playin' around…
…making noises #3…
chasing that sound…
Sound is of course an important matter to musicians, and steel guitar players are no exception. What sound each musician wants is a different matter, and apart from some basics the spread is quite exceptional.
Spread is good here, because if we were all chasing the same sound we might all end up sounding more or less the same. In my opinion that would lead to “a boring disaster” — which actually to me is a reasonably good description of most main-stream music in all time-periods since man started making sounds.
The individual is probably after the right sound for particular tunes and situations, not one sound for everything. We can then of course go on and dissect sounds and discuss which ones are “right” for whatever situation, but it is probably best just to play and leave the academic stuff aside.
Unless one has a favorite master player one wants to more or less copy for a particular tune/situation, and can refer to a particular recording or something, sounds are very hard to describe in words. There are ways to analyze and describe sounds quite accurately, but few have time and patience to engage in the more superior and technical methods.
where's that “tone” hidden…
By “tone” I do of course mean “inherent sonic characteristics”. It is widely accepted amongst steel guitar players to refer to it as “tone” though, so I allow myself to do the same here – although clearly differentiated from the more regular use of the word/term.
Some say it's in the hands, some say it's in the PSG body, some say it's in the Pick‑Up, some say it's in the amplifier/speaker, etcetera… Sure, I agree — it is pretty hard to get that “tone” if one of those ingredients are dysfunctional or missing. And don't forget those cables that connect it all.
I prefer to start by making sure the PSG has the right “inherent tone‑range”, and then the rest of the chain has to deliver without adding or subtracting much so I can play out the particular “tone” I want at any particular time/place in a given tune.
Intentional additions and/or subtractions – electronic effects if you like – work best when the “feed” is good. So the PSG's “inherent tone‑range” has to be good if it should be worthwhile adding or subtracting anything.
It is pretty evident to me that what a particular PSG ain't got when it comes to “inherent tone‑range” can not be sufficiently compensated for by the player or anywhere in the sound‑chain. “Pretty well” or “almost” may be good enough for some and in most situations, but it is hard to play an instrument that doesn't have the “tone‑range” to deliver what the player wants.
we're not there yet…
When it comes to gear – amplifiers and accessories – we can pretty much get the quality we are willing to pay for. The sky or wallet is the limit. Not so for the instrument itself though.
The humble PSG is not developed very far either sonically or mechanically. We can buy them as “pretty things” or as “workhorses”, and even as pretty decent mixes of both. For the most part we're buying new underdeveloped instruments though, that – generally speaking – look and work the same, or we go seek old and even less developed instruments because we like how they look and/or sound or for some other reason.
I'm not entirely happy with the situation.
I'd like to see more instruments that are mechanically and sonically optimized as PSGs, and not just built in a certain way because “that's how they're supposed to be built” – with only minor variations in looks and details to differentiate them. Yes, I know there are some great exceptions.
I also know that a large percentage of steel guitar players and potential buyers are fairly conservative and that the small-business steel guitar producers must build for them if they want to sell any, but real signs of evolution and innovations are too few and far between in my opinion and that must hurt sales in the long run.
The above may sound as if I think most PSGs are low-quality. Far from it — but all steels I have been able to play on so far have been missing something I want when it comes to “inherent tone-range”. Since I so far have been unable to describe this “something” well enough for a steel builder to get one built to my specs, it is time to move on to next stage.
handrolled…
Yes, I roll my own because I don't particularly like the taste of ready-made. May have to go the same route for PSGs if I am to satisfy my own taste for “tone” and mechanical progress.
I have actually been on route for decades already — ever since I attempted my first build back in the 1970s. Back then I wasn't so sure a PSG to my specs couldn't just be bought on the market, as I didn't have access to the larger marketplace until in later years. Now I know better — I will have to piece a PSG together of parts taken from many models/brands to get one that will suit my taste.
Taste is a very personal “thing”, and even for me it will be a challenge to meet and satisfy mine. Thus, I expect it to take years until I have designed and constructed a PSG that is close enough for comfort – I'm a difficult customer.
No big deal, as I'll either get there in time, or I won't have enough time in store to enjoy the result anyway.
My intention is to design and build one – only one – PSG to my own specs, and keep on fine-tuning the design till I no longer have any need for it. I like the thought of sharing though, so whatever I come up with during the process will in time be made freely available through places like Steel Guitar Builder. So if someone like some of it, they may have it and make whatever they want out of it.
Maybe, just maybe, I will catch that sound one day.
sincerely 
Brooksville 30.dec.2010
last rev: 01.jan.2011
playin' around…
