The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Steel players who gave up "armpit" guitar for the steel?
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Steel players who gave up "armpit" guitar for the steel?
Tim Toberer


From:
Nebraska, USA
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 5:27 am    
Reply with quote

I have been struggling to find the time to keep up on my "regular" guitar playing cause I dove headfirst into pedal steel. I am always picking it up as a reference when I am trying to learn things by ear because I know where things are.

I think the instruments compliment each other very well and will never give up my 6 string. I think my playing on steel is actually opening up a lot of ideas for playing regular guitar.

The thing I miss on pedal steel is how much harder it is to get spread type or open voicings. Drop 2 and Drop 3 are much harder on steel. The reverse of this is I am having an easier time with steel because closer voicings are just easier for me to move around. Many close voicings on regular guitar are very wide impossible stretches. I am learning a lot about regular guitar playing from playing pedal steel. I wish I had more time for both!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Joseph Lazo

 

From:
Wisconsin, USA
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 8:23 am    
Reply with quote

Jerry Overstreet wrote:
I apologize to Jimmie. I had decided to make some edits in my post just ahead of Jimmie's and managed to delete the whole thing. So I'll put it back up so as to keep continuity.

...and I'm totally in agreement with Jimmie's statement.

What I said was in a reply to the OP asking why he used the term if he found it unsavory.

I went on to say I think it's a disgusting term. What ever happened to class?

I'd never insult the legends of guitar by using such a deragatory term.

The term is guitar or spanish guitar. No other description needed except for different various subsets of the guitar. IMO.


I used that term because I had seen it several times in this forum and assumed it was common parlance here. I'm fully aware of the "Spanish guitar" term, but it's really dated and thought if I used it someone might think I was talking about classical guitar.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 9:13 am    
Reply with quote

It's all good. It don't matter. Most people don't let things like this bother them.

Happy 2024 Solar Eclipse day!
View user's profile Send private message

Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 9:36 am    
Reply with quote

I just call it "regular guitar" when discussing it here on the steel guitar forum.

Regarding the original post... I quit playing guitar for about five years when I bought my first pedal steel (in my early 20s) and devoted all of my 'spare' time and my bandstand time to playing pedal steel. A few years later I began playing both guitar and steel in bands and continued with that until today. But, yeah, I did quit playing regular guitar for a while I got my first pedal steel.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 9:52 am    
Reply with quote

Tom Sosbe wrote:
I think the great Marty Robbins used the term Arm pit guitar. I always thought it a strange term.

I believe that Marty was talking about his little Terz guitar, which he played in a very unusual position:



This is not typical, nor is it common parlance among guitar players - certainly not any I hang around with, and I've been hanging around guitar players since the 60s. Jimmy Page with his Les Paul. More accurate to say "Knee guitar". But most guitar players play from the chest or hip. None of this has anything to do with what the guitar is called. It's a guitar, or if you want to be technical, "Spanish guitar". You say guitar, there's no confusion.



I'm with Roger on this. Language is important, because it conveys a lot of subtle inflections that can have a wide-reaching impact on the way people view things. I know some people think of it as a joke, but I think for others, it is an intentional dig. I tend to push back when I hear people try to change the language in ways I disagree with.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 9:56 am    
Reply with quote

To address the actual point of the thread, without the red flag that attracts the bull - I can't understand why a lifelong guitar player would give up guitar simply because they start playing steel guitar. I understand that some of us here started playing steel because they developed some problem that prevented them from playing guitar. I also get it that steel guitar definitely demands a LOT of focus. Definitely - when I started playing pedal steel, my guitar shed time had to get cut back pretty sharply for a few years, or I wouldn't have made much progress. But I'm a guitar player for as long as the Good Lord permits.

For me, musical focus cycles, with the proviso that I tend to add new things to the mix periodically. Piano, then guitar (electric and acoustic, including slide guitar), then bass, then banjo, then pedal steel, then some nonpedal steel, and even some drums the last 10 years. Playing steel has hugely influenced my guitar playing, and especially slide guitar playing. I honestly doubt I would have started playing steel if I hadn't done the finger picking shedding on banjo first. Even the rudimentary bass playing I studied back when strongly influenced everything I do. I try to be a musician first. Whatever works for the music, I try to do.

