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Topic: Out of the closet and into my lap! |
Sarah Lacey
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 8:19 am |
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Bought this Fender in Austin in the 70's.Got obsessed with Dobro and let it sit. Recently pulled it out and started using it. Better late than never? Anyway I realized I knew nothing about it. Is it a Deluxe? What year is it? the serial number is 8081.
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Steve Green
From:
Gulfport, MS, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 9:44 am
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Your guitar is a indeed a Deluxe 8, notice the pic in the bottom left of this 1960 Fender catalog page.
You should have a "blend wheel" underneath the bridge cover.
Serial numbers are pretty much useless for dating Fender steels, the only true way to know is to remove the tuner pan and look at the date penciled in underneath.
Some folks on here can give you a rough idea of the vintage by looking at the case or other features.
_________________
Some songs I've written |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Sarah Lacey
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 3:05 pm
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| Hey! Thanks guys! Yeah, it's in good shape. It wasn't that old when I bought it and I haven't had a chance to abuse it yet! As far as tuning is,right now, I have it in a bastard G tuning because that's what I'm used to on the Dobro. I know I need to explore better tunings but that,s scary!What do you suggest? |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 3:16 pm
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Nice guitar, Sarah. If you're used to a dobro, I'd suggest tuning it G6. From low to high
E G B D E G B D. That's similar enough to the standard dobro open G and has the same relative intervals as C6.
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Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 10:03 pm
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I second the G6 tuning Suggestion... You will be familiar with it and in a short time you will learn to avoid the "E" when you want a straight major chord. Having the "E" in there gives you an e minor chord, and of course all the minor triads up the fretboard...
If the E in the middle gets in your way too much you could try Lo to Hi E G B D G B D E with the high E (same as a guitar 1st string)
DOM
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYG9cvwCPKuXpGofziPNieA/feed?activity_view=3 |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2014 9:50 am
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| I like G6th, but I use a low D string. Good on turnarounds and for alternating bass picking. But I play solo, no Bass or Guitar player to pick up notes I don't/can't play, so the Low D comes in very handy! |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 12 Oct 2014 12:59 pm
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| Unless my math skills are atrophying, that's a Deluxe 6, and those tunings will not work very well. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2014 1:01 pm
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| It's not your math that is the problem,,,,,it's your glasses! Time for a new pair! |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 12 Oct 2014 1:54 pm
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| Couldn't see the top two til I enlarged it! |
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Adam Nero
From:
Wisconsin
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 4:33 am
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| Sarah Lacey wrote: |
| Hey! Thanks guys! Yeah, it's in good shape. It wasn't that old when I bought it and I haven't had a chance to abuse it yet! As far as tuning is,right now, I have it in a bastard G tuning because that's what I'm used to on the Dobro. I know I need to explore better tunings but that,s scary!What do you suggest? |
I also began on dobro before buying an eight string steel. I found the standard c6 (ACEGACEG low to high) to be a great place to start. The three highest strings form a major triad just like dobro so there will be a lot of familiar and adaptable moves. Also, just like the GBDGBD the lowest half of the strings are the same as the highest half. Just conceptually similar and a good place to start IMO.
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2 cheap dobros, several weird old lap steels, and one lifelong ticket to ride on the pedal steel struggle bus. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 13 Oct 2014 10:31 am
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| The thing for Dobro players to be aware of when playing any sort of electric steel, be it a lap steel or a pedal steel, is that it will sustain longer and you don't have to pick so hard. The Dobro tends to be played like a banjo or a finger-picked guitar, in that you're basing your playing on chords, expecting to play both bass and treble runs most of the time. Chords on an electric instrument are usually much simpler. I tend to think of it as the difference between a finger-picked guitar and a lead guitar. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 15 Oct 2014 8:34 pm
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Anytime you can play strings all the way from very soft to very hard and still have the volume to hear them, you get tonal control beyond that of somebody who HAS to hit stuff at a certain minimum to move air and wood. It's kind of like, "The History of Rock Guitar Tone post-1969." Turning a 120-watt tube amp all the way up to "!0" and playing very, very, very softly is a dangerous feeling. The good dangerous.....  |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 16 Oct 2014 10:28 am
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| David Mason wrote: |
| ...Turning a 120-watt tube amp all the way up to "!0" and playing very, very, very softly is a dangerous feeling. The good dangerous..... |
If loudspeakers could talk, they would be the nervous ones.  |
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