Pedal Steel Music

Hi guys and gals,

As many of you know, I started off my music career as a teacher teaching many different instruments before focusing exclusively on steel guitar. The reason steel guitar got me was because of the beautiful droning strains of notes that were impossible to create on any other type of instrument. The versatility of the instrument is beyond compare. It is the only instrument which cannot be faithfully synthesized or successfully emulated by any electronic means. This is one of the saving graces of steel guitar in Nashville today. You cannot be replaced by the keyboard player because sampling even with the most expensive and sophisticated samplers cannot capture the essence of the instrument.

Many instruments can be played much faster. Many other instruments are more portable. Most other instruments are easier to maintain and tune … but the pedal steel guitar has a magic no other instrument. Is it worth going to the trouble to become a master of possibly the greatest instrument of the world? I think we’d all say yes on that one.

How we learn and how we have learned to play this instrument is an art in itself. Have you ever wondered why some kids who have been playing only a year or so can play incredibly well and some people who have been playing for twenty years who are brilliant in another craft, can’t seem to play steel guitar pleasingly at all? Sometimes talent is wrongfully given credit for this when it should actually go to consistent disciplined practice. Ask yourself, “What is talent?” Is it the ability to focus, concentrate and train motor memory? I feel that focusing on the correct technique in the beginning of your playing and recognizing what the stumbling blocks are will keep you from playing as smooth and fast as some of the great players you have witnessed is the important factor. I see many players who have been playing for years who still pump their volume pedal mercilessly when in fact it should barely be moving at all. Why didn’t they recognize this flaw when they were first learning to play? If this fact is pointed out to them, they would probably say they never thought about it or even ask what’s wrong with that? (Denial) The point of this post after playing and being a teacher for over 45 years is … make yourself aware of the minute, seemingly insignificant things that make a great steel guitar player great. Watch Buddy Emmons’ volume pedal and how little it moves. Watch his right and left hand technique when he plays the intro to “Way To Survive”. Watch, learn and absorb. I see many steel players every week come into my store and play. There are some unknowns who are great and some well-knowns who are bad. I’m sure you know and have personal opinions of your own on this subject. Remember the last newsletter … just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you’re good. You can learn from the bad as well as from the good. Ever watch “Cops” on television? You’ll see some pretty good examples of what not to do. You can watch steel guitar players and get good examples of what not to do. Remember also that unlearning is harder than learning just as breaking an old bad habit is harder than learning a new good habit.

In my teaching videos, I stress the correct methods of playing and learning. Learning correctly and forcing yourself to do it correctly is the only way you can reach greatness. Watch the finest players that you can watch, watch them very closely, ask questions, buy video tapes, CDs and concentrate very intently on the aspects of your playing that you need to be aware of. The intro to “Way To Survive” is extremely easy to play but very few people can make it sound as good as Buddy Emmons does. What’s the difference in the way he does it? Watch and listen closely and you’ll be able to see it. The right hand … where it is on the string, how the picks attack and release the string, how the bar is held in the left hand, how the strings are deadened behind the bar, volume pedal technique … are a few of the things to be observed. Buddy Emmons isn’t the only person whom you should observe this closely. Remember Jerry Byrd, Weldon Myrick, Tom Brumley and many other great players are worth watching and listening to very closely.

That’s why I offer CDs, tapes and videos. I want you to be the very best you can be.

Your buddy,

Bobbe

www.steelguitar.net

sales@steelguitar.net

www.bobbeseymour.com

P.S. Blatant self promotion: Remember my Christmas CD makes a great gift … and to those of you who have it already, thank you for all the wonderful compliments I’ve received. Now go to my website and order everything you can afford.

Hi guys and gals,

The newsletter this week is a little bit different than the topics I’ve covered before. I feel many of you need to be educated on what the true meaning of the word restoration is as it pertains to steel guitar. I have been seeing several guitars advertised on the forum and elsewhere as being restorations or totally restored, only to have the new buyers come to me in a state of despair over what they received as a restoration.

If any of you have ever gone to a car museum where every vehicle had been restored to as good as or better than new, you may understand what I’m getting at here. Having gone through Harrah’s Auto Museum in Reno, Nevada, I have seen many cars that sold for $800 to $1200 dollars new which had had $40,000 to $60,000 worth of restoration done to them. This drove home the point that is very obvious. A full restoration on a steel guitar today, takes much longer and is much more expensive than when the guitar was built at the factory the first time. I am in the business of restoring the two most popular and sought after steel guitar brands that have been built so far in our profession. Of course, I’m speaking of Sho-Bud and Emmons … as if I really had to tell you!

Restoring these two brands of guitars is like restoring automotive brands such as Ferrari, Rolls-Royce or Shelby American products. To restore some brands of guitars would make no more sense than restoring an ‘86 Pontiac station wagon or a Mercury Sable. The value of what you end up with is nothing compared to the expense you’ll incur. At the present time, who cares if you have a brand new Chevette. However, a nicely restored ’66 Mustang convertible would bring 10 to 20 times what it cost new … for the right model.

The quality of restoration in a steel guitar or an automobile will determine the final value of the unit.

I am seeing several steel guitars show up on the forum and on Ebay that people are calling restorations that are nothing more than simply a major cleanup. It’s like a car that’s been detailed and then called restored.

Ok, so now you ask what do you do to a steel guitar when you restore it. When a steel guitar comes into Steel Guitar Nashville to be restored, we totally disassemble the guitar into as many pieces as it will go into. We throw away all the screws, the case, strings, fretboards and usually the tuning keys and pickups and everything electronic and replace all these parts with brand new. The body and necks will be totally stripped down to the bare wood before the new finish of several coats of nitrocellulose laquar is applied and then highly buffed and polished after a three week curing period. The aluminum castings are all sent to the professional where they were buffed and polished when the guitar was originally manufactured. Before reassembly, every moving part that moves against any other part is checked for wear and is replaced if needed. If it can be made like new, it will be, if it can’t, it will be replaced with a new part. Any parts that are not available are remachined from materials as good as or better than new.