Honestly, right now, I'm focusing more on singing. Sick and tired of having to depend on being in other peoples' bands. And post-pandemic, around here, 90% of gigs are single/duo things. And sometimes stripped down bands playing with tracks. I'm not gonna do the latter, but will the former. Adapt or die.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Joseph Lazo

 

From:
Wisconsin, USA
Post  Posted 8 Apr 2024 5:06 pm    
Reply with quote

Dave Mudgett wrote:
Tom Sosbe wrote:
I think the great Marty Robbins used the term Arm pit guitar. I always thought it a strange term.

I believe that Marty was talking about his little Terz guitar, which he played in a very unusual position:



This is not typical, nor is it common parlance among guitar players - certainly not any I hang around with, and I've been hanging around guitar players since the 60s. Jimmy Page with his Les Paul. More accurate to say "Knee guitar". But most guitar players play from the chest or hip. None of this has anything to do with what the guitar is called. It's a guitar, or if you want to be technical, "Spanish guitar". You say guitar, there's no confusion.



I'm with Roger on this. Language is important, because it conveys a lot of subtle inflections that can have a wide-reaching impact on the way people view things. I know some people think of it as a joke, but I think for others, it is an intentional dig. I tend to push back when I hear people try to change the language in ways I disagree with.


"Armpit guitar" does have a certain disparaging tone to it, and that's what I dislike most about it. As a guitar guy, I'd never even heard of the term before I came to this forum.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Glenn Suchan

 

From:
Austin, Texas
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 4:58 am     Re: Steel players who gave up
Reply with quote

Joseph Lazo wrote:
I recently read that Herb Remington started out on guitar, but then went to pedal steel. It didn't say if he continued to play "regular" guitar or not, but since he's known as a pedal steel player I'm guessing he didn't.

Got me to wondering how many steel players gave up "regular" guitar for the pedal steel.

Have any of you done so?

I used to think I'd slink into a major depression if for some reason I couldn't play guitar any more. Since getting into lap steel, though, I think I'd be fine just playing steel.


I believe I read that Ralph Mooney was a session guitarist before playing steel guitar in sessions.

Keep on pickin’!
Glenn
_________________
Steelin' for Jesus
View user's profile Send private message

Jeremy JT Young


From:
Loretto Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 5:56 am     Guitar to steel
Reply with quote

I played Lead guitar for 30+ years, for countless sessions, few road tours and the bar scene in the Muscle Shoals Alabana area. I always loved steel and bought a couple during those years. I was just so busy couldn't find the time to put into it. A simple foit surgery left my hands and arms with extensive nerve damage. Its something called bilateral brachial plexus injuries dye to surgical positioning. I found my left hand doesn't work with my palm upwards anymore. Therefore I couldn't play at all. A steel player friend of mine ask me did I think I could hold a bar on strings. He said maybe I could try the steel. So now I'm learning to play steel guitar. I've always loved Steel and had the pleasure to play with many super players, some who were members of this forum and have now left us. I thank this community for welcoming and helping me put the Music back in my life. God bless you all
JT
_________________
JT Young, Nashville LTD SD10,MSA Classic D10, Baggett Custom S10, Payne S10, 1976 Sierra Olympic S12 Ext.E9th, Hudson Deluxe 6, 2 2x12 Fender Blues Devilles, 1x12 Fender Blues Deluxe, Nashville 112 w Celestion, Boss Katana, Telonics, Peterson, Boss, Goodrich, Electro Harmonix
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 7:00 am    
Reply with quote

I was amused at Dave Mudgett's second photo. There MAY have been a time when I would have adopted such a theatrical stance while playing but, in 2024, things are very different.



And now, me.....



Smile

Steel vs. guitar:
I recall more than one musical colleague taking me to task when I was conversing with another steel player and we'd refer to our 'guitars'.

"They're steels!"

