Bob White's Bigsby at Gruhn Guitars

[Andy Volk]

FYI ....

https://guitars.com/inventory/eu3046-19 ... edal-steel

[Brad Bechtel]

Wow. That's a beauty! And only $22,000 USD.

[J D Sauser]

I believe that, besides Speedy’s and Bud Isaacs’ Bigsby, this Bigsby may be the next most historically important one. It was on this guitar that the Brazos Valley Boys (Hank Thompson) steel guitar sound standard was minted.

I would even say that it became — and perhaps still remains — *the* most desired tone and style for Western Swing… so much so that you can hear its reflection in BE’s *Swing Shift* SOR recordings.

Now, does it take *that* guitar to achieve it?

For a long time, I thought it did — and that’s what I was told by folks like Scotty. But in the late ’90s I saw Hank Thompson live, with Garry Hogue playing an Emmons push-pull through, of all things, a Nashville 400… and he played it note for note with an indistinguishable tone.

Garry was known to be able to virtually clone almost any PSG player — a capability I have otherwise only witnessed in Tom Brumley.

Will that guitar attract that kind of money today?

I believe that during the Bobbe Seymour years, it absolutely would have. And mind you, back then $20,000 was a LOT of money. Today, with many of the generations who remember that era gone or retired — and younger folks sometimes unsure who Frank Sinatra or Elvis even were — who will remember our friend Hank Thompson?

And yes, I say *our* friend, because he truly loved steel guitar. He used to hang out at Texas steel players’ homes and would show up at the TSGA Jamboree. He supported the instrument and the community.

These Bigsbys *can* sound magnificent — though not every one did. In those days, each instrument was essentially its own prototype. Playable? Absolutely. Just like a 1940s Ford pickup with a non-synchronized gearbox can still be driven… by someone who knows how.

what a beautiful beast!
… JD.

[Brad Bechtel]

Well, it's now listed as sold, so somebody thought it was worth it.

[Richard Alderson]

Is there a previous thread somewhere on what the three necks were tuned to and copedant for the five pedals?

[J D Sauser]

I was told by Scotty that BW was an early C6th pedalist, in an era where many still had spinn offs of E13th and A6th tunings.
BW later played a modern D10 I BELIEVE was setup E9th/C6th.

It’s worth pointing out that his Bigsby had two 10 string necks, which was very advanced for those times. Interesting too, the top neck being 8-string! I have a theory about it that, but I don’t know what tuning he had up there. My theory being that “bar crashes” are to broad on a 10 string neck… coincidently as 10 strings became the norm, “bar crashes” faded to the past along 8 string necks. But that’s just my THEORY on why he might have opted for a top 8 string neck.


… JD.