Where are Red Rhodes' steels today?

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 25 Jan 2005 12:19 pm

I've always wondered this....maybe someone here knows?

From my photos and conversations with others, I know he owned:

*Black Fender 400 with his name on it under the keyhead

*Fender 400 (or 800?) with pictures of...er...female anatomy all over it

*Dekley D-10 maple with white fretboards

*Blue mica MCI (globe logo) single neck

Where are they now......hmmmmmmm?

Joe

John Bresler R.I.P. · Post by **John Bresler R.I.P.** » 25 Jan 2005 7:08 pm

Reds Fender 1000 is owned by Al Gershen in Grants Pass, Oregon. It still has the padded door hinges for knee levers and is very original. Al plays it in a local band. Al and Red were friends for many years before Red's passing. Al is a forum member and his email address can be found in the on-line steelers directory if you'd like to contact Al to see a picture of the steel.[This message was edited by John Bresler on 07 February 2005 at 05:23 PM.]

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 25 Jan 2005 8:00 pm

One of Red's guitars, I'm not sure which, is owned by Red's son Michael, who's a Los Angeles County Fire Chief. Michael's son is playing the steel and learning the ways of the steeler.

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Texas Steel Guitar Association

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 25 Jan 2005 8:14 pm

Michael's son is playing the steel and learning the ways of the steeler.

Why? Didn't anybody ever tell him...? Sumbuddy shoulda 'splained that...

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 28 Jan 2005 5:31 am

Thanks guys.....that accounts for a couple of 'em at least!

BTW, Herb...thanks for the heads up about that movie Red was in (uncredited): Hillbillies In A Haunted Mansion. I found it online for $6 on DVD and sure enough...there he is playing on stage for a solid 10 - 15 minutes on that Fender...a number of close-ups, too! I'd have never known about this had you not told me....thanks!!!

BTW...if anyone has some pics of Red, please post 'em!

Joe

Winnie Winston · Post by **Winnie Winston** » 30 Jan 2005 3:15 pm

I first saw Red playing a Sierra.
I have a pic of him with that guitar in my book.

Winnie

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 30 Jan 2005 3:55 pm

That's right....I forgot all about that one, Winnie.

Seems odd that he played all these other brands, but never a Sho-Bud or Emmons. Seems everyone has owned/played these at least once in their life

I recall reading somewhere on the Forum years ago that Red had a steel made for him (?) and that he absolutely hated the tone and didn't keep it. I don't recall the brand, though...

Joe

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 30 Jan 2005 6:24 pm

When I first moved to L.A. in the early 70s,I used to hang out at his shop down in Hollywood a lot and I saw him own and play a lot of guitars. He had a D-10 Sierra as well as a real pretty natural laquer MSA with a ten string back neck with his Eb6 on there and a twelve string front nect with an Eb diatonic on it. I wonder who ended up with that puppy. -MJ-

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 31 Jan 2005 4:56 am

Back in the late 70's Sierra made a 22" scale guitar for him, which he played a lot. Once in St Louis I caught him after one of his sets and he could not wait to show me his latest trick. He put a 5/16 to 3/8 rod under the guitar that stretched end to end, bowed over what might be considered to be a sound post, like a fiddle would have.
No cabinet drop and great sustain.

Larry Behm

Al Gershen · Post by **Al Gershen** » 7 Feb 2005 6:34 am

Hi SGF group:

I've been playing Red Rhode's Fender 1000 since 1964 or 1965. At that time, Red bought a new Fender 800 and he sold me his Fender 1000.

Here's a link for some photos of the underside of Red's steel:

http://webpages.charter.net/aldg/Aldgs%20music/Gear/Fender%201000/

One of the reasons I have used this guitar all these years is that Red rewound its pickups and its tone quality, at least to me, is very good.

If you have some other questions about this guitar, please post your comments under this subject thread.

Have a good week.

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Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, Oregon. USA
Fender 1000 (1957),
Fender PS 210 (1970) &
Gibson Electraharp EH-820 (1961)
Al's Photographs at http://www.alsphotographs.com

[This message was edited by Al Gershen on 26 February 2005 at 07:27 PM.]

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 7 Feb 2005 6:47 am

I forgot to mention one guitar I knew about. Red had a S-11 ZB Custom, beautiful green and natural maple. He *sold* it to Johnny Paycheck, but I don't know if he ever got paid for it... that was one of his gripes..., and I saw it dismantled in a pawn shop in San Diego back in 1969. Paycheck was on the skids in those days.

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Texas Steel Guitar Association

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 8 Feb 2005 2:45 pm

Red's ZB ended up in the UK back in the '70's. A guy called Eric Snowball who was the UK distributor for ZB's at the time brought it in, and it still had Red's tuning on it. I remember having a go on the guitar - the tuning was very interesting to say the least.

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 18 Feb 2005 7:01 pm

Al,

Is this the steel you have?

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 18 Feb 2005 7:16 pm

I met Red when I was out in California, watched him play all night. He used a Eb tuning so he wouldn't break strings so much if he had it E6, and that is what it basically was.
I was so happy to meet a steel player of his caliber. He was multi-talented...al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Bob Metzger · Post by **Bob Metzger** » 23 Feb 2005 1:39 am

Dave Borisoff, the Hipshot guy, has a steel of Red's, a Fender. He 's in the Buffalo, NY area now, but used to be in L.A. I don't recall which model.

Bob M.

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 23 Feb 2005 6:00 am

That picture of Red that Joe kindly supplied is from 1966, or at least the footage was made then. The film from which it was taken came out in 1967.

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 23 Feb 2005 6:49 pm

I didn't become aware of Red until his association with the First National Band. This is very informative- thanks!

Brian Herder · Post by **Brian Herder** » 24 Feb 2005 7:41 am

That looks like an 800 in the picture..must be the one that replaced the 1000.

Al Gershen · Post by **Al Gershen** » 26 Feb 2005 7:33 pm

Hi Joe Alterio and Brian Herder:

Joe's photo of Red show him playing his Fender 800.

When Red acquired this guitar, it allowed him to sell me his trusty Fender 1000, which I continue to use every Friday evening at Lulubell's Restaurant in Murphy, Oregon.

I hope to see your there sometimes.

Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, OR

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 26 Feb 2005 8:08 pm

I bought my first Sho Bud Super Pro from Red, when he had the shop on Cahuenga, Royal Amplifier Repair, and he rewound the pickups on it. He had a keyless Fender and later had a light blue MCI with a truss rod underneith to keep it from flexing.

Jim Bob Sedgwick · Post by **Jim Bob Sedgwick** » 27 Feb 2005 2:59 pm

Red was a fan of keyless guitars, but he did not think they looked very good. On the aforementioned MCI, Red placed a block similar to standard guitars at the key head that could be locked down, essentially making the guitar keyless. He also had minute tuners for tweaking attached to the changer fingers. Best of both worlds. The look of a keyed guitar but made keyless. Red was quite the innovator.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 27 Feb 2005 3:22 pm

Red showed me that keyless changer back around 69 or 70. He got some kind of patent on it, because he expressed great amusement that some part of it stymied David Jackson from HIS version of a keyless design. I think there's a shot of Hal Rugg playing the keyless ShoBud in Winnie's book.

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