Pedantic to the nth degree, I'd hold up my bar and say:

"This is the steel, that's the guitar..."
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
----------------------------------
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 8:12 am    
Reply with quote

Dave Mudgett wrote:
To address the actual point of the thread, without the red flag that attracts the bull - I can't understand why a lifelong guitar player would give up guitar simply because they start playing steel guitar.


I did that very thing. As a guitarist I did a lot of work and played professionally since I was a teen. When I started playing steel, my intention was to play pedal steel and give myself opportunities to do more studio and road work. That didn't really work out because I discovered that I dug lap steel more and started gigging right off the bat which led to me contributing a lot to creative work.

I still played guitar but at some point I felt like I didn't want the steel to be a utility instrument and I wanted to see if I could get to the level of playing that I achieved on guitar. I never quite did, but I grew as a musician and became more of an arranger. I focused exclusively on steel for about 15 years and can say it is my main instrument now. I still play guitar but mostly to accompany myself on recordings. All in all, my steel playing is more guitaristic than most, and I am cool with that development.
_________________
http://www.steelinstruction.com/
http://mikeneer.com
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Tim Toberer


From:
Nebraska, USA
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 9:16 am    
Reply with quote

Joseph Lazo wrote:


"Armpit guitar" does have a certain disparaging tone to it, and that's what I dislike most about it. As a guitar guy, I'd never even heard of the term before I came to this forum.

I was a bit surprised by the strong response to this term and I also first heard it on this forum. I suppose it is a bit hard on the ears. I also prefer regular or standard guitar, but in the words of the great Sonny Boy Williamson "I don't care what you !#$%; call it, you can call it your mammy if you want to"
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 9:37 am    
Reply with quote

Mike Neer wrote:
Dave Mudgett wrote:
To address the actual point of the thread, without the red flag that attracts the bull - I can't understand why a lifelong guitar player would give up guitar simply because they start playing steel guitar.


I did that very thing. As a guitarist I did a lot of work and played professionally since I was a teen. When I started playing steel, my intention was to play pedal steel and give myself opportunities to do more studio and road work. That didn't really work out because I discovered that I dug lap steel more and started gigging right off the bat which led to me contributing a lot to creative work.

I still played guitar but at some point I felt like I didn't want the steel to be a utility instrument and I wanted to see if I could get to the level of playing that I achieved on guitar. I never quite did, but I grew as a musician and became more of an arranger. I focused exclusively on steel for about 15 years and can say it is my main instrument now. I still play guitar but mostly to accompany myself on recordings. All in all, my steel playing is more guitaristic than most, and I am cool with that development.

Yeah, when I started playing steel, the urge was for pedal steel, and that largely took over my musical life for quite a while. Guitar definitely took a back seat, but I still played. After 30-40 years on guitar, it's sort of like riding a bicycle, you never forget how. And it sounds like you still play, but the focus is steel. Totally makes sense. For me, it took a while before guitar got back into focus, and for about a 10-year period, the vast majority of my gig time was on steel, with the guitar the utility instrument that I brought because sometimes that's what was needed musically. Banjo too.

I absolutely do not treat steel as a utility instrument. In fact, if I'm in a gig situation and they just want pedal steel for a tune or two, I just don't do it. Not only does it make logistics much more complex for little to no reason, it goes to a lack of actual interest in incorporating steel into the situation. There's no gig I 'have' to do. If I can't find musical interest, I don't do it.

What really got me back more into guitar playing again was figuring out ways to open up what I could do with slide guitar. A critical part of that was getting comfortable with Sonny Landreth's approach to fretting behind the slide and other ways of mixing fretted and slide guitar together. I have played slide guitar since the first time I saw Johnny Winter circa 1969 or 70, and then Duane Allman with the Brothers in late 70 or 71. I dug back into the progenitors like Son House, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White, Fred McDowell, Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, and others. But slide for me always felt limited to a blues or blues-rock context. While I still love to play blues, moving out of that box with slide has been a focus for the last 10 years, and I honestly doubt I would have ever gotten to this place if I didn't have the pedal steel background.

