At the 1995 West Coast Steel Guitar Show

TABWRITER steel tab generating system

This steel guitar has been fitted with some very unusual electronic sensors. It can tell what fret you're at, what pedals and knee levers are activated, and what strings are vibrating. It feeds all of this information into a little box that has a dot matrix printer connected to it.

Throw a switch on the box and play some steel licks. Then throw another switch and the printer prints tablature of the music you just played! I didn't get to talk to the inventor this year, but I did see him at last year's show when the design was in its infancy. It's come a long way.

As I snapped this picture, a hand appeared in it placing a cassette on the guitar. I looked up and it was none other than Jimmy Day, who was apparently sharing booth space with TABWRITER. I stuttered something about being a fan, and he said something like "Thanks, wanna buy a copy of my new tape for $10?" I did. The limited edition tape is called The Offenders' Reunion, and it features Jimmy with his friends Willie Nelson, Johnny Bush and David Zettner. As expected, it's only great!

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