Laptop Tapper

[Chris Templeton]

Jerry Byrd and Sho~Bud made limited edition frying pans with a signed certification paper, in the later 80's.
Each pan had a number. I had one (not #1), and Jerry & Speedy signed the back.
In 1989, I worked at Bobbe Seymour's "Steel Guitar Nashville" and "Steel Guitar World". He shared Steel Guitar Word with a graphic designer maybe Ed Naylor, not sure. I helped him move from one store to another.
Lloyd Green would often come to the store.
Bobbe got a hold of the Jerry Byrd Frypan molds from Sho~Bud and he poured himself a half dozen or so of them.
He gave me one as part payment for my work at the store. It was a short scale. I assembled it and put a guitar fretboard on it, installed a pickup, added tuners and it became my "Laptop Tapper" that inspired me to approach Sierra and Ned Steinberger to get involved. Ned made the blueprints for the raised fretboard and the second compensated bridge. Gene Fields had a steel with a raised fretboard, but didn't have a compensable bridge.
I went to Dan Tyack's home in Olympia, Washington. Dan Tyack was introduced to me by Sacred Steeler, Chuck Campbell.
In the airport on the way there, I dropped the frypan in the airport and the fretboard came off.
I thought about its history and my hero, Jerry Byrd, and the "limited edition" frypans that Sho~Bud made, so threw it out.

[Chris Templeton]

I recorded the Laptop Tapper on a track, in California, called" Searching Blues", by Novato Frank that had John Cipollina (Quicksilver Messenger Service) on it.
He ded a couple of years before. Here's the track:https://soundcloud.com/bluespruce8/the- ... band-wjohn
I tap a little, bur mostly standard right left hand picking.

[Erv Niehaus]

Shot Jackson cut Jerry Byrd out of the loop and that's why Jerry went with Excel.

[Chris Templeton]

Maybe Bobbe had a financial arrangement with Jerry. That wouldn't surprise me.
Bobbe treated me well and found me a place to rent.
His thumb style Travis picking was great!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaSe3vM ... rt_radio=1
During my time there, he sometimes would go on the road with Johnny Paycheck.
Johny's hit at the time was "The Old Violin": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrvY6Lk ... rt_radio=1
He'd bring great tapes off the road.