I just view everything as a tool for the music. I can do other things, but steel and guitar (fretted and slide) are my primary focus now.

Quote:
I was a bit surprised by the strong response to this term and I also first heard it on this forum.

I'm just arguing that it's neither accurate or common usage and, in most of the contexts in which I hear it, is disparaging. I know that language evolves, but I think this is not a good direction. I also know that we now live in an insult-prone culture. I can't stop it, but I can speak my mind about it.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 9 Apr 2024 10:12 am    
Reply with quote

Whilst I wasn't aware of the term 'Utility player' back in '73, I'm embarrassed to admit that, for quite a few years, I did treat steel as a second-alternate instrument.

Perhaps I was unfortunate to spend those years in London where pedal steel players could be counted on one hand. That resulted in me landing a large proportion of the high-profile steel gigs (West End shows, TVs, etc.); a decent rep as a guitar-player ensured a fair proportion of work on steel.

I certainly saw myself as a guitarist first and steel as a second string to my bow. Indeed, when I first emigrated to America, I left my Sho-Bud behind (I still had contractual UK commitments) on the basis that it was my guitar-playing I intended to exploit. In addition, I was all too aware that the standards of the upper-echelon players here was much higher than was my rudimentary grasp. ("Who's going to book me on steel??")

In the event, it turned out to be the opposite: 95% of my work as a full-time musician in the USA over the last 25+ years has been on pedal steel.

Mysteriously, my priorities have changed. While six-string remains a faithful old friend (and I still love its geometry and logic), if I'm honest, I now think of myself as a steel player first. Coming to America woke me up and I became a serious, though mostly frustrated, student of steel and its arcane depths.

If only I'd applied myself properly fifty years ago!! That casual nonchalant attitude is long gone and, in its place, there's a desire to learn as much as I can in the time that remains.

I believe I said in an earlier post that, to me at least, steel feels more effortless than a medium-strung acoustic. Whenever I sit down to play, it's usually at my Emmons.
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
----------------------------------
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 3:15 am    
Reply with quote

Interesting topic.. One I can relate to.. Like everyone I started on guitar as kid.. Well actually I was a drummer, but I started noodling on the guitars my band mates left at practice, and in fairly short order I was better at it than they were.. We all stunk to be sure! I was an average guitar player with a crap voice surrounded by above average and very good guitarists with good voices, and was getting few offers to play in good bands. I heard the pedal steel on early country rock albums freaked out over the sound, and my wife bought me a very clean contact paper Maverick.. Within 2 months I was out playing in bands,, some pretty good some not so good, and then at maybe 6 months got into a really good band on the very hot NJ/NY rock club scene and was playing 5-6 nights a week.

Those days it was almost all pedal steel, not near as much guitar... I became the"steel man".. Then as time went on "southern rock" became much more prominent, and cover bands that wore cowboy hats had to play more Allmans/Skynyrd/CDB/Outlaws/ than New Riders/Poco/PPL/Burritos...

At that time, I started playing guitar more and more, and getting a lot better at it becoming a proficient southern rock/blues/country ""stylist"", sounding a lot like Hughie Thommason meets Eric Clapton, not as good of course, just a convincing rip off, that I developed because I had to.. Started singing more as well, and developed into a serviceable lead and harmony vocalist over time, with a fair falsetto for high harmonies... I typically sang lead about 1/3 of each performance for years.. so now we are into the 80's-90's-2000's.... All during that time, I played half steel, half guitar, and sang either lead or harmony on every song, and again was forced to adapt to singing while playing steel.. I never found it all that easy, but did it well enough that only I knew it was a pain in the rear end..

Then as time went on, the steel was relegated to just a few songs a night as country rock and even a lot of southern rock faded into obscurity, and I was just a guitarist/singer, that played steel on 3 maybe 4 songs a night... then at some point, I started playing with a couple good "retro country" bands playing a lot more steel, and a lot less guitar, which suited me fine.. I really enjoyed those last several years of my "gigging life", and sometimes wish I could return to it, but my wife won't have any of it, and I suppose I understand.

