Great pics Ray!
What brand is the lap steel? If it's a Fender or Gibson, don't touch
it. Not that it will be worth a ton, but they drop value real quick if
modified.
Short Long story:
in about 1974, I drove my 66 Rambler to Iowa City for my buddy in the
band JE (Duluth) to pick up a Fender Strat, I want to say 1967-1969
Sunburst, with a lot of soul. On the way back from the trip, the
Rambler was hit from behind while the Strat was in the trunk. It was
OK. JE proceeded to refinish it to Natural. Played it for Years in the
band, then sold it to a good friend in KC to buy an L5 Gibson.
My brother Dave used to live there after the band days, and Jam with
Stu who owned the guitar. After all these years (about 25 or 30) Stu
gave the guitar to Dave for a Birthday present. Dave built him one of
those amps he makes, so it was a fairly even trade(as far as Stu was
concerned).
Dave refinished it again to a reddish or hot pink period color. I
don't know if I have a picture though. The frets were so worn that he
had to have them redone. A bass player and Luthier - Kenny - that Dave
used to gig with, tours with the Stones. I think I have a pic of the
guy (He has a blank check at all times from Keith to find vintage
axes). Anyway, he masterfully re-did the frets and neck, and the
guitar is great again. What is it worth? Priceless for the memories.
If it had never been touched? $30K+
When Dave and JE and I were together fishing in Duluth this year, we
told Dave the story about getting hit on the way back from getting it.
We all got chills when Dave told us that when he was coming back with
the guitar from KC to Omaha, he was hit from behind coming off the
freeway. He didn't care about the car as much as the Strat. Spooky Huh?
Good to have friends that can fix guitars. You never know what will
happen.
JC
On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 11:49 PM, Jim Dos <jdos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:jdos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Sounds like life is good.
Tuning ? boy this is something way diff than I'm used to.
If it works,, go for it.. LOL
A friend, Steve, who really likes to fix guitars, brought me back
my Ibanez that had the neck broken it the 'wind'.,,.... and
somehow straightened out a really nice epi that was warped.. a
good will shopping deal. The epi is a really nice box.. rosewood,
nice inlays, etc.. nice low action.. = now I have to spend some
time getting back into it, after making my hands nothing but art
rightis after running the nail guns and saws... gotta love semi
retirement ? ha.. that will be the day.
Got the second she door hung and adjusted today.. pics at 11..
LOL. Finally have the shop closed in.. sorta kinda.. needs more
corner and rake trim to be better. But it keeps the 'gale' out,
which is saying something.. 30 mphs today.. was warm but blustery.
Keep sending the warm winds this way so I can keep doing stuff.. I
get cranky when it' s below 32 for very long. LOL
Jim
*From:*elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On Behalf Of *Ray Buck
*Sent:* Sunday, November 28, 2010 11:21 PM
*To:* elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [elky] OT: lap steel guitar (and a coupla photos)
After a coupla false starts with strings, I finally got a set of
Hawaiian steel stings for "open E" tuning, along with a (harder to
find than hens' teeth) tuning chard for that tuning scheme. I put
'em on tonite and after a little learning curve in gettin the
string tension right (a hell of a lot tighter than bass strings,
that's for sure) I was able to get the thing set the way it's
supposed to be.
Rick, yer gonna love this. Jim, I dunno if you've messed with
these critters before, but they'se a totally different animal.
Anyway tuning is (from low to high): E - B - E - G# - B - E.
Don't ask me. I jsut report 'em, I don't 'splain 'em. But I was
able to find several ways of picking triplets and I found that I
prefer using my fingers rather than finger picks...so far. Don't
ask me next week.
I was also able to play rhythm guitar part on several blues songs
in E and a couple in A by transposing up 5 frets. I didn't say
that I played 'em well, but it's the best I've done since I got
the thing 4 weeks ago
Now I need to see about painting/getting it painted and striped.
Kandy tangerine metalflake or Kandy emerald green flake. I may
try it with rattle cans...or I may see if I can find someone
locally who wants to trade some photo work or bass lessons or
something.
Now it's time to play with my organ before bed. I've found a
practice regimen that's working for me for the moment. If my
damned legs would quit tryin to head for parts unknown, I'd enjoy
it more. "A night without RLS is like a day without attacks from
demon spawn." And they've taken the only effective medicine (for
me) off the damned market (Darvocet.) I gotta confer with the
witch doctor.
Ohh..yesterday was granddaughter Josie's 1st BD party. She held
up better than the adults:
And I finally got a nice smile shot from my eldest son's wife (a
beautiful, but shy woman)
It was a good day.
r
