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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

I am sure that someone knows.

Thanks,

Here, posted with permission, is his reply:

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Hi Joey,
I'm delighted to respond to the questions regarding my tuning, pedal set-up and origins.

When I discovered the E to F knee lever in 1967 there was an awareness that I now had a complete mathematical pedal set-up and tuning with which I should be able to play anything I could conceive. It was simply a case of learning the language now accessible instead of changing or modifying the set-up (language) with the many pedal variations that came along.

I was correct, and continue to find new combinations and variations without adding or subtracting anything. Darvin Willhoite was only a few years off regarding the time frame. The year was 1967, not the early 1970s. Bobby Lee has published my exact co-pedant.

As to the fact I don't lower my 4th string E, I removed that change in 1966 because of the inconsistency in pitch return, deciding to be in tune instead. By discarding this change I was forced into finding new ways to simulate the same sound. There are many, including strings 2 &5, 4 & 5 (with the E-F lever), bar slants and a number of other replacements. I never once missed the change and, indeed, found many new voicings which add a wider, deeper resonance to the tonal range.

I'm not going to preach about this other than to say that players who finally decide they have a logical mathematical co-pedant and don't constantly add or subtract pedals, will soon find there is an entire new cornucopia of ideas waiting to be found and played. One is either a good player or not. Time doesn't change that fact. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether you play a lot of notes in a short time frame, play classical, jazz, rock or any other musical format. It has everything to do with your ability to play music that makes an emotional connection to the listener, and in a coherent, musically articulate fashion and with originality. That type of playing is timeless and the bottom line is that a really good player can play anything he wants to play. So don't be deluded by the arrogance of some into thinking one is dated because he played or recorded more prominently in the 1960s or 1970s than in the present. The criteria remains consistent. Some of you may want to hear a really unique Jazz tune which may surprise you. It's on Robbie Fulks new cd, "Georgia Hard", arguably one of the best albums to be cut in Nashville in quite a while. The song is, "Right on Redd", with Redd Volkaert and me playing the original tune written by Fulks. It's on a small label, Yep Roc Records. If you have something intelligent to say with your steel, say it.

That's what I do and will continue to do. When I run out of ideas with my set-up or find a new pedal that actually adds to my musical vocabulary.....I'll incorporate it.

Best regards,
Lloyd Green

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One is either a good player or not. Time doesn't change that fact. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether you play a lot of notes in a short time frame, play classical, jazz, rock or any other musical format. It has everything to do with your ability to play music that makes an emotional connection to the listener, and in a coherent, musically articulate fashion and with originality. That type of playing is timeless and the bottom line is that a really good player can play anything he wants to play.

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Lloyd, I do not know if you are reading this or not, but the thought about playing music that makes an emotional connection, is what I think about when I hear you play. And, indeed you are "timeless", my friend. You are the very reason I have decided to try to take up playing the PSG at 48 years of age. If I could make even one tenth the emotional connection that you could, I would die a happy man. You sir, are a CLASS act!!

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1974 MSA D10 7+4
If you ain't steelin' it, you ain't feelin' it !!

www.steelin4fun.com

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud LLG; Guyatone 6 string lap steel; John Pearse bar; Emmons bar; Evans SE200 amp

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Marco, as I've stated, my pedal set-up was completed with the addition of the F lever in 1967. At that time I added my fourth, and final, knee lever with one pedal serving as two, thus the equivalent of five knees. This was added to my Sho-Bud finger tip D-10.
When I took possession of my Sho-Bud Baldwin D-10, 1970-1973, which became the prototype for the first padded double-neck frame during the last six months I owned it (later the LDG), It came with the four knee levers that I had been using for three years.
When I received my first LDG (May 9, 1973) I returned the prototype to Sho-Bud who restored it to it's D-10 origin. This made practical sense since they had no way of knowing the future success of the LDG and the padded models all of the other manufacturers were to soon copy. So they logically assumed they could sell it for more money as a D-10, and did. That steel would today, I assume, have quite a bit of value due to it's historical significance. It was the best playing and finest sounding Sho-Bud I owned of the four I've used during my 28 years of recording.
I have numerous studio photos of me playing the Baldwin, both as a D-10 and Prototype Single-Double. It never had a model assignation of LDG nor any other initials, simply Sho-Bud in one corner, Distributed by Baldwin in the other. We didn't yet know what the acronym would be until David Jackson and I decided on LDG for the actual model, the middle initial for Dot (my wife) or David (when it suited him to tell it's genesis).

Lloyd Green

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D.S. Rigsby
Wilcox SD10 3&5
http://www.touchinglittlelives.org

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The video, an evening of E9th which features Lloyd and Tommy White is a perfect example of what Lloyd is talking about.

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I searched the web and found the "Jazz" tune mentioned called "Right On Redd" and listened to it as it was pointed out that this was a unique recording and that it might be surprising to hear.

I was more intrigued to actually hear Lloyd Green who has become the epitome of taste and tone (which can really never be considered as "dated") in country steel guitar as a result of his monumental work in the 60s and 70s stretch out into a different musical idiom than he is known for. I found this to be the uniqueness and the surprise more than the actual musical content of the recording.

The entire song is magnificent, but the last verse of that song.....wow. Lloyd was able to put so much emotion into that guitar and make the listener feel that song in a way that I don't think could ever be replicated.

Truly....my favorite pedal steel instrumental.