Now, I do not approve of redesigning or hot-rodding or mixing parts from different years during the restoration. All Sho-Bud and Emmons guitars work perfectly when adjusted correctly, regardless of year of manufacture. A hot-rod is not a restoration, it’s a modification. I feel there is no such thing as doing re-engineering or modifications to a restoration. For instance, if you have a ’70 Sho-Bud Professional but want all the parts from an ’85 Sho-Bud including the changer installed on it, not only are you ruining a classic but I doubt if your guitar will work as well after you put all those hours and all that money into it to ruin it.

The classic example is converting an Emmons push-pull to an all pull. Not only will you ruin one of the greatest classics of all time, but it probably won’t play as well and it definitely won’t sound as good … and you will be anywhere from a thousand to two thousand dollars poorer. This is not counting the money you’ll lose on the value of the guitar because such a modification would definitely devalue it.

Are there other guitars coming up that are worth the restoration process? The Zum guitars made in the mid to late seventies are good future candidates as are the ZB guitars made from ’65 to ’75. I cannot think of any other guitar at the moment other than some of the very earliest such as Bigsbys, non-pedal Fenders and possibly non-pedal Gibsons.

The point I want to make is, when somebody says they’re having so and so restore their guitar, or when someone says they have a restored Emmons or Sho-Bud available, make sure you both understand and agree what the word restoration means. A poorly done restoration can ruin the value of the guitar. A quality restoration can easily quadruple the value of the guitar.

Remember now that we are talking about the world of steel guitar. I am not talking about lead guitars like Martin, Fender or Gibson.

A totally mint, brand new, unplayed, original condition 1970 Sho-Bud Professional will be worth as much as a hundred point high quality restoration. Remember, it’s the condition that determines everything, restored or not. I have people call me everyday and ask me a question like what’s a ’75 Sho-Bud worth, to which I reply what’s a ’75 Cadillac worth … or what’s a ’65 Mustang worth? It’s very hard to see through a telephone and condition means almost everything. A ’75 Sho-Bud can be worth $200 if it’s a Maverick in average shape or $3000 if it’s a Pro III in mint condition. There are some ’84 Super Pro II’s that have already changed hands as high as $15,000 but they are in excellent condition. The value of a steel guitar can be determined by several things, most of which is condition, but also by scarcity, desirability, heritage of a particular instrument such as a Sho-Bud or Emmons personally owned by Lloyd Green, Curley Chalker, Pete Drake, Buddy Emmons, Weldon Myrick or Buddy Charlton.

However, back to restoration and condition. A perfect restoration is a valuable thing and will usually get you back more money than it cost you if it is done perfectly by someone who knows every detail of how it’s supposed to be done.

Many of you reading this may think this will never apply to you because you’re just going to buy brand new guitars forever. The older guitars I’m talking about generally look, play and feel better than the guitars that are being built today … and positively sound better than the current crop of production guitars. The advantage of having a restored guitar is that it will usually go up in value starting right away as opposed to buying a brand new guitar which will go down in value before it starts to climb back up … assuming of course, you are buying a quality guitar which will go back up in value instead of one that continually goes down and down.

In my opinion, if you own a classic Sho-Bud or Emmons guitar, you may be better off having it restored than buying a new guitar. Either way, I feel that the more educated you are as a buyer, the better you’ll be prepared to evaluate the guitar you’re considering purchasing.

Your buddy,

Bobbe

www.steelguitar.net

sales@steelguitar.net

www.bobbeseymour.com

Hi guys and gals,

I want to thank everybody for their tremendous input and response to the last newsletter. I had several return emails that I think were written better than my message to you. This subject of fame drew way more reaction than I suspected. It seems that many of us know or have had brushes with famous people at one time or another.

Fame is in the mind of the beholder. All of us are famous to a varying degree. You may be the most famous player in your town or your state and be respected by more fellow musicians and their children than you could even know. Or you may have a position in a social or religious organization where someone looks up to you as a role model.

Personally, regardless of how well I am known in Nashville and the world of steel guitar, I am a regular Joe in flying organizations that I’m a member of. Many of my fellow members in these flying clubs were fighter aces and bomber pilots from WWII, the Korean war or the Viet Nam war and have been very high ranking officers in the Armed Services. They could care less who I am or what I do in the world of music. Am I famous to them? No. But I can’t tell you the respect and admiration I have for them. I have many customers who are now close friends who are “big wheels” in major companies, in medicine, in law etc. who tell me they admire me tremendously for what I’ve done, but I feel a high degree of humility when I’m in their presence. I have respect for everyone because everyone has something that they can do better than I can. I’m no good at plumbing, law, medicine, politics or driving a road grader, or cooking or whatever, but I respect those that do these jobs as much as they respect me for what I do.

I’m sure you have realized, as I have, through the last newsletter and your responses, respect is much more valuable than fame.

Christmas time is drawing near and just in case you want to give your wife some hints, here’s a link to the Christmas sale page … www.steelguitar.net/sale.html … which you can print out and put on her pillow along with a Hershey’s Kiss.

These super special prices are available only to you, my mailing list members and these prices are confidential and for you only. You must phone your order in because these items are not in the shopping cart at these prices. The phone number is (615) 822-5555 and I look forward to hearing from you … or from your wife!

Your buddy,

Bobbe

www.steelguitar.net

sales@steelguitar.net

www.bobbeseymour.com