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  Where are Red Rhodes' steels today?

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Author Topic:   Where are Red Rhodes' steels today?
Joe Alterio
Member

From: Fishers, Indiana

posted 25 January 2005 12:19 PM     profile     
I've always wondered this....maybe someone here knows?

From my photos and conversations with others, I know he owned:

*Black Fender 400 with his name on it under the keyhead

*Fender 400 (or 800?) with pictures of...er...female anatomy all over it

*Dekley D-10 maple with white fretboards

*Blue mica MCI (globe logo) single neck


Where are they now......hmmmmmmm?

Joe

John Bresler
Member

From: Medford, Oregon

posted 25 January 2005 07:08 PM     profile     
Reds Fender 1000 is owned by Al Gershen in Grants Pass, Oregon. It still has the padded door hinges for knee levers and is very original. Al plays it in a local band. Al and Red were friends for many years before Red's passing. Al is a forum member and his email address can be found in the on-line steelers directory if you'd like to contact Al to see a picture of the steel.

[This message was edited by John Bresler on 07 February 2005 at 05:23 PM.]

Herb Steiner
Member

From: Cedar Valley, Travis County TX

posted 25 January 2005 08:00 PM     profile     
One of Red's guitars, I'm not sure which, is owned by Red's son Michael, who's a Los Angeles County Fire Chief. Michael's son is playing the steel and learning the ways of the steeler.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association


Jim Cohen
Member

From: Philadelphia, PA

posted 25 January 2005 08:14 PM     profile     
quote:
Michael's son is playing the steel and learning the ways of the steeler.
Why? Didn't anybody ever tell him...? Sumbuddy shoulda 'splained that...
Joe Alterio
Member

From: Fishers, Indiana

posted 28 January 2005 05:31 AM     profile     
Thanks guys.....that accounts for a couple of 'em at least!

BTW, Herb...thanks for the heads up about that movie Red was in (uncredited): Hillbillies In A Haunted Mansion. I found it online for $6 on DVD and sure enough...there he is playing on stage for a solid 10 - 15 minutes on that Fender...a number of close-ups, too! I'd have never known about this had you not told me....thanks!!!

BTW...if anyone has some pics of Red, please post 'em!

Joe

Winnie Winston
Member

From: Tawa, Wellington, NZ

posted 30 January 2005 03:15 PM     profile     
I first saw Red playing a Sierra.
I have a pic of him with that guitar in my book.

Winnie

Joe Alterio
Member

From: Fishers, Indiana

posted 30 January 2005 03:55 PM     profile     
That's right....I forgot all about that one, Winnie.

Seems odd that he played all these other brands, but never a Sho-Bud or Emmons. Seems everyone has owned/played these at least once in their life

I recall reading somewhere on the Forum years ago that Red had a steel made for him (?) and that he absolutely hated the tone and didn't keep it. I don't recall the brand, though...

Joe

Michael Johnstone
Member

From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

posted 30 January 2005 06:24 PM     profile     
When I first moved to L.A. in the early 70s,I used to hang out at his shop down in Hollywood a lot and I saw him own and play a lot of guitars. He had a D-10 Sierra as well as a real pretty natural laquer MSA with a ten string back neck with his Eb6 on there and a twelve string front nect with an Eb diatonic on it. I wonder who ended up with that puppy. -MJ-
Larry Behm
Member

From: Oregon City, Oregon

posted 31 January 2005 04:56 AM     profile     
Back in the late 70's Sierra made a 22" scale guitar for him, which he played a lot. Once in St Louis I caught him after one of his sets and he could not wait to show me his latest trick. He put a 5/16 to 3/8 rod under the guitar that stretched end to end, bowed over what might be considered to be a sound post, like a fiddle would have.
No cabinet drop and great sustain.

Larry Behm

Al Gershen
Member

From: Grants Pass, OR, USA

posted 07 February 2005 06:34 AM     profile     
Hi SGF group:

I've been playing Red Rhode's Fender 1000 since 1964 or 1965. At that time, Red bought a new Fender 800 and he sold me his Fender 1000.

Here's a link for some photos of the underside of Red's steel:

http://webpages.charter.net/aldg/Aldgs%20music/Gear/Fender%201000/

One of the reasons I have used this guitar all these years is that Red rewound its pickups and its tone quality, at least to me, is very good.

