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Topic: six stringers or no? |
Nicholas Dedring
From:
Beacon, New York, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 2:28 pm |
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| I've been wondering about this, and now that I can ask a broader audience: how many of you folks played regular guitar first? Anyone else (besides me) out there go from playing another instrument (other than six string) to steel? From nothing to playing steel? Inquiring minds want to know... |
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Robert Thomas
From:
Mehama, Oregon, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 4:08 pm
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| Hi Nicholas: I started on a 6 string Hawaiian guitar in 1947. In 1950 I went to a Gibson BR-9, 6 string electric with matching Amp. That's when I started playing for dances. From there I progressed to a double neck Fender Stringmaster and then from there to a Triple neck Fender Stringmaster. In 1971 I purchased new, a D-10, 8 + 4, Sho-bud Professional and proceeded to learn to play a pedal steel. I guess I was fortunate in that I had already been well grounded in the C and A tunings. I haven't had any problems with using either the E-9th or C-6th tuning. About 2 1/2 years ago I rid myself of the Sho-bud and went to a HWP Mullen D-10 8 + 4. I really like it very much and it is not so heavy to handle. At my age things have got to get lighter, including myself. I hope that gives you some info you might be interested in. |
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Michael Frede
From:
Sonoita, AZ, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 4:20 pm
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| Six string at 7 years old,slide and lap steel at 14,PSG at 41.I am now 44.But hey,it just took me that long before I could afford one. |
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 4:34 pm
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Hello Nicholas,
I started on a Sears/Roebuck 6 string as a teenager in 1960. Laid up with a leg in traction for about a year. Had nothing else to do. Friend brought me a guitar and a Nick Manoloff book. I learned fast. Soon had a Les Paul, then traded for a Strat. Later played Precision Bass and Fender VI.
Played jazz for fun in college, and rock for money. Started playing dobro many years later, then 8 string non-pedal, then triple Stringmaster. Recently purchased a SU12(8 and 5).
All the music theory applies. Toughest transition has been/is right hand technique. I go back and forth to six string. Always learn something new when I switch in either direction. Position, picking, chord shapes, sounds.
Try hard to find a good teacher. Drive a long way if you have to. Worth every penny to get started on a good foundation. Spend your money on lessons now. You can buy effects and amps later.
Good luck
Ron |
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chas smith
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 5:26 pm
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| The obligatory piano lessons at 8 stopped at 14, took up the guitar and learned enough chords to play in a band starting in '64. I was in high school and it did wonders for my social life. Later I used to do the feedback solos, which did wonders for my hearing..... |
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Jeff A. Smith
From:
Angola,Ind. U.S.A.
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 8:57 pm
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Nicholas, I read your post as saying that you started on a different instrument besides 6-string guitar. If I'm right, what was your own experience prior to taking up steel?
Like many, I took on steel after having played guitar (almost always electric) since I was 10. 33 years later, in Feb. of 2001, I bought a steel.
Several things happening within a period of about a year conspired to bring this about. Maybe first was an increase in my desire to get more pedal steel-like, country-style bends in my guitar playing. Another significant thing was hearing an accomplished steel player at close range, and being deeply impressed just on the level of pure sound. Then a good used steel popped up at my favorite music store. (ANY kind of steel for sale within a radius of maybe 150 miles from me is rare.) By this time, I had developed a fascination with the steel itself, rather than guitar licks that were derived from it. I expect something in the mechanical complexity of the thing appealed to me as well.
I researched it on the internet for a couple of months, then took the plunge. [This message was edited by Jeff A. Smith on 16 June 2003 at 10:00 PM.] |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2003 11:22 pm
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One day 20 years ago....I said: "I want to play and make the sound of a Steel guitar"...
So I bought one and went for it....and have never played any other instrument before it or After it...
Ricky |
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Bill Fulbright
From:
Atlanta, GA
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 2:34 am
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I started singing first as early as I can remember, Piano at 6, ukelele @ 8, guitar @ 10, stand up bass @ 12, organ @ 12, first band @ 12.
1st guitar @10 - a no name I had to tune with pliers
2nd guitar - a no name mexican also had to tune with pliers
1st good guitar @ age 12 - Gibson LG-1
1st electric - a japanese MAXITONE
1st good electric - Vox Teardrop 12 string (ok, it was the mid 60's, allright?)
