Stevens Bar – The Stevens bar is an absolute piece of junk. The dobro players use them because a dobro player can get away with murder, it doesn’t make any difference what they play with. Players who use them lay their index finger on the trough on top of the bar and all that does is immediately put your hand in a position that if you want to make a quick slant you have got to turn your whole hand and that finger and by then it’s too late and you can’t do it fast enough and you can’t do it accurately. I have had students come to me with these Stevens Bars and I tell them to take the bar to a machine shop and drill a hole about half an inch from either end and use it for a fishing sinker out here in the ocean because it ain’t worth a d--- to play steel guitar with as far as I am concerned. Anyone using one should get rid of it because there is too much you can’t do with it and nothing you can do with it.

Shubb Pierce No 2 is a great bar for Dobro.

Works well for lap steel, too :P

[This message was edited by Ally on 26 November 2002 at 08:16 AM.]

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

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UTILITY MAN PRODUCTIONS
'73 EMMONS D10 FATBACK, '92 EMMONS D10 LASHLEY LEGRANDE,
'85 DOBRO 60DS, '95 DOBRO F60S,
'95 MELOBAR CUSTOM, 1955 FENDER TRIPLE NECK STRINGMASTER. EVANS, FENDER, PEAVEY,
and MESA BOOGIE Amps.

[This message was edited by Michael T. Hermsmeyer on 28 November 2002 at 01:02 AM.]

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UTILITY MAN PRODUCTIONS
'73 EMMONS D10 FATBACK, '92 EMMONS D10 LASHLEY LEGRANDE,
'85 DOBRO 60DS, '95 DOBRO F60S,
'95 MELOBAR CUSTOM, 1955 FENDER TRIPLE NECK STRINGMASTER. EVANS, FENDER, PEAVEY,
and MESA BOOGIE Amps.

I've used the Stevens and then the SP2 which is a good "compromise" bar. At this point I'm using the Scheerhorn, which is very comfortable and really gives sharper hammers & pulls. I'm also using Jim Burden's bullet bar with a bit of a flat nose that he made for me. The two bars give me what I'm looking for depending what kind of music I'm playing, or attempting to play. The Burden bar is excellent for reverse slants.

Now if these two could only be made into one bar.....

[This message was edited by HowardR on 06 December 2002 at 08:46 AM.]

I like the Goodrich plastic matchbro bar. It is a round 7/8 bar meant for 10 string steel. Its purpose is to make a steel sound like a dobro. This bar plus the MatchBro do an ok job of imitating the sound of a dobro.

Well, turns out it has a great sound on a reso guitar. It is very light. Fast, easy slanting both ways. Since it is light and not slippery like steel, you can pick it up quickly.

I play nonpedal electric most of the time with a round steel bar. When I play my resophonics, using a round bar of the same dimensions is an easier transition.

quote:

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I remember when that post was put on the Jerry Douglas message board; didn't go down too well!

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yeah... just don't shoot the messenger..

[This message was edited by HowardR on 06 December 2002 at 07:03 PM.]

The beveled ends help you play those single-note hammer-and-pull notes (ie, fiddle tunes and low-down banjo licks) close to the nut without hitting an adjacent string. Much cleaner-sounding than a round end, especially if you are standing up.

And don't forget that you have to hit those heavy-gage Dobro strings 2-3x as hard as PSG strings, or (a) you won't coax much tone out of the instrument, and (b) nobody will hear you between the D-28's and the banjo. Note: I use Beard Special 29's for G-tuning: 0.018" to 0.060". This more physical right-hand technique also requires more physical left-hand technique -- and the grooved bar is part of it.

But when I play PSG, I always use a big round bar, I can't imagine otherwise. And don't tell anybody, but I go "both ways" on a lap steel.

One of the best players in our area ,wouldnt use anything else. I dont think he`s bought a new one though.