Jr.Brown's New GUIT-STEEL

Mike Nihen · Post by **Mike Nihen** » 28 Jul 2009 6:39 am

This could be downright illegal

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 28 Jul 2009 6:52 am

That is ridiculously cool! Love the card suits on the guitar neck!

Who's the builder?

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 28 Jul 2009 7:10 am

Beautiful instrument, and a fantastic idea.

Mike Nihen · Post by **Mike Nihen** » 28 Jul 2009 7:27 am

Mike Stevens is the builder and Jr. Brown will soon need a brain reduction cause he's got to many notes up there

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 28 Jul 2009 7:55 am

That's a cool lookin' guitsteel. I remember Junior said he really likes Sho-Bud.

Brett

Mike Selecky · Post by **Mike Selecky** » 28 Jul 2009 8:14 am

Am I missing something here - How easy is it to play past the 12th fret on the 'Bud?

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 28 Jul 2009 8:21 am

Is that Junior, without the hat and beard? I can't hardly recognize him, if so.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 28 Jul 2009 9:13 am

Look at the eyes!

Greg Gefell · Post by **Greg Gefell** » 28 Jul 2009 9:16 am

Nice looking piece of work!!!

I wonder how his pedals are set-up? When I experimented with the stand-up pedal steel concept it seemed logical to employ the following:

Left to Right:

Ped 1 - E's to F
Ped 2 - B's to C#
Ped 3 - G#'s to A
Ped 4 - E's to D#

Its like a 2 and 2 but with your feet only.

As far as I know Junior doesn't tune E9 on his other guit-steel(s) though so it could be WAY different.

Steve Alcott · Post by **Steve Alcott** » 28 Jul 2009 9:22 am

It looks to me like the supports for the guitar are hinged so it could move to the player's right while playing the steel.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 28 Jul 2009 9:23 am

When he plays pedal steel on his records it appears to be normal E9th. Maybe the plan is to have two git-steels on stage, this one for songs he wants to play E9th on.

Good point about playing the high frets on steel! I also thought it looked like the supports are hinged so the git can be moved to the right. But how far? If the git can get all the way to where it's flat with the steel that'd do it! And I just noticed the contouring of the back of the steel neck next to the key head, which looks like it's made to fit the contour of the git headstock. Slick!

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 28 Jul 2009 9:32 am

On his old guit-steel, Junior's arm was over the top of the guitar when he played steel, so he could easily access the high frets.

His guit-steel tuning is C13, so I imagine that the Sho-Bud with pedals is based on something similar.

Yeah, he looks different with glasses and no hat. I didn't recognize him at first either.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 28 Jul 2009 9:53 am

Junior described this new steel to me in detail a few weeks ago, but damn, it's even cooler than he described it!

Zach Keele · Post by **Zach Keele** » 28 Jul 2009 10:11 am

That's awesome. I believe it does fold down flat. Look at the cut outs on the steel neck that match the head stock of the guitar neck.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 28 Jul 2009 10:18 am

ZK, I believe you're right. It looks like the guitar folds/swivels down and to the players right, and lays down flat on the back ledge of the steel. Leastways, that's how it looks to me!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 28 Jul 2009 11:45 am

There are mechanics involved in the guitar coming out of the steel--it is motorized. It will not be stationery, but will come out and go back into place as needed.

Mike Nihen · Post by **Mike Nihen** » 28 Jul 2009 1:25 pm

Just amazing........................

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 28 Jul 2009 1:32 pm

Mike,
Wasn't there some talk about some sort of knee levers?

Bobby Burns · Post by **Bobby Burns** » 28 Jul 2009 3:54 pm

That lever talks was maybe me on a different thread. I am not sure if the Sho-Bud part is the same steel that I saw at Jeff Surrat's or not, but it was getting hip levers. If this is the same steel, it doesn't appear to have any levers hooked up.
I don't see any motors, just hinges?

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 28 Jul 2009 3:54 pm

Sure has a lot more steel guitar than in the past. Should be interesting!

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 Jul 2009 4:10 pm

I must be missing something here. What I see is a Sho-Bud PSG and a regular electric guitar built to match, with a body the width of the neck. What am I missing ?

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 28 Jul 2009 4:49 pm

I have done some guitar repair and built several instruments over the last 40 years. I have always considered Mike Stevens to be one of the finest custom luthiers in the world. If you have ever had the opportunity to meet him or to work on one of his creations you would think the same!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 28 Jul 2009 4:59 pm

Bobby Burns wrote: I don't see any motors, just hinges?

I think that back section of the guitar neck has the mechanics. Are those not solenoids in that one pic with the switches and pots? Nah, I guess they're just electrolytic caps.

Geoff Cline · Post by **Geoff Cline** » 28 Jul 2009 5:13 pm

No motors that I'm aware of. The "guit" part is attached with custom milled stainless steel arms, a support strut (also SS) and piano hinge. Michael told me the guitar body weight 14 oz. before the hardware...6.5 lbs. after.

It is a masterful piece of luthiery and machining.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 28 Jul 2009 5:20 pm

By golly, a pedal steel set up higher than mine.

It is insanely cool, and the work looks beautifully done. I agree that Mike Stevens is one of the world's preeminent luthiers.

For a while, I've been pondering raising up my single-neck universal S-12 Bud to stand-up position like this, but then just hold my guitar separately. If you look at the last photo, it appears that the pedal rods have extenders on them, and the legs are raised radically - maybe they're also extra-long in the first place. I would use the E9 setup Greg mentioned for pedals 1-4, but then that universal has three more pedals to work with the B6 side - ahem, an E=>Eb lock might come in mighty handy in this application. Not gonna get much use out of knee levers with this setup - I suppose there is some way to do it though. Perhaps hip-levers might work - maybe some type of "power assist" like the power steering on a car would help.

This type of thinking is a revolution for guitar/pedal-steel players. Bring it on, and thanks for posting this.