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Dan Sawyer
Fender Deluxe 8® (stringmaster), Fender Deluxe 8 (trap), Gibson EH-150, Wayne Lap Steel, Fender "White" 6-string w legs.

[This message was edited by Dan Sawyer on 07 October 2004 at 11:41 AM.]

I don't see the problem. Look at the girls in the picture below... they know what they want.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 07 October 2004 at 11:52 AM.]

And it's not just the steel guitar... Ask any typical person to identify the instruments in a symphony orchestra and I bet they miss a good percentage of them.
Tympany, viola, bassoon, contrabassoon, cello, glockenspiel, oboe, French horn, English horn. Forget it! They don't have a clue.

But just ask them to recite the 99 cent Value Meal menu at McDonalds and it's tatooed on their brain. Sickening.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 07 October 2004 at 12:32 PM.]

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

pedal piano? NO!
pedal organ? NO!
pedal harp? NO!
pedal bass drum? NO!

The person(s) who originated the term "pedal steel" did the instrument no favor.

I heard an old radio show that introduced Noel Boggs as, "...Noel Boggs and his Guitar!"

quote:

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I like : "straight steel"

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As opposed to "gay" ??? ...

Sorry couldn't stop myself

Just wait till Mike Neer tells folks he's playin' a Dustpan ...

The pedal steel guitar is a modification of the ORIGINAL design. As such it needs the qualifier to describe it The ORIGINAL (whether it is electric or not) needs no such qualifier

I just call it an "Okie Organ".

And besides, it's called steel guitar because you play it with a steel bar, right? So saying that you play steel guitar includes everything from a flat-top with a nut extender to a pedal steel.

When I say that I play steel guitar and get the kind of blank look that indicates they need more info, there's a whole progression of descriptions I pull out. I start with "it's a guitar held horizontally and played by moving a steel bar across the strings," and work up to "it's the instrument that makes those whiny sounds in country music."

That usually does it.

My Grandfather had a race car. With that said, who knows what kind? It was an original race car ...called a Skeeter way back when; And who knows what a Skeeter is? Simply saying Race Car sure wouldn't identify the car. To make any sense in simple identity nowadays, one would say it was a stripped down model T race car; Skeeter would add some color and authenticity.

Selling Steel guitars and preparing their advertisements makes it quite obvious pretty quickly that the term Steel Guitar is not an adequate term for simple identification. "Non-Pedal Steel Guitar" or "Lap Steel Guitar" (whichever might be the most definitive case) goes the farthest in simple identity among the general public, Musicians and Steelers alike. Non-Pedal Steel or Lap Steel suffices in most cases. Hawaiian Guitar or Hawaiian Steel Guitar is too unknown even among Musicians, Guitarists and even Steelers.

"Arguing" the abstract is obviously tempting and interesting for us. But I remind myself: K.I.S.S.

Aloha,
DT~