Chet and Jimmy Day's Standell

[Norm]

A while ago I joined the Steel Guitar Forum specifically to find out the steeler’s thoughts on why Jimmy Day seemed so ready to sell his new Standel to Chet.

This was how I phrased my question:
Hi. Newguy here with a history question maybe one of you can answer:

It is fairly common knowledge that the Standel amp Chet Atkins used for years was one he got from Jimmy Day around 1954.

Story goes that Chet gave him a Fender Pro in the transaction.

Has anyone heard the story of the acquisition from Jimmy Day’s telling? Seems to me the price difference between the two amps would have been substantial enough to rule out an even swap. . Did Day not like the Standel? He evidently didn’t have it very long. Curious minds want to know

This is the answer I got.
In my experience and input from other Steelers in the early years, the Standel Amp was OK for recording or Club work, but in playing the large venues where the Band WAS NOT miked they seemed to be underpowered . If you really wanted to be heard, we used Fenders !

And my reply:

ahhhh.... that makes good sense. During the mid fifties Chet was settling into his niche as a soloist using just bass and rhythym guitar as opposed to working a four hour dance gig in a club.
I really appreciate the answer....

That makes sense to me. The Fender Pro amp Chet traded was a pretty rowdy amp. 15" speaker and a good output for the day.

[Mike Nye]

Just curious . . .

Has anyone on here tried a Polytone Super Brute ? ? ?

They're POWERFUL Li'l SUCKERS (small cube) with a SWEET TONE ! ! !

[Jussi Huhtakangas]

I beg to disagree with the loudness factor. Having played both Standel 25L15 ( I own a reissue ) and early Fender Pro's I can say that the a Pro is not at all louder. In fact, 25L15 projects and cuts through lot better than an early Pro. I talked with Hank Thompson about him getting Standels for his whole band, and he said because they were the best sounding ( for him ) and loudest amps you could get at the time.
Also, Chet didn't get the amp from Jimmy in -54. Jimmy was still using the amp in -56 when Ray Price recorded Crazy Arms with JD on steel. And here in the first photo Jimmy has the amp behind him, although not very well visible, and the photo is from June -55:
http://www.scottymoore.net/deanbeard.html
I don't know why Jimmy traded the amp to Chet but I do know that around the same time he also swap his 4 neck Wright Custom pedal steel ( around 90 pounds in case ) to Curley Chalker because he was tired of carrying the big heavy sucker. Maybe he felt the same way about the amp, after all, it weights almost twice as much as a Pro

[Norm]

good stuff.

The weight factor may well have been the trigger. It also makes more sense because most sources imply Chet got the amp right off the truck which makes no sense. Jimmy ordered the amp and it makes sense he would have used it for at least a couple of years before turning loose of it.

Back then they never realized how hair-splittingly scrutinized every move they made would be.

In any case I'm going to find a way to include this information in my archive because that question Will come up again.


That Scotty Moore site is chock full of history (for those interested in such things)

[bill park]

I think it's probable that Chet just liked the tone of the Standel, and maybe he wanted something different from most other players (Fender was dominating the field in those days...). I don't know if Chet ever met Bob Crooks (designer of the 25L15), but if he did maybe they hit it off well and Chet wanted to help out Crooks' fledgling company by using the Standel (although there was never an official endorsement). Maybe Chet liked the Standel’s Lansing speaker better than the Jensen in the Fender. Or perhaps there was boot money involved in the trade (we'll never know), and Jimmy (or Chet) needed it. Regardless of the reasons and circumstances of the trade, Chet ended up with an amp that he used and loved for years, even if it wasn't exactly too visible to his fans - it stayed mostly in the studio.

[Norm]

I think it's probable that Chet just liked the tone of the Standel, and maybe he wanted something different from most other players (Fender was dominating the field in those days...). I don't know if Chet ever met Bob Crooks (designer of the 25L15), but if he did maybe they hit it off well and Chet wanted to help out Crooks' fledgling company by using the Standel (although there was never an official endorsement). Maybe Chet liked the Standel’s Lansing speaker better than the Jensen in the Fender. Or perhaps there was boot money involved in the trade (we'll never know), and Jimmy (or Chet) needed it. Regardless of the reasons and circumstances of the trade, Chet ended up with an amp that he used and loved for years, even if it wasn't exactly too visible to his fans - it stayed mostly in the studio.

Those Standel amps made a pretty big splash amongst the pros when they came out. Bob Crooks was getting some pretty heavy hitters as endorsers...Joe Maphis, Travis, Hank Thompson...
I think Chet probably got some exposure to them in the studio and certainly by word of mouth. I'm reminded ofwhen Ray Butts called him and said "I have an amplifier I think you'll like". Chet's response was "I already have an amplifier." When Jimmy Day's amp was made in 1954 Chet was engrossed in Ray's Echo-Sonic (also made in 1954). With that new aquisition he didn't "need" a Standel because "he already had an amplifier"

The Echo-Sonic was a good amp but the splice made a pop and it may have been a bit noisy for studio work.

Knowing how musicians were back in those days Chet may have borrowed Day's (or someone's) Standel and tried it out.

Hearing that Jimmy was downsizing his gear Chet saw an opportunity to negotiate a trade so he wouldn't have to lay out a whole lot of cash for a Standel which was a pretty pricey amp in its day. Chet got free guitars from Gretsch but the Echo-Sonic he had to pay for and if he wanted one of the new Standels he would have to pay for that,too...

That, of course, is speculation. What it does appear to be is that it was just a happy coincidence that each guy had something in amplifiers that the other guy wanted.

Everybody walked away happy and when the original 6122-59 came into Chet's hands the guitar and amp were a perfect match.

That's how it looks to me...

[cmcbeth]

A bit off topic, but Norm mentioned the Echo Sonic popping on splices and it reminded me of several obvious pops on any rerecorded version of " Cherokee " that I've heard. I've always assumed they were caused by splices on the original recording .Was he using the Echo Sonic at that time?
Cheers, Charles