I still plug away with a regular tone bar, but on less good days I find Shubb's Robert Randolf, RR2 works well. You grip it like a Stevens bar, and it is long(3.25") and has enough mass (6.8 oz.). I would like it better if it had a bullet nose since the square nose sometimes catches when I slide it towards the smaller strings - not so much when I slide it towrds the bigger strings.
I may look into Brett's suggestion of a polymer bar. I understand they don't slip out of your hand like a steel or chrome bar.
_________________
Bob Shilling, Berkeley, CA--MSA S10, "Classic" |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 4:34 pm
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| Bob Shilling wrote: |
I have tremors and coordination problems due to Parkinson's. On good days I still plug away with a regular tone bar, but on less good days I find Shubb's Robert Randolf, RR2 works well. You grip it like a Stevens bar, and it is long(3.25") and has enough mass (6.8 oz.). I would like it better if it had a bullet nose since the square nose sometimes catches when I slide it towards the smaller strings - not so much when I slide it towrds the bigger strings.
I may look into Brett's suggestion of a polymer bar. I understand they don't slip out of your hand like a steel or chrome bar. |
Bob, I think polymer bars are awesome because they don't slide out of your hand, and also they feel very smooth. When you put the polymer bar on the strings, it doesn't roll up and down the neck of the steel like a stainless steel bar does. Polymer bars come in different sizes, such as 7/8, 13/16, 15/16, and one inch. Polymer bars eliminate overtones and bar noises on steel. |
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Bob Shilling
From:
Berkeley, CA, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 5:28 pm
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I sent Todd an email. I'll post here when I get a bar and try it out.
_________________
Bob Shilling, Berkeley, CA--MSA S10, "Classic" |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 7:37 pm Re: Tone bar recommendations for playing after a stroke
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| richard burton wrote: |
I had a stroke about a month ago, and initially I completely lost the use of my left arm and left hand.
However I am slowly recovering some movement of my arm and hand(not enough to hold my regular tone bar though), and I was wondering if there are any tonebars on the market suitable for someone with limited hand dexterity |
Sorry to hear about your stroke, Richard. I don’t know of anything on the market in the way of bars for someone who is handicapped, but this thread from a few years ago my give you some ideas.
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=2752215
Good luck! |
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richard burton
From:
Britain
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Posted 1 Jan 2024 5:27 am
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Thanks Guys for all your suggestions 
A lot of interesting ideas in those old Forum discussions, thanks for the Heads Up, everyone |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 1 Jan 2024 10:54 am
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Playing the steel has got to be good for your rehabilitation . All the best wishes for your journey .
Jerry |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 2 Jan 2024 12:43 pm
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| As a steel guitarist with cerebral palsy in his left hand, I've gotta say this, playing pedal steel guitar is great therapy for a left hand that doesn't work right. I suffered a stroke two days after I was born, and for awhile, I wasn't sure if I could use my left hand to do anything, but that all changed when I started playing the steel guitar. I've now found a bar that works well for me, and I'm sure it will work for you too! |
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Brendan Mitchell
From:
Melbourne Australia
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Posted 2 Jan 2024 10:24 pm
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| Sorry to hear about Richard. I had a minor stroke about 4 years ago that left me slightly impaired in my left hand. Thank goodness it has come good now, all I can suggest is to really work on your rehab exercises. It may seem like no improvement but it was a very slow process for me. Feel free to contact me if you would like to chat. |
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Tom Campbell
From:
Houston, Texas, USA
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Posted 5 Jan 2024 11:34 am
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I just ordered a light weight, anodized aluminum bar, from Wayne Johnson...
waynej@elektrolumens.com
My left hand is somewhat dysfunctional after hand surgery for arthritis. He can make most any size/design you want.
Very reasonably priced. |
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Tony Glassman
From:
The Great Northwest
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Posted 5 Jan 2024 6:50 pm Re: Tone bar recommendations for playing after a stroke
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| richard burton wrote: |
I had a stroke about a month ago, and initially I completely lost the use of my left arm and left hand.
However I am slowly recovering some movement of my arm and hand(not enough to hold my regular tone bar though), and I was wondering if there are any tonebars on the market suitable for someone with limited hand dexterity |
I’d consider taking one of your tone bars to a welding shop and ask them to spot weld a ring into which you could slip your affected index or middle finger. |
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Steven Hicken Jr.
From:
Leeds, United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Mar 2024 3:28 am
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Sorry to hear about this Richard. I hope you're recovering well.
Basil Henriques makes Ezzee-Slide tone bars which are polymer bars from the UK.
They certainly helped me through a bout of work induced RSI, a few years ago.
_________________
25 year old wannabe.
2015 Show Pro
2020 Hudson Hudsonator (Pedabro)
202X *Insert new guitar here*
https://www.stevenhickenjr.com/ |
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Bob Shilling
From:
Berkeley, CA, USA
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Posted 14 Mar 2024 10:15 am
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I had said I would post a review here after trying a Clinesmith bar. My long time go-to bar has been a Dunlop 901, 7/8" x 3 1/4". But due to problems from Parkinson's I have been trying other bars. I also got an inexpensive, Rogue, lap steel.
I now have quite a tone bar collection. In addition to the 901, I have one of the 1", Sitar bars that Dunlop used to make. I sometimes use it for exercise with it's heavier weight, but I don't use the flat side on the strings. The sitar sound was just a gimmick back in the day.
I have several Stevens-type bars. In addition to my previously mentioned Shubb-Robert Randolph bar, I have a Dunlop-Ben Harper, and a Shubb-SP-1.
Finally, I have a Clinesmith-7/8 x 3 3/8 polymer bar.
The Clinesmith has become my main, go-to bar for both pedal and lap steel. I use the Stevens-type bars sometimes, on the lap steel, particularly if I play a lot of open strings and need to lift the bar and do hammer-ons or pull-offs.
But I really prefer a round bar, and the Clinesmith is easier to hold than the metal 901(and I like the extra 1/8" length), and I can do slants easier with it than with the Stevens bars. It also produces a slightly warmer tone, which I like.
If you have hand problems, the Clinesmith is worth a try.
_________________
Bob Shilling, Berkeley, CA--MSA S10, "Classic" |
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