As an aside, I will be bringing my Fender 400 (which I bought used in 1963) with me to Scotty's convention, & will be playing it on my set this year, as a follow-up to my newly released Instructional DVD on the Ralph Mooney Style, where I'll be playing the Mooney licks on several early Buck Owens songs.

You can see a clip of me playing 'Above & Beyond' on the 400 by going to this link: http://www.steelguitarcanada.com/SGCmoon.htm

I really enjoyed this topic.
Al Brisco

It's difficult to ascertain who said what, in this field of endeavor, where slight changes in verbatim contributes to extinction of actual quotations. Some of the best quips originated, presumably, at times when great thoughts slipped away from the "tips of the tongues" of notables in the music industry. There appears to be a vague delimitation in information sources that provides the most incentive to inquisitive thinkers. You can be assured that I have visualized the setting that you've descibed so well, where the best interests in producing Fender guitars were gathered.

[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 12 August 2006 at 03:48 AM.]

Thank you. PS you answered my question, but what puzzles me if the Chrome pedals as you refer to them as ice scrapers were on the 1000, then I dont understand that you didnt have the block style Jazzmaster pickups

Have a great show.

Leo took professional musicians at the request of Don Randall. His idea was to receive input from various parts of the country. I was picked not because I was as good a steel player as those memtion, but I was the only salesman that played steel guitar. I hope this answers your questions

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 13 August 2006 at 10:38 AM.]

Rick had a nice session with Herb and can really fill you in on Herb's comments with Fender etc. Take Care.

edited to say this is a great thread.

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 15 August 2006 at 05:55 AM.]

Bill - the tome control is a MUST for me playing Western Swing. I find that the tone sweep on all three pedals I've had (deArmond, Fender and now a Bigsby) just doesn't sound the same. I use the tone on the pedal to set the treble cut for the tone of the song, but the on-guitar tone is great for those Speedy sounds.

Sorry if this is stating stuff you already know... I don't mean to be patronising! But I will try to answer your questions.

Yes, I use a volume/tone pedal (a Bigsby), and the controls on the guitar too.

For me, one of the classic sounds in Western Swing is the "doo wah" sound made by slamming the bar on the strings with the tone control full-off, then spinning it rapidly to full-on. Watch almost any Speedy West footage and he's doing this. He had the tone control on the end of the guitar rather than the top, but the top works fine for me! I believe that the side-to-side tone control on a foot pedal was intended to allow the same effect without taking a hand off the strings, thereby allowing the "doo wah" with a picked string rather than a slammed bar. Doesn't work for me at all, somehow the sound just isn't the same.

I use the tone control (on the foot pedal or the guitar if I only have a volume control or no pedal at all) for backup behind a vocalist, rolling off the top end for a smoother sound then rolling it back on for soloing. I also use the pedal tone control to compensate for the extra toppiness when I get louder, such as in a choris or "big ending".

No, I've never had a faulty control at all on a Fender gutar. I've had scratchy ones on an amp I got that had coffee spilled on it, and on an old Gretsch.

My Fender Bassman has 4 input jacks but I only use 1. My Sessionette has 1 jack, with channel switching but I don't use the channel switch with steel.

Hope this helps!

Bill - the controls ON the guitar not only do the "Speedy" things, but react and sound different than a volume pedal or amp controls. Setting your guitar volume at 3/4 canges the tone of the instrument, not just the volume - and you can't (or most won't) leave their volume pedal in this position. The tone control is also a completely diferent harmonic animal than the amp tone system, and cranking it back slightly to roll of some highs can soften attack...and you have a rather wide adjustment range.

As far as them being "pesky" - I have 50's guitars with original controls that are dead quiet. some pots used in volume pedals seem to be a problem nowdays, but I have not seen similar problems in regular guitars, which I work on often. Structurally they may be cheaper, but tey don't take a ton of abuse; electronically, keep them "fresh" with Caig or comparable lubricant/cleaner materials and you'll be fine.

You may prefer the limited guitar-cord-pedal-cord-amp sound, but many would rather have a little more harmonic variation that a guitar volue/tone circuit gives. Just like I'm amazed two pickups aren't standard on pedal steels.

Thanks for the detailed prose on the subject of volume and tone controls. My beef lies mainly in the tone control, whereas it is immensely overrated. To produce the preferred tweet, tweet, and woof, woof blended tones, I'd start by "cranking" the "tone" control fully clockwise, and leaving it there as a permanent fixture. (My steel has no tone control affixed, as a varient of preferences) and this has removed in part the annoyance of experimenting with nothing to be gained by mere extravaganza. The satiny smoothness found not by accident, but rather by experimentation of various sound effects is in the amp controls. Not all amps contain the "stuff" to satisfy a discriminating ear. At one time I separated a Fender Quad "head" from the unduly top heavy framework. I mounted two 12" Fender speakers in a separate cabinet. Included in the trial setup was a 15" Black Widow speaker. This facilitated reasonable portability, while allowing for additional options of sound deliveries. Even though the overall sound was improved, I couldn't fetch the satiny tones that I knew were a possibility. The Fender "head" was known to go "on the fritz", due to the tubes with their wide range of variables in transmitting sound effects. So, in effect, to zero in on a mounted tone control, warrants further consideration, aside from utilizing the installment for an acquired habitual habit of transforming intensity output. Compared to the real sources of tone control, I'll venture to say, that it is comparable to a twig in a S. American jungle.

[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 23 August 2006 at 04:58 AM.]