If you have some other questions about this guitar, please post your comments under this subject thread.

Have a good week.

------------------
Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, Oregon. USA
Fender 1000 (1957),
Fender PS 210 (1970) &
Gibson Electraharp EH-820 (1961)
Al's Photographs at http://www.alsphotographs.com

[This message was edited by Al Gershen on 26 February 2005 at 07:27 PM.]

Herb Steiner
Member

From: Cedar Valley, Travis County TX

posted 07 February 2005 06:47 AM     profile     
I forgot to mention one guitar I knew about. Red had a S-11 ZB Custom, beautiful green and natural maple. He *sold* it to Johnny Paycheck, but I don't know if he ever got paid for it... that was one of his gripes..., and I saw it dismantled in a pawn shop in San Diego back in 1969. Paycheck was on the skids in those days.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association


Ken Byng
Member

From: Southampton, England

posted 08 February 2005 02:45 PM     profile     
Red's ZB ended up in the UK back in the '70's. A guy called Eric Snowball who was the UK distributor for ZB's at the time brought it in, and it still had Red's tuning on it. I remember having a go on the guitar - the tuning was very interesting to say the least.
Joe Alterio
Member

From: Fishers, Indiana

posted 18 February 2005 07:01 PM     profile     
Al,

Is this the steel you have?

Al Marcus
Member

From: Cedar Springs,MI USA

posted 18 February 2005 07:16 PM     profile     
I met Red when I was out in California, watched him play all night. He used a Eb tuning so he wouldn't break strings so much if he had it E6, and that is what it basically was.
I was so happy to meet a steel player of his caliber. He was multi-talented...al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Bob Metzger
Member

From: Waltham (Boston), MA, USA

posted 23 February 2005 01:39 AM     profile     
Dave Borisoff, the Hipshot guy, has a steel of Red's, a Fender. He 's in the Buffalo, NY area now, but used to be in L.A. I don't recall which model.

Bob M.

Jason Odd
Member

From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

posted 23 February 2005 06:00 AM     profile     
That picture of Red that Joe kindly supplied is from 1966, or at least the footage was made then. The film from which it was taken came out in 1967.
Rick McDuffie
Member

From: Smithfield, North Carolina, USA

posted 23 February 2005 06:49 PM     profile     
I didn't become aware of Red until his association with the First National Band. This is very informative- thanks!
Brian Herder
Member

From: Philadelphia, Pa. USA

posted 24 February 2005 07:41 AM     profile     
That looks like an 800 in the picture..must be the one that replaced the 1000.
Al Gershen
Member

From: Grants Pass, OR, USA

posted 26 February 2005 07:33 PM     profile     
Hi Joe Alterio and Brian Herder:

Joe's photo of Red show him playing his Fender 800.

When Red acquired this guitar, it allowed him to sell me his trusty Fender 1000, which I continue to use every Friday evening at Lulubell's Restaurant in Murphy, Oregon.

I hope to see your there sometimes. :-)

Regards,
Al Gershen
Grants Pass, OR

chas smith
Member

From: Encino, CA, USA

posted 26 February 2005 08:08 PM     profile     
I bought my first Sho Bud Super Pro from Red, when he had the shop on Cahuenga, Royal Amplifier Repair, and he rewound the pickups on it. He had a keyless Fender and later had a light blue MCI with a truss rod underneith to keep it from flexing.
Jim Bob Sedgwick
Member

From: Clinton, Missouri USA

posted 27 February 2005 02:59 PM     profile     
Red was a fan of keyless guitars, but he did not think they looked very good. On the aforementioned MCI, Red placed a block similar to standard guitars at the key head that could be locked down, essentially making the guitar keyless. He also had minute tuners for tweaking attached to the changer fingers. Best of both worlds. The look of a keyed guitar but made keyless. Red was quite the innovator.
Herb Steiner
Member

From: Cedar Valley, Travis County TX

posted 27 February 2005 03:22 PM     profile     
Red showed me that keyless changer back around 69 or 70. He got some kind of patent on it, because he expressed great amusement that some part of it stymied David Jackson from HIS version of a keyless design. I think there's a shot of Hal Rugg playing the keyless ShoBud in Winnie's book.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association


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