Sneaky Pete Kleinow's Fender 400

[Kevin Swan]

On my dozenth or so trip to Cleveland's Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame I spied this rugged beauty. That baby saw some shows, met some roadies, probably fell down flights of stairs and off trucks. Wonder if that was the only "road" steel he played. Previous poster said he'd seen Pete play a blonde-bodied Fender too.

(My out-of-town musician buddy in for the eclipse from Wisconsin said, "You only took ONE picture?" Yeah, the rest I think I'd already seen.)

[Erv Niehaus]

The guitar you posted is "mostly" blond.
Erv

[K Maul]

I was there a few years ago and saw it. I love everything about this instrument. Note it is described as a “steel-pedal guitar”! WHY does this persist! How did it even get started and HOW can we stop it?? If I had a buck for every time I’ve heard “steel-pedal” I’d have more money than I ever made playing music!! Haha

[Skip Edwards]

Yes, that was Pete’s only guitar. He may have owned others, but that was the one he always played. He refinished - or I should say redecorated - it a few times, once with pink and black lace, calling it a “Kreamo Kustom”.

[John Larson]

What effects did he have built into the guitar?

[Skip Edwards]

Not exactly sure, but definitely some kind of fuzz

[Jon Light (deceased)]

Did Pete do all the custom work on the guitar? It would fit with what little I know about him.

re: steel-pedal and other such stuff, I saw a video from high-end, respected music shop (I won't bother mentioning names) where the talking head calls a PSG a steel pedal. A professional musical instrument (mostly guitar) salesman. I don't care much about the name or about people not knowing much about the instrument but I can't possibly respect a professional who knows so little within his 'field of expertise'.

[K Maul]

We must nip it….nip it in the BUD(pun intended)
Pete also had a phase shifter in the guitar, not sure what else. He had a Boss Chorus pedal mounted underneath to hit with his knee and also echo of some kind.

[Andrew Frost]

...regarding 'steel-pedal' I think its because putting the adjective after the object, as in pedal steel is somewhat counter intuitive, so steel pedal gets said more than it should.
It is amazing and concerning how many self proclaimed 'producers' will use this term, or even referring to pedal steel as 'slide'. This isn't a problem in and of itself but it sure does illuminate aspects of their experience, or lack thereof.

[John Larson]

We must nip it….nip it in the BUD(pun intended)
Pete also had a phase shifter in the guitar, not sure what else. He had a Boss Chorus pedal mounted underneath to hit with his knee and also echo of some kind.

I'm trying to think what I've heard that could feasibly be put into the steel.

Fuzz - Christine's Tune (Burritos)
Phaser - Take It Easy/Our Lady of the Well (Jackson Browne)

I know I've heard Leslie and echoplex as well on some stuff. One of the Linda Ronstadt or Joni Mitchell songs had a pretty interesting modulation effect on it can't remember which though. I doubt he had those built into the steel though. Did he use envelope filter/auto Wah at all?

[K Maul]

He used envelope filter for sure. That may have been built in. Things changed over the years. In 1969 he had outboard effects only and did use Leslie in the studio plus Echoplex because he didn’t like amp Reverb. Not sure when he had the effects put into the guitar.

[Chris Templeton]

Little Feat's "Six Feet Of Snow", with Sneaky Pete playing his unique steel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMeFHAaZ_gE

[Skip Edwards]

Pete at his best, IMHO.
Greg Harris' "Star Of The Show"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-hwB23OyQ

[Mark Perrodin]

same guitar

[Mark Perrodin]

[Jerry Overstreet]

From an old 2011 thread concerning Pete's effects:

According to an old Steel Guitarist mag. interview from 1979, Pete used a fuzz tone that he designed himself. He stated that it had a mellow tone and a special circuit that clipped the signal to his specs. That was all the info he shared with the interviewer.

[Brint Hannay]

...regarding 'steel-pedal' I think its because putting the adjective after the object, as in pedal steel is somewhat counter intuitive, so steel pedal gets said more than it should.

Minor quibble: "pedal" and "steel" are grammatically both adjectives modifying "guitar". Only the order "pedal steel" makes sense--there are "steel guitars" with and without pedals, so: What kind of steel guitar is it? A pedal steel guitar.

[K Maul]

…there are "steel guitars" with and without pedals, so: What kind of steel guitar is it? A pedal steel guitar.

YES YES YES!!! EXACTLY!

[Dave Mudgett]

I echo my admiration for Pete. A true original - often imitated, never duplicated. I had my young, green, wannabe blues guitar guy mind blown when I saw him with the Burritos opening up for the Byrds in 1969. And Clarence with the Byrds on the same show, equally mind blowing.

Yeah, it's pedal steel guitar, with 'pedal' modifying the noun steel guitar and 'steel' modifying the noun guitar. But we're never gonna convince people saying steel pedal or steel pedal guitar to change their ways. I've corrected many, many people, but they just look at me funny and keep on saying the wrong thing.

[Dave Grafe]

What effects did he have built into the guitar?

When we opened for the Burrito Bros in 1980 Pete's Fender 400 had a built-in Univox Super Fuzz that had been modified by Red Rhodes. He was also using an external Echoplex unit at that time.

[Bob Shilling]

Yeah, it's pedal steel guitar, with 'pedal' modifying the noun steel guitar and 'steel' modifying the noun guitar. But we're never gonna convince people saying steel pedal or steel pedal guitar to change their ways. I've corrected many, many people, but they just look at me funny and keep on saying the wrong thing. Oh Well

It's annoying, but I can live with "steel pedal." But, even after explaining the difference, people still ask me about my "slide guitar."

[Andrew Goulet]

I've read that Sneaky didn't use reverb, but a delay to add some space. Where's Jim Sliff? I think he's the resident Sneaky expert around here.

Sidenote...look at the size of that bar in these photos! Is it just me, or is that thing HUGE?

[K Maul]

I've read that Sneaky didn't use reverb, but a delay to add some space. Where's Jim Sliff? I think he's the resident Sneaky expert around here.

Sidenote...look at the size of that bar in these photos! Is it just me, or is that thing HUGE?

Andrew, I guess you didn’t see that Jim passed away a few months ago. He had a wealth of knowledge about many things and I miss his presence here.
Yes Pete preferred delay over amp Reverb even though there is some studio Reverb on a few of his tracks.
That bar of his WAS gigantic. It was made in an aerospace lab.

[Andrew Goulet]

Oh no! I didn't know! My condolences to his family and friends. I really enjoyed reading Jim's posts. They helped me understand how to wrangle a Fender steel as a newbie, and introduced me to new musical ideas.

[John Larson]

Sidenote...look at the size of that bar in these photos! Is it just me, or is that thing HUGE?

It looks like at least a 1 inch diameter...

There are some real good shots of it in the vid clip for the Burrito's classic "Christine's Tune"

I wish we knew the design of that fuzz. When he kicks that on it takes it to the stratosphere.

Everytime I listen to this something else pops. Gram and Chris's tight tight harmonies or Chris Ethridge's bumping bass.