VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 01/21/10 10:09am
Author: Bobbe Seymour
Subject: Carl Smith

Hello fellow players,

Much has been reported this week about the death of Carl Smith. I’m here to add the steel players slant on Carl. I worked with Carl several times on the same show, but I didn’t pay much attention to the singing because of the great steel guitar work behind him in the form of Johnny Sibert.

Johnny’s style was a sort of corny lick style, however speed and tone were the earmarks of this great player. So forget the corny licks which were what Carl wanted and listen to the great instrumental break Johnny put on Loose Talk, Hey Joe and I Overlooked An Orchid.

And then there was that very famous album that Carl Smith cut with two steel players. The two steel players were both incredible, however their styles could not have been more different.

Both styles are great in their own way, but if any of you are familiar with Curly Chalker, which I hope you are, you’ll know what I mean when I say Curly Chalker and Johnny Sibert on the same session was something of a oddity, but if you generally like everything in steel guitar, this is definitely one of the greatest collector albums of steel there could ever be.

Carl Smith was 82 years old and hadn’t worked or sung anywhere in the last twenty something years. However, I did see him backstage at the Opry. Everybody was shaking his hand and telling him how bad that he was missed, to which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy this delayed adulation.

He seemed to be appreciated by all for his talent. Of course, after talking to some of the people who used to work for him, as most of you know, you can always get another side of the story.

But anyway, at least Carl was good hard country with a great voice, great band live and very well produced recording sessions and again I’ll add, I think Johnny Sibert’s steel guitar work is beyond compare, whether he was playing his double neck Bigsby or the multi-neck Fender.

Another incredible loss for the world of steel guitar is the life of George Lewis of George L string and pickup manufacturing company. Because of George’s help in the last twenty years and his recent death, Mona Lewis was running the George L company up until the day she died. The company is now being run by daughter Kim Lewis.

This great company has served the industry well since they sold out their twenty percent partnership in Sho-Bud in the early seventies.

They manufactured many necessary parts for the steel player like ball and socket joints for the end of pedal rods, excellent steel guitar pickups, strings for all instruments, nylon tuners, the little one eighth collars the Emmons guitars are so full of.

One of the greatest products that they built was the famous George L cord. The George L wires to link your guitar and effects up to your amp are now and always have been the best cords that money can buy. Their unique solderless plugs was an innovation that set them apart from the rest of the industry.

These cords are the only cords I have ever seen that do not affect the tone of a steel guitar. Overall, the products from this little company have proven to be one of the steel players best friends for the last forty years.

I am proud to say that I am a dealer for all these products. The loss of George Lewis and Mona Lewis is a major one to the industry, but I feel Kim will do an excellent job filling their shoes.

The amplifier we use to demonstrate our guitars in the store is the Peavey Nashville 112. Also, as many of you know, the Nashville 112 is what I’ve been using on all my steel guitar shows the past four years. The reason this is my favorite amp to work with is because of its gorgeous tone, because of it has plenty of power to get the job done and it’s the easiest professional amp to transport in the business.

Anybody can lift one and put it in the trunk, especially your wife! My wife used to complain violently about carrying my Session 500, so I got a new wife and switched to a Nashville 112. For you girl steel players, your husband won’t mind carrying the Nashville 112 as they only weigh 39 pounds.

Many people email me for prices on the Peavey Nashville 112 amp wondering why we don’t have prices on our website. Our prices have been so low that Peavey asked us not to advertise the price that we have sold them for in the past. Now, great news for you, we have lowered the price even again, but you have to email me to find out what that is.

Just reply to this newsletter and I’ll get right back to you with a price as close to wholesale as possible.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.