These days, I play electric spanish guitar in a church praise band, and I do like it.. exclusively chords backing the 2 female vocalists, 90 percent first position chords, lots of "ethereal" sounding backup, using mod effects.. I sing harmony sometimes, and perform "special music" here and there playing acoustic guitar in a duo with my wife who has a good voice that sounds VERY much like Stevie Nicks.. The congregation really enjoys it... So while no longer performing on my pedal steel,, I play it daily, and keep up my speed and dexterity, because one never knows where life will take us.. i never thought I would even BE a steel player,, or a competent guitar player, or a half ass singer, or a guy that plays every sunday in church for a very appreciative group of believers. I get as many compliments from the congregation as i used to get from the drunks in the rock bars... In my case, the pedal steel made me a much better, much more valuable musician.. Just the fact that I could play it convincingly opened doors that I never would have been able to walk through if I had not played it.. Once I walked through those doors I had to work harder and adapt as music tastes changed, and while the pedal steel was a focal point for decades, I had to get better at spanish guitar and had to improve my vocal abilities to stay relevant.. It was the pedal steel that got me into situations that gave me the opportunity to be a better, more well rounded, and more desirable musician... I still play both each and every day these days, and I am thankful the Lord has blessed me with the ability to do so... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
View user's profile Send private message

Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 7:24 am    
Reply with quote

Good post, Bob!

"...playing convincingly.."

What an apt phrase! It's what I managed to do, by playing in tune and staying within the boundaries of my technique.

The folks who booked me - some of them luminary producers - knew no different, and I left them with something that pleased them.
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
----------------------------------
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 8:16 am    
Reply with quote

Roger Rettig wrote:
Good post, Bob!

"...playing convincingly.."

What an apt phrase! It's what I managed to do, by playing in tune and staying within the boundaries of my technique.

The folks who booked me - some of them luminary producers - knew no different, and I left them with something that pleased them.

Thanks Roger.. over the years, I have found that most of us 'of a certain age', have had strikingly similar experience.. I suppose at some point, I realized I was never going to be as good at pedal steel as some other guys in my area.[A few post here regularly!]... Also figured I wasn't going to good looking guy with a great voice that could front a band.. So like a lot of us, I bolstered what I could from whatever "game" I had, and tried to be the best "band guy" I could, and it worked out ok in the long run and still kind of works...
I look at the great players that can play gorgeous solo renditions of classic songs in all genres', and am envious because that always eluded me.. To this day I doubt I can play 3 or 4 instrumentals all the way through... On spanish guitar or steel, I will never be picked out as a standout in a crowd of other players.. Probably won't get overlooked either, and I guess thats fine... Guys like myself, and the way you have described yourself as a player over the years, had[and have] to maximize the good they can do, ditch the weak parts, and "play well with others"... Some graet ensembles over the years have consisted of guys that never showed virtuosity on their own, but within their musical units, could shine.. I guess thats considered "success" as a musician. lots of guys try hard and never make it to that level, even some with serious talent. I learned this long ago.. If you can't do everything on a musical instrument that some others can, do what you CAN do very well, make it clean, dirty, hard, soft, loud soft, fast, slow, IN TUNE,IN TIME, and with conviction. Even to this day, I never look at what a musician can do technically.. I look more at how well he does what he is capable of.. Jerry Garcia was great example.. He was a beginning pedal steel player, and a very basic banjo player, but played both with world class talented musicians and singers, and was able to shine by just playing well the things he COULD play, and not worrying to much about what he couldn't play.. Not much of a secret really, but it is what has worked for a lot of us!... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......


Last edited by Bob Carlucci on 11 Apr 2024 3:34 am; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message

Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 8:57 am     I don’t know what an armpit guitar is
Reply with quote

I set my Noble Spanish Standard Six-String Axe aside for about a year when I first started playing pedal steel. I had no regular gig at the time and was already semi-retired from my other life’s work. After figuring out a basic process for how to advance on psg, I started playing NSSS-SA guitar regularly again. Enjoying the hell out of both now. Also have a gig playing funky bass, which is pretty hilarious.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 10:10 am    
Reply with quote

Bob

In my case, I was proud that I came to be a go-to guy on guitar: specifically fingerstyle electric then, when the b-bender thing erupted, I was an early starter on that. It all got me some good work and the '70s/'80s saw me working almost exclusively in studios.