1st really great deal - traded the Vox for a Gretsch Country Gentleman @ age 15
Then I got a Martin 000-18 and started writing music @18
1st steel - Sho-Bud LDG in 1983 lent to me from a guy at Board Brothers talent agency in Nashville... only got to keep it for 6 months, and didn't have the time to practice because I was performing professionally 6 and 7 daya a week as a single and a band leader
2nd steel @ age 49 - Sierra U-12
3rd steel @ AGE 52 - Mullen D-10.
yup... playing other instruments first I am sure has helped me
Wow... I never wuda thunk it.
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Bill Fulbright
Mullen D-10 8x7; Gibson ES-165; Peavey Vegas 400;
ICQ# 2251620 My Music Site
[This message was edited by Bill Fulbright on 17 June 2003 at 03:35 AM.] |
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William Peters
From:
Effort, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 2:50 am
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For me, it was trumpet first, then sousaphone, followed by 6 string guitar, electric bass, oboe, flute, pedal steel. I always intended to learn sax, but somehow never got around to it.
Bill |
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 3:43 am
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General trajectory :
Hand percusion, record at 7-8 years old with a wacka doo, wacka doo band " The Lost".
That tape, my father recorded, got them the 1st Boston Teaparty gig, before the Stones and Zepelin and the Beatles played there.
Trombone for several years
Later harmonica & folk guitar.
I traded the trombone for a 12 string and almost imediately after that inherited a Dobro. Still have that one too.
Someone passed out at a harminica gig, I became an electric bass player, since I knew 5-6 chords on guitar.
Switched to electric guitar ; Johhny Winter And / Aerosmith etc., then back to bass, because there was more demand and it works well in the control room as engineer at the same time.
Plus bass is the most versital instrument stylewise I can play tons of different types of music. It almost ALL has need of the bass. Just think the style and go.
Because of always tuning bad players drums in the studio and having a house kit, I became a drummer too.
Tried alto sax for a bit, but it got stolen.
A bit of flute and recorder.
Still played dobro, but then added upright bass, mandolin and lapsteel.
Finally PSG
Still play 6 string bass, but prefer to play
C6 and mandolin. |
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Ricky Littleton
From:
Steely-Eyed Missile Man from Cocoa Beach, Florida USA
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 2:15 pm
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Steel is my first and only instrument.
Ricky
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Emmons LeGrande - 8x4
Session 400 Ltd
Dan-Echo, E-Bow, Ibanez Distortion, Boss Comp./Sustain, Ibanez Auto-Wah
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 2:29 pm
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I forget if my very vague guitar knowledge predates the dozen or so years of piano lessons. But it seems I always could sorta play guitar. And I got pretty decent on keyboards. Had a big falling out with them at around age 25 and have never really touched them since. Now I wonder if a lot of years weren't frittered away with the wrong instrument. Kinda like marrying young and finding out the hard way that there's 'meant to be' and there's 'never meant to be'. Well steel is certainly wifey that I think I'll keep.
Along the lines of what you may have been wondering about, Nick, I consider my instrumental background a mixed blessing. My keyboard knowledge provides a good visualisation tool for all manners of harmonic thinking. But this same asset definitely hampers my ability to think live, and breathe the fretboard. Too often I need to translate. Like learning a second language, you are not truly fluent until you no longer think the thought in your native tongue and then translate. For sure, I'm getting better at thinking on my Pak-a-seat but too often I still depend on the keyboard model in my brain. |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 2:54 pm
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6 stringer at 12
started the 20 stringer at about 24
now at 54
6 stringer
20 stringer
and 4 stringer
tp
PS: added note:
Playing the 4 stringer behind a Grand Piano in an Assembly of God Pentecostal Praise band for over 6 years in the 90's has probably had the most influence on the way I approach playing on both the 6 stringer and the 20 stringer.
[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 18 June 2003 at 05:56 AM.] |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 17 Jun 2003 3:00 pm
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I played electric guitar and bass as a teenager. I switched to steel when I was about 22 years old.
------------------
 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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Chris Forbes
From:
Beltsville, MD, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 2:20 am
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| Thank goodness it was the 7th instrument I learned how to play. Every little bit of musical knowledge I gleaned from other instruments helped me to become the painfully mediocre steel player I am today!!!! |
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JERRY THURMOND
From:
sullivan mo u.s.a.
