The Country Classics
Bobbe Seymour talks about steel guitars
I am adding the following article, submitted by Bobbe Seymour, to our educational section. You’ll learn quite a bit about steel guitars. Visit Bobbe when you are in Nashville, or visit him on the Internet
First of all, I’d like to say there is something about steel guitars that most steel players need to know and it seems like nobody does. Cracks in the bodies of steel guitars is a very common thing between the tailpiece and the end casting, assuming most of you know what the tailpiece and the end casting are.
The body in this area cracks on almost all steel guitars after a period of time. The wood dries out in the body of the guitar and tends to contract. This happens on pianos, fiddles, all regular acoustic guitars and any musical instrument made out of wood.
On a steel guitar, these cracks in the top of the body between the tailpiece of the neck and the end casting that bolts onto the body has no effect on the tone or strength of the guitar whatsoever. This also happens with all mica guitars, but the mica keeps the crack or cracks from being visible.
As a matter of fact, the whole chunk of wood can be taken totally out of the guitar and as most of you steel guitar fanatics know, the Sho-Bud Fingertip guitar has no wood in this area at all and doesn’t need it. This part of any steel guitar can be cut completely out, so obviously, a microscopic crack makes no difference at all.
If these little cracks in the body worry you, they are about the easiest fix of anything on a steel guitar and I can and will do it for $25 and it will be fixed where it will never happen again.
I’m getting inquiries from steel guitar players all around the world wondering how they can get their guitars services and get things fixed when they’re broken and they’re in Germany, Australia or the Orient.
Let me warn every one of you far away overseas potential buyers of steel guitars right now. You don’t need to be buying guitars you can’t get parts for. You should not be buying a steel guitar that parts are not plentiful for. Many old Sho-Buds and many home made guitars are not good candidates for continued good service over the next forty years.
Guitars that are being made today in factories that are selling very well and have a great parts network behind them are the guitars to buy if you are living on a remote island in the south Pacific or any place similar.
Guitars that are very easy to work on from a labor standpoint should be considered over those that aren’t. Home made guitars or any guitar where the design of the guitar changes after every ten guitars, are not guitars to buy.
Please consider the cooperation of the factory and their consideration to you in servicing what they have sold. Unless you are very handy with a hacksaw or drill press and can get many different size set screws and wood screws, I’d highly suggest you buy something that is very easily serviced and easy to get parts for.
I feel that GFI and Mullen would be at the top of this list because of the number that have been produced, ease of maintenance and getting parts. I get many emails from people around the world wanting parts for guitars that haven’t even been in production for 35 years. Dek-Lee, Mar-Lin, Sho-Bud Cross-Overs and Miller are examples of guitars to stay away from unless you are an artist with a hacksaw.
Think about it like this. If you are buying a car for transportation and you live in some remote location, you wouldn’t buy a ’33 Stuts Bearcat. There are better cars for transportation.
I’d like to remind everybody that we have a great selection early vintage guitars as well as a fine selection of Emmons guitars at the moment and plenty of parts for them.
See our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html
Contact Bobbe:
www.steelguitar.net
sales@steelguitar.net
www.youtube.com/bobbeseymour
www.myspace.com/bobbeseymour
Steel Guitar Nashville
123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday
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