Have to share this in case anyone cares...
I'm building my own double neck Tel-O-Bar out of a Tele custom with the P90's, (I SOOO love the tone of the neck pickup) and I wanted that tone out of the Melobar steel side...tone I wanted was the Mosrite Melobar, I look up at the wall, hanging there is my first guitar I ever owned, a old white Mosrite that the bridge is off of (gave to a guy begging for one) and make the very tough decision to sacrifice it...I take it down, put it on the bench and start,(feeling very emotional over the process as I'm remembering moments playing the guitar with a band in highschool), stripping it...
I look in the neck pocket, and seeing the light of day for the first time in nearly 50 years I read...
Oct 1965
something just hits me hard in the heart as I realize it's been nearly 50 years for Melobar.
I put a little more detail on the blog but I just had to share that moment with someone...
in some ways it's refreshing to hear someone who has an actual emotional connection to his work.
melobars have been around since i started playing steel pretty much. they've always been the oddball creation that, over the years, people found more and more uses for. it says something that so many pickers have one form or another in their arsenal.
Well here it is and it was WELLL worth it, amazing tone, I'm in LOVE!
complete resurrection for my old girl.
btw, I get it guys, you don't want me on this blog anymore, but I had to share this with players. I don't know why I've been snubbed here but whatever I did, certainly apologize and hope the Lap Steel forum goes forever.
Ted Smith wrote:
btw, I get it guys, you don't want me on this blog anymore, but I had to share this with players. I don't know why I've been snubbed here but whatever I did, certainly apologize and hope the Lap Steel forum goes forever.
Ted - GREAT to see you here! Maybe I missed something but I've never been aware of you being snubbed here.(And if that did happen, I'm sure hoping it won't stop you from sticking around. Even if Melobar wasn't an important piece of steel guitar history - which it is - you'd have every bit as much of a right to be here as anyone.)
Location: Idaho - shot of Jeff Peterson, Ted and Smith Curry "Nothing but the taillights tour"
State/Province: Idaho
Country: United States
Postby Ted Smith »
You're great friends Howard, Chris, I appreciate it and it's all good, there's just a new guard in the forum and I'm tired of being called weird etc. and after 50 years, and the players list Melobar put together, it's just time to quit trying to change rut thinking and just let it go. As a matter of fact, I've decided to retire the Melobar name with my end of building here. Protect the trademark and end it; 50 years is long enough.
are you the guy who invented the Melobar? i always thought it was pretty neat.
there is certainly no "new guard" over here in "steel without pedals"
- maybe in pedals, i dont get over there.
From someone who plays both guitar and lap steel I have been looking at your combination design for a few years and it looks fabulous. As an admirer of Junior Brown I have often wondered how he plays his "guit steel" between the sheer weight(I know he uses a stand to hold it) and the difficulty of playing the vertical steel portion. When I see your design, I see something that is much more user friendly - just haven't had enough funds here recently to contact you to see if I could get one. As to the forum - if great builders with new ideas aren't made welcome then the forum is going to pot. I don't comment often, but I look forward to Melobar posts and have checked out your website also. I am amazed by the talent of builders that I see on here and there ideas and you rank with the best. Hope you stick around and I hope someone continues to make these awesome guitars. Just my 2 cents.
Thanks for all you've shared over the years, Ted. Melobar as a company had some interesting ideas - some that worked out, others that didn't - but what company can't say the same?
Good luck with your future endeavors, and keep playing music!
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A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
