Paul Franklin - complete gentleman

[Ken Byng]

I had a good long chat with Paul on Monday evening. He was doing his normal Monday night stint with the Time Jumpers at the Station Inn in Nashville. Paul has to be the most polite and respectful pro steel player out there. He always makes time to speak to everyone who wants to talk to him or have their photo taken with him.

I told him that the last time I saw him play was through a Peavey 112, and that his new Little Walter rig sounded infinitely better. He laughed and agreed. He said that with the 112, you get the bottom end right and there is not enough top. You get the top end right and there is not enough bottom. The Little Walter set up that he uses has 2 x 50 watt valve amps in one case, and he ran these into 2 x 12" cabinets that were open backed. I have to say that his tone was excellent, and his amp had just one tone control and one volume control per channel. He ran 2 x Boss RV5's (one into each channel). That was it.

He was using my favourite humbucking pickup for steel guitar - the Lawrence 705. The old type with the chrome surround. That is quite ironic bearing in mind that George L have a Paul Franklin model pickup.

I am impressed with him both as a player and a person, and he is a reflection on his parents who have brought him up to respect those people that he comes into contact with.

Here is a photo of Paul's rig.

[Dave Nutt]

Ken, Thanks again for the update, the info on Paul F is much appreciated, he sounds to be a real good guy. I remember walking up to a well known UK steelie quite a few years back and introducing myself,telling him I was trying to get along as a steelie- he looked at me as though I had two heads,made me feel a right d**k.
Pauls rig looks a great bit of kit.

You certainly seem to be getting around over there, I bet your sad to be missing the royal wedding though, never mind I save all the newspaper clippings for when you get back.

Had a thought, why dont you get yourself a Little Walter rig whilst your out there? then I will take that shabby old Webb of your hands, go on Ken, you know you want to.
Cheers
Dave.

[Uncle Roy]

Hey Ken, are you coming back, I wonder. Sounds great.

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

Dave, i have apologised for that little episode countless times, and cant keep doing so, and in fairness you were very drunk, and had fallen over my steel, head first,
on my one and only visit to the station inn, i was hoping to see paul franklin, unfortunately he was away on tour, and i cant remember the name of his dep, but i did get to meet and chat for a while, with the gorgeous Dawn Sears, she was lovely, and spoke with great affection for the late John Hughey, monday nights at the station inn are something very special,

[Ken Byng]

I have to return home on Sunday, so it will be a big anti-climax when I get back home. I have just spoken to Maurice Anderson on the phone, and he is putting some tickets aside for us to visit the thatre that he plays at on Saturday nights. He is the band leader there, and what a band it is. They get a whole host of wannabe singers in. LeAnne Rimes did it when she was a young girl, and we know what happened to her.

If any of you get the chance to visit Nashville, you must pop in to the Station Inn. Where else can you pay $15.00 to go and sit within touching distance of Vince Gill, Tommy White and Paul Franklin !!! Vince is very shy, and there is no eye contact with the audience at all. He plays jazz guitar really well, and of course sings the odd number or two and sings harmony with Dawn Sears. I've been lucky to see the band 5 times now, and they have had 4 different steel players who have all been outstanding.

We went to the Stockyards today in Fort Worth, and we're hoping that we can get to see some live western swing tonight or tomorrow night.

Paul's rig is quite light individually, but I personally would prefer to have just one unit, so I will stick with the Webb Dave

Just out of interest, Paul does not use electronic pedals, prefering instead to use his fathers pot type pedal. He feels that the potless pedals are not as warm sounding as the pot type. Quite surprising. It's also interesting to see where he fits his fingerpicks and thumbpick. The fingerpicks sit very high on his fingers with very little overlap. The thumbpick sits almost on the knuckle joint of his thumb - a la Doug Jerningan.

The weather has been great again today in Dallas - completely blue sky and 85 degrees. A change from Tuesday, when I drove us from Nashville to Little Rock. I have never driven through such heavy rain in my life, and over 300 cars came off the road into the ditches. Really bad, with tornados everywhere.

[Dave Nutt]

Dave, i have apologised for that little episode countless times, and cant keep doing so, and in fairness you were very drunk, and had fallen over my steel, head first,
on my one and only visit to the station inn, i was hoping to see paul franklin, unfortunately he was away on tour, and i cant remember the name of his dep, but i did get to meet and chat for a while, with the gorgeous Dawn Sears, she was lovely, and spoke with great affection for the late John Hughey, monday nights at the station inn are something very special,

Eddie, If you call an apology- having me thrown out of Mcgilligans bar by the scruff of my kneck,then Im a brummie. I was not drunk, I was, and still am, on medication. Had I been able to recognise that jumbled heap of wood and metal as a steel guitar I wouldnt have attempted to hurdle it. Anyway,sorry to dissapoint but- the incident I was referring to was an encounter with a 'well known steelie'

Station Inn? Hopefully Ill be there soon, about 7 weeks time.
Dave.

[Ken Byng]

Station Inn? Hopefully Ill be there soon, about 7 weeks time.
Dave.

Dave - the band has brought in a lot of new numbers since I last saw them. Vince Gill has added a new dimension to the band with his vocals and guitar playing. He and Paul seem to be joined at the hip at the moment, so if Vince is on tour then Paul will be with him. Considering this is a 10 piece band, it is as tight as it can be, with great arrangements. You'll love it whoever they have on steel guitar.

One thing that I found staggering about Paul is that he did not use a tuner. He tuned up completely by ear from start to finish. He was constantly tuning on the endplate between numbers throughout his sets, but always sounded spot on tuning wise when he was playing.

I hope the person you are referring to is not the same person that some of the Scots have come across in the past at steel guitar shows.

[ZBSD-10]

Hallo Dave !
What's a kneck ????
All the best
Frank. Corfu

[Dave Nutt]

Hallo Dave !
What's a kneck ????
All the best
Frank. Corfu

Frank, yo obveee usly wosnt educated in burmingam wuz yo.
My kneck is about 6 inches below me knose and about four foot above me nees.

Dave
From a sunny barmy evening in Llandovery