My rep opened the door for my mediocre steel playing - not terrible because I was careful to play within myself - but the fundamental mistake I made was to say, upon buying my first PSG: "How hard can this possibly be? Just learn the grips and the pedals and I'll be off to the races."

Wrong! The bad habits I assimilated have plagued me ever since and I genuinely regret my cavalier approach fifty years ago.

I have recently acquired a Tascam 8-track recorder. I just made a simple rhythm track for 'Love Me Tender' and overdubbed both steel and Telecaster. I'm appalled at the result: that gulf is still there. I'm proud of the Tele solo: the steel part? Not so much.

It will never see the light of day, but it's sobering to learn that, for as much as I love it and am intrigued by its scope, I've actually lost ground on pedal steel
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
----------------------------------
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Allan Revich


From:
Victoria, BC
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 12:08 pm    
Reply with quote

I kind of went the other direction to armpit guitars.
Harmonica to Ukulele to Lap Steel to Spanish

As for the terminology, it’s all about utility for me. Armpit Guitar is (IMHO) the most useful way to differentiate on SGF since the default guitar here is a steel guitar.
_________________
Current Tunings:
6 String | G – D G D G B D
7 String | G9 – D G B D F A D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 1:46 pm    
Reply with quote

Quote:
As for the terminology, it’s all about utility for me. Armpit Guitar is (IMHO) the most useful way to differentiate on SGF since the default guitar here is a steel guitar.

No, it's not. And I do not want to see it become the default.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 1:46 pm    
Reply with quote

Or we could call psg’s “toe cheese” guitars.

Seriously. How about fretted guitar, or finger guitar? Armpit is just plain stupid, disrespectful, and conceited.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

James Holland


From:
Alabama, USA
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 7:17 pm    
Reply with quote

Isnt it just called a "six string" or flattop or archtop?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 10 Apr 2024 7:52 pm    
Reply with quote

Quote:
Isnt it just called a "six string" or flattop or archtop?

Not all guitars are six-strings, nor are they all flattop or archtop. It's a guitar, pure and simple. A steel guitar is a steel guitar ('steel' refers to the steel bar, not the guitar), a guitar is a guitar. There are various adjectives one can ascribe to different specific types of guitars if you want to specify further. These are in common usage:

Acoustic flattop
Acoustic archtop
Acoustic/Electric flattop
Electric archtop
Solid body electric
12-string
7-string
8-string
Tenor (4 strings)
Bojotar (I have one - it's a 6-string guitar but the 6th string is like a banjo's 5th string)
Banjitar (generally a guitar configured like a 5-string banjo)
Mando-guitar (I have a TEO 12-string mando-guitar - a 12-string with a short scale but guitar-like intervals)
Big Joe Williams played a 9-string
Fretless (yes, there are fretless guitars)
Lap steel
Console steel
Pedal steel
Slide
Tapper (our own Chris Templeton's design)
Resonator
Weissenborn

and no doubt many more. They're all guitars. There's 'Spanish', not played with a steel bar, and steel guitar, played with a bar. With the exception of Marty Robbins' Terz guitar, they are not played out of the armpit.

The problem with using controversial terms like armpit guitar is that it insults people and distracts from the actual topic. This is why the forum rules state:

Quote:
You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not post any material which is knowingly false, defamatory, libelous, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, racist or illegal.

IMO, the term is, at best, inaccurate and I consider it vulgar and insulting. I am not OK with the steel guitar world re-writing the language for the guitar world, of which I am a part - people are now talking about this being the 'default' descriptor for a guitar. No, not on this forum. I will push back.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 11 Apr 2024 2:07 am    
Reply with quote

Dave

You found the right adjective and that's what troubles me about it.

It's vulgar.

I'm uncomfortable with vulgarity in any context.
_________________
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
----------------------------------
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP