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Topic: life expectancy of a bar....... |
A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 5:47 pm |
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| OK I have been using a 7/8th bar (ernie ball) for a very very long time just for giggles I bought a 1" dunlop bar not to long ago I really didn't relize how much of the chrome I wore off until I would compare it to the new bar and thus how much easier it slids, now the 1" is to big but I think ever so often I will be getting a new bar anyone do you do the same? CARTER D10 |
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A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 6:02 pm
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| I could sell my old bar on ebay as an experienced bar heck if a maverick can sell for $1400 I wonder what I would fetch... |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 6:21 pm
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| Do yourself a big favour and buy the last bar you'll ever need: BJS. You basically need sandpaper to scratch it. After a few years using a Dunlop, switching to BJS was like getting transported to another realm. Seriously. |
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Larry Jamieson
From:
Walton, NY USA
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 7:08 pm
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Yes, get the BJS! I still have my Dunlop as a backup, but the BJS is the working bar and if I ever lose it, I'll get another!
Larry J. |
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Jody Sanders
From:
Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 7:22 pm
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| BJS is a lifetime bar. Jody. |
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Tracy Sheehan
From:
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 9:29 pm
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I have used the same Sho Bub bar i bought from another steel player in St Pete Fla.in 1968.Not a scratch on it.I did use some Mirror Glaze on it several years ago.
My new steel is a GFI Ultra but the old things i have and they still work great are the two 1950's Fender cables for the steel to amp and steel to the volume pedal.
They even have all the orginal cig smoke on them.Tracy [This message was edited by Tracy Sheehan on 02 June 2006 at 09:40 PM.] |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 1 Jun 2006 10:23 pm
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BJS are great. I also have been using John Pierce bars and Gary Carpenter's " Carp bar" . The Dunlops wear out pretty fast. I have not seen any wear on a BJS or a Pierce bar ever after years of heavy use and abuse. I haven't used the Carp bar long enough to make a judgement but it seems built to last.
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Bob
upcoming gigs
My Website
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 5:37 am
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| I'm curious about this subject of bars. I guess I don't circulate much among the steel community, but it seems to me that when I was starting out in the early '80s the general consensus was that a solid stainless steel bar without chrome was the best way to go. That's what I've always used. Now everyone on the Forum is enthusing about these BJS bars, which are chromed. Is anybody out there still using an un-chromed bar? |
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 6:06 am
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my bar is solid stainless, bought it from Billy Cooper's many years ago. I just got an old ZB bar and it appears to be stainless, unchromed as well. A perfect match for my ZB, heavy as...
I have a hollowed out bar I use from time to time that is also unchromed.
Just don't know any better I guess[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 02 June 2006 at 07:07 AM.] |
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Robert Porri
From:
Windsor, Connecticut, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 6:15 am
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I bought 2 of the Ernie Ball bars when I started a few years ago. Then I bought the 1" Dunlop also as you did. I actually returned that one because it was scratched even when I got it. I replaced it with a 1" Bullet Bar which is a nice bar, but I felt it was too big for me. I decided to try a 15/16" so for variety I bought a Red Rajah bar which plays nice, but started to wear/flake pretty quickly.
I finally bought a 7/8" BJS bar a year ago. That's all I use now except for ha ha's every now and then.
I agree that I wouldn't expect to have to get another bar unless I lost this BJS. Then it would be another BJS.
Bob P. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 6:47 am
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The Pierce and Carp bar are stainless and I like them as well as the BJS.
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Bob
upcoming gigs
My Website
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Scott Appleton
From:
Ashland, Oregon
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 7:04 am
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I have 2 no name SS bars and 3 BJS bars 1 red
Raja a couple of Dunlop one EB and one SS
Sitar bar none of them worn out yet. Just lucky
i guess. I also rotate the steels sort of like
tires. Your milage may vary. I use the BJS the
most these days and they show no ware at all after about 4 years of use.
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Jon Jaffe
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 7:06 am
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| I have two BJ's from the early '80s. They seem to have an infinite life, unless lost or stolen. |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 7:13 am
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On nickel strings a stainless bar worked great for me for many years. When I switched to stainless strings the stainless bar just didn't cut it. There was more drag and friction between the stainless bar and stainless strings. I switched to a BJS bar and would never use anything else with stainless steel strings. The chrome on stainless provides a much smoother feel, with much less drag.
Bill Stroud guarantees the BJS bar for life. I've never had to take him up on it and have only heard of a few cases where anyone did -- BUT -- Bill replaced all I've ever heard of with NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I've dropped mine on tile and concrete with no dents. The plating has lasted for more than ten years. NOW THAT'S A GREAT PRODUCT.
Now if someone could just come up with lifetime guaranteed STRINGS. 
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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
My CD's: 'I've Got Friends in COLD Places' - 'Pedal Steel Guitar'
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S/D-12 6x6, 1984 Sho-Bud S/D-12 7x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps
[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 02 June 2006 at 08:15 AM.] |
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A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 7:15 am
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| Brint I guess I would be using an unchromed bar! I really liked my ernie ball bar I didn't relize how much chrome was gone I will have to give bjs bars a shout.And I'm not an aggresive player. |
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Calvin Walley
From:
colorado city colorado, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 8:23 am
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maybe i'm doing something wrong :
3 years on a Dunlop and not a scratch on it
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Mullen SD-10 |
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Glenn Suchan
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 8:57 am
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The bar I use was given to me 31 years ago by a great steel picker who was, then, in the Chicago area. His name is Butch Butler. The bar may be chromed, I'm not sure. Other than that I had a 1" x 4" bar custom-made for the Sierra S14 I used to own. That bar was machined from type 440 stainless steel. I suspect both bars will last longer than I will.
BTW: Does anyone know what Butch Butler is doing these days?
Keep on pickin'!
Glenn[This message was edited by Glenn Suchan on 02 June 2006 at 09:58 AM.] |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 9:00 am
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I used a BJS bar for 15 years. I thought, "It might be losing its luster by now" so I bought a new one. I can't hear any difference! So now I have a spare. True story! I now believe that BJS bars last forever.
That said, the bright tone and sustain of a stainless steel bar like the BJS isn't universally desirable. For blues or rock, I often switch to a darker sounding material. I recently got an antique black Nick Manoloff bar that sounds really cool. I think it would wear out pretty fast if I used it a lot, though.
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 Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog |
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Bo Borland
From:
South Jersey -
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 9:00 am
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| I wore thru the plating on at least 3 EBALL bars then I bought a BJS..it lasted for over 20 years and Bill replaced it when it started to develop little bubbles. I will never use anything else. |
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Matthew Prouty
From:
Warsaw, Poland
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 11:17 am
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Why not just take the bar down to your local chrome shop and get it rechromed? Ok I know thats a jab question. Here in Brazil there are two chrome shops within 2 miles of my house and one has a 45 minute turn around time. A bar cost 3 dollars to chrome! I chrome everything!
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Matt Prouty
2006 Simmons SD10, 8 String Prouty Lap Steel E13, 1972 Dobro, Fender 5D8 Prouty Copy
My Home Page
matthewprouty@gmail.com
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JW Day
From:
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 12:00 pm
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| I have several bars that I have purhcased over the last 30 years. But I find myself picking up an old Z-B bar that I bought from Bud Hall's steel guitar town in 1976. Now I only wish I had kept the guitar that I bought to go with the bar |
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Chuck McGill
From:
An hour from Memphis and 2 from Nashville, R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 12:40 pm
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I can't resist.
IT DEPENDS IF THE INSURANCE IS PAID UP AND HOW MUCH MONEY THE CLUB TOOK IN THAT NIGHT.
Sorry.
You only have to buy one BJS but go ahead and get a set. One for your rehearsal room.[This message was edited by Chuck McGill on 02 June 2006 at 01:51 PM.] [This message was edited by Chuck McGill on 03 June 2006 at 04:51 AM.] |
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Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 12:54 pm
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I don't know who made them originally, but I've had my Emmons bar since 1978, and I can't find a flaw with it.
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Marrs D-10, Webb 6-14E
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thurlon hopper
From:
Elizabethtown Pa. USA
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 3:23 pm
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| Had my MSA since early seventies and it still seems flawless. But i use i inch bars now and like the feel of both the BJS and John Pearse bars. So far the Jim Burden bar seems to hold up well. TJH |
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A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 2 Jun 2006 6:29 pm
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| Bobby Lee I would think a bar thats 15years old would have some chrome wore off and comparing it to the new one you would have less drag right? I honestly don't know alot about bjs bars other than I will get one, and when I do then I would rechrome my eball thanks matthew and everyone else, very pro bjs. |
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