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 4:55 am
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| I played six string at the age of 7 years, when I was about 9 some guy let me play around on his 8 string, fender, he showed me how to play Road Side Rag, But I played six string lead till I was 35 years old, I always had the steel guitar on my mind, one day I went an seen Curly Chalker at a Jam at Scotty's. That was all it took from then on I got my 1st Steel an never been happier for the last 25 years. Jerry [This message was edited by JERRY THURMOND on 18 June 2003 at 05:56 AM.] |
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Pat Dawson
From:
Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 4:59 am
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Clarinet - 4th grade through high school
Bass Guitar - age 13 - played in top 40
club bands, then a 20 year
run with a wedding band
Dabbled in piano, drums, and guitar along the way.
PSG - since 2001 at 46 years old. Now
trying to hang with a "modern country
band". Not quitting my day job. |
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Bill Llewellyn
From:
San Jose, CA
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 6:37 am
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I've played piano all my life, 6-string since about age 9 or so, drums from about age 13 (later gave up on those), bass since about 15, synth since about 20, and PSG since 43 (I'm 47). So 6-string was way ahead of PSG. Though I only consider myself a "rhythm" 6-string guitar player (a strummer), not a lead player.
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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 7:10 am
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Singing in church - from birth. Piano and organ (classical and religious only) - 2nd through 7th grades. Sax (school band and rockabilly) - 6th grad through high school. Guitar (acoustic only: folk, blues, flamenco - never learned to flat pick) - started in high school. Harmonica - high school). Dobro and lap steel - age 25. Pedal steel - age 27. After a couple of years I quit everything for almost 25 years and just started up again about a year ago (Dobro, pedal steel, sax, some keyboards).
So, okay, I have a checkered past. You should hear all my day jobs during all that time. Forget it, we don't have the time and space.[This message was edited by David Doggett on 18 June 2003 at 08:10 AM.] |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 8:14 am
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i started playin geetar at 16 - Stratocaster
lap steel at 19 - Gibson BR6
Psg at 35 - Maverick
at 50 i got my first D10 ! SB Professional
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Steel what?
[This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 18 June 2003 at 09:15 AM.] [This message was edited by CrowBear Schmitt on 18 June 2003 at 09:16 AM.] |
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Nicholas Dedring
From:
Beacon, New York, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 8:51 am
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Keep it coming, if anyone else has anything to add, thanks for chiming in!
I was curious, since I have never played guitar worth speaking about... piano, and then saxophone, then lap steel (without any real direction: I owned one, plunked on it a little, but never made enough of an effort), and pedal steel now for a year and some. Seemed to me that the majority of steel players I had asked had come from six string guitar to this, but it seems from these responses like I'm not the ONLY one who didn't. |
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seldomfed
From:
Colorado
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 9:13 am
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6 string folk guitar at 12yrs old,
elec. guitar at 16
then bass, fiddle, banjo and finally steel
at 42 (10 years ago).
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 18 Jun 2003 9:22 am
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I started with guitar too. Took up the mandolin in 1970, steel in 79.
Because mandolins are portable, and steels are not, there are some blues jams around town where I only take the mandolin, and people who are unaware that I play the steel and ONLY know me as a mandolin player.
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Gerald Menke
From:
Stormville NY, USA
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Posted 20 Jun 2003 9:38 am
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Hello Nicholas,
Another Brooklyn steeler? What's going on here, we've got Jon Light, Bob Hoffnar, and a host of others now. Interesting thread, I sang in a choir first, and wanted to play drums, but was given a Hondo II acoutic instead of a drum set when I was 13. Pesky parents. I'm glad they did, as much like many of us, the six string led me to the steel. I started playing steel 3 1/2 years ago, biggest regret is that I didn't start earlier. Am still called upon to pick the six strings as well as the bass pretty regularly. |
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Leland Ogle
From:
Baxter Springs, Kansas, USA
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Posted 20 Jun 2003 2:30 pm
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I played piano and trombone in school. Wished I had'nt given up both. Electric bass when I was 17 and pedal steel when I was 27. It has been 23 years of enjoyment, bordering on an addition.
Leland |
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