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Topic: Another tortured lap steel... |
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 10 May 2021 2:27 pm |
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| A few minutes under a 60W light bulb, a few ozs of naptha (aka Ronsonol), a tuner button, some elbow grease, and it'll be a nicely-patina'd "relic." Unfortunately, it'll likely sound just like a Champ. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Greg Forsyth
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 10 May 2021 3:02 pm
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| I wonder if the torturer got it to talk? |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 10 May 2021 3:43 pm
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| It would also be tempting to refinish it, but that would destroy that rare logo (the best part of the guitar!). |
There's a great story in the wonderful Richard Smith book about the "White" logo.
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 10 May 2021 4:38 pm
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
  You're right, Jack. I've bought and sold three of these White steels in past years and they all had a very thin tone and poor sustain. I too was thinking that naphtha would clean this up quite a bit. It would also be tempting to refinish it, but that would destroy that rare logo (the best part of the guitar!). |
Nuthin a Duncan Lil '59 couldn't take care of, i have one in a Kay and one in an Oahu, outstanding. |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 9:06 am
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| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| Â You're right, Jack. I've bought and sold three of these White steels in past years and they all had a very thin tone and poor sustain. I too was thinking that naphtha would clean this up quite a bit. It would also be tempting to refinish it, but that would destroy that rare logo (the best part of the guitar!). |
Nuthin a Duncan Lil '59 couldn't take care of, i have one in a Kay and one in an Oahu, outstanding. |
I put a Hot Rails in one of my Champs... still tinny, if you can believe that. The sustain suffers from the plate design... screws closer to the bridge would help, that's why Stringmasters sound better than Deluxes.
_________________
New FB Page: Lap Steel Licks And Stuff: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195394851800329 |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 10:49 am
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I have a Studio Deluxe rescue in which I installed a custom Vintage Vibe Strat unit with a flat, un-radiused blade. And it sounds pretty good. Not great, but good enough. It's a beater that resides in the back of my hockey-mom van, stashed in a rifle bag (along with a cable and a Roland Micro Cube) to pull out and play whenever or wherever the need arises.
Agree with Stephen about the inherent design deficiencies of the plate-mounted bridge and strings. A similar situation exists with the Gibson Skylark, which is basically a Champ copy out of Kalamazoo. Torqueing down the wood screws at the butt end of the plate as tightly as possible seems to help, albeit marginally. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 12:03 pm
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| Yes, I too noticed a lack of sustain and tone in the Gibson Skylark, as compared to the Century 6. |
I've yet to play anything aside from a Bakelite to surpass the sound and playability of a decent black Century or white Ultratone. Something about the combo platter of the solid maple body and racetrack/wide oval pickup seems to give those models an Emmonsesque growl, so to speak. But then, I've yet to ever touch a Ric frypan. Someday, perhaps... |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 11 May 2021 12:28 pm
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From purely a folk art perspective, there's something very cool about this instrument just as it is and filthy as it is. Like African musicians who make gas can guitars cause that is all they can afford to do, this steel reflects its owners efforts to play music despite big limitations and I love that.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 11 May 2021 1:14 pm
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I wouldn't have thought the sharps were necessary.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 1:27 pm
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| Andy Volk wrote: |
| From purely a folk art perspective, there's something very cool about this instrument just as it is and filthy as it is. |
I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, Andy. I'm still kicking myself for missing out on this one a few years ago on eBay:
Perhaps I was outbid by Doug? |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 4:06 pm
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| Stephen Cowell wrote: |
| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| Â You're right, Jack. I've bought and sold three of these White steels in past years and they all had a very thin tone and poor sustain. I too was thinking that naphtha would clean this up quite a bit. It would also be tempting to refinish it, but that would destroy that rare logo (the best part of the guitar!). |
Nuthin a Duncan Lil '59 couldn't take care of, i have one in a Kay and one in an Oahu, outstanding. |
I put a Hot Rails in one of my Champs... still tinny, if you can believe that. The sustain suffers from the plate design... screws closer to the bridge would help, that's why Stringmasters sound better than Deluxes. |
I haven't had a Champ in years so maybe i've forgotten, once i got my '39 Ric 59 i kinda stopped playing the Champ. |
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 4:08 pm
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
Yes, I too noticed a lack of sustain and tone in the Gibson Skylark, as compared to the Century 6.
Can anyone think of a top pro of that era who played a single-pickup Fender steel? ...other than Jerry Byrd's custom one-off black Fender 8-string from the 60s. That one was a different animal. The pickup looked a Fender pedal steel pickup of the era. |
Just Kayton who always played the same guitar as far as i know. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 11 May 2021 5:27 pm
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| That ain’t no Champ! |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 May 2021 5:52 pm
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| Glenn Wilde wrote: |
| I haven't had a Champ in years so maybe i've forgotten, once i got my '39 Ric 59 i kinda stopped playing the Champ. |
Why drive a Yugo when there's a 911 Porsche all gassed up and rarin' to go! |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 12 May 2021 7:09 am
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That one is a steel guitar horror movie still, Doug!
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 12 May 2021 7:13 am
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| Looks like it may have been played underwater. Was it a Spongebob Squarepants guitar? |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 12 May 2021 7:30 am
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
Can anyone think of a top pro of that era who played a single-pickup Fender steel? |
Santo Farina? I figure there were a lot of others playing trap-pickup Deluxes and Customs though right?
And then you have the 400/1000/800/2000 pedal models...I almost classify them with these as most of the music I've heard played on them is Hawaiian so they are kind of played in the same style...more like a lapsteel but using pedals to achieve chordal "tricks". Jules Ah See, Billy Hew Len were big users of them...maybe Barney Isaacs too. And Basil Henriques as well. All single pickup...and personally speaking, if my 400 model is a good representation, they would have benefited from a second pickup in series, stringmaster style. But they have their own sound to be sure...I just can't get mine to sound good (and that has as much to do with being helpless with the pedals as with the base tone of the guitar).
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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No, my buying and selling days ended a long time ago. I was very active in the early days of eBay (late 90s, early 2000s) when there were amazing bargains on there. After a few years, no more bargains.