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Topic: A very weird Melobar... |
Gerald Menke
From:
Stormville NY, USA
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Posted 1 Nov 2006 8:50 am |
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Last night I found myself somewhere I should never be, namely in a vintage guitar store, and there was a Melobar in there that I have to ask you guys about.
It was a red eight string model, but what totally mystified me was the tuning: it was split in half, i.e. the bottom four strings were tuned to a minor seventh chord, the top four were a major seventh chord, with the top two strings tuned an octave apart, like a 12 string guitar! Even weirder, it had the names of the notes written all over the neck, and the intended tuning written out by the nut. I checked it against a tuner, and the boys in the store had tuned it correctly, but I could not get ANYTHING going on with this instrument, and usually I can get something quasi-musical out of a tuning even if I don't know what the notes are.
I know I have not been in the steel game nearly as long as most of you, but I have never heard anyone talk about this instrument, and was just curious what the idea could have been beyond trying to have an eight-string steel that allowed the player to get some extended chords without having 10 strings. Slants were absolutely not possible as far as I could tell, it did have a pretty tone, though.
Look forward to any replies.
Gerald |
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 1 Nov 2006 1:16 pm
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This is probably one of the earliest Melobars. The idea behind them was to have a very simple instrument that even senior citizens could play easily just by sliding the bar and getting easy chords. Guess this setup allowed majors and minors at one fret, just use the appropriate half of the strings! Walt Smith was the creator. Neat guy, as is his family who carried on for him until just the past few years.
Some models even had a piece of rubber running the length of the neck, above the highest string, with indents that stuck up above the strings. So you'd hit an indent with the tone bar, and know you're correctly over the fret.
Hmm, maybe my Mullen needs one of those. 
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E9 lessons
Mullen D-12/Carter SD-10/Webb amp/Profex II+Lexicon MPX-110 OR Line 6 Pod XT
[This message was edited by John McClung on 01 November 2006 at 11:30 PM.] |
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Dave Ristrim
From:
Whites Creek, TN
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Posted 1 Nov 2006 3:30 pm
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| Yeah, that's the way Smith made them back then. A buddy of mine has one with an original raised thingy so you can feel where the fret would be, plus instructions on how to play it as was intended by the designer. Totally wack if you ask me, but way original. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 1 Nov 2006 5:33 pm
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| That is one of the early ones. They also owned a store in Fullerton CA that sold them, right around the corner from my office. I kept telling myslef to buy one, but never did. one of these days...and that old one with the marked neck is so crazy it's cool, in a sort of twisted way! |
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Ron
From:
Hermiston, Oregon
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Posted 9 Nov 2006 10:05 pm
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I got one of those red things!! I also have a Harmolin thet Mr Smith built in the Dobro factry in Cal.
Robro Ron |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 10 Nov 2006 4:10 am
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I wouldn't dwell on it.
| Quote: |
| ...it had the names of the notes written all over the neck, and the intended tuning written out by the nut. |
You see, from that insight, I would think that rather than some "genius-inspired" innovative tuning, what you really had there was a "mish-mosh" experiment from someone with very little practical knowledge.
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| ...but what totally mystified me was the tuning... |
Things that make little or no sense tend to mystify most of us! |
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