Cool Guitars and Amps

 

Please, be patient... there are some way cool photos loading! Some of these guitars are no longer owned by me.

 


1956 Standel 25L15

This is an original Standel amp made for steel guitarist Mike Young in 1956. Output is 25 watts into a JBL-130A 15" speaker. Its serial number is #1060, indicating it was the 60th amplifier made by Bob Crooks. It was obtained from Mike Young in 1995 by Terry Bethel, and I acquired it from Terry.

This amp has the unique sound that so impressed other Standel owners like Speedy West, Joaquin Murphey, Merle Travis, and Chet Atkins

The Standel Company has begun production of a Vintage Reissue of these amps and other great models from their history. For more information, go to their website by clicking on the photo or headline link above.
 
55, 45, 76

Dobro guitars

From left: a 1936 California-built Model 75, a 1935 Regal Model 45 made in Chicago, and a 1928 Model 55, also made in California.
 
best shot of 67

1967 Sho-Bud "fingertip"

Here's a cool horn. D-10, with 9&5, purpleheart necks and aprons with maple top. 20K ohm pickups coil tapped at 11k. Remember the sound of Lloyd Green's guitar on those mid-60's Johnny Paycheck records? This horn has it.

The "fingertip" was Sho-Bud's first all-pull changer, initially offered in 1965 and called the "ALL NEW Universal Pedal Steel Guitar." (Added cost was $100 over the standard single-finger "pull-release" design) Below is a close-up of the topside workings and the knurled tuning nuts.
changer closeup
 
1954

1949 Bigsby

This guitar was made by Paul Bigsby in 1949 for Ohio steel guitarist Jerry Girard. Originally a triple-8 with one pedal and metal necks with raised graphics, in 1954 it was returned to Bigsby and had 5 pedals added for a total of 6, and wood neck inserts were made with the mid-50's Bigsby fretboards. The tunings are E13, D9, and C6. Three pedals each are on D9 and C6.
 
Over the years, different owners modified the undercarriage at different times. In 2003, the instrument went to Bigsby restorers Paul Warnik and Dave Peterson, who replaced all non-original parts with NOS parts purchased from the Bigsby company. The guitar now plays flawlessly and is a gem in my collection, as well as occasionally seeing duty onstage to the great joy of the audience and others players on the bandstand.
 
Thanks to Mike Cass, Bobbe Seymour, and original owner Gerard "Jerry Girard" Mandorca for information about this great guitar.
1954 Bigsby changers
 
1956

1956 Fender Stringmaster

A standard among non-pedal steel guitars. Tuned E13, C6, and A13. Not much more to be said, really. If you want the Stringmaster sound, you have to have a Stringmaster.

Herb Steiner Music • PO Box 36, Spicewood, TX 78669
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