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Topic: New Member Needs Good Inexpensive First Steel for a Doubler. |
Robert Bunting
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2011 3:27 pm |
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Hi guys!
I've been lurking on here for years learning as much as i can about lap steel and you guys are great!!
I am a multi-instrumentalist and often find myself doubling guitar and lap steel in a country band and i have been contemplating the leap into Pedal Land.
In New York i'm not finding an abundance of steels for sale or steel guitar oriented stores.
I come across random steels locally usually sho-bud mavericks that are very spendy and i'm aware that folks have strong opinions about them pro and con.
I have also seen the prices of the carter starters rise to the point that they are selling for more than they were selling for new.
I have gleaned that a 3x4 10 string is most likely the best steel investment but i am wondering if a good deal on an old sho-bud maverick 3x1 would get me 78% of the way there. A friend and (3 pedal no lever) Maverick owner has suggested this as a good low cost alternative. His stays in tune, is lightweight and "He" sounds great on his.
The music biz has never been overwhelmingly lucrative so i'd really like to keep the budget low- a stable instrument that returns to pitch is more important than names or looks.
I have had the good fortune to see Buddy Cage play up close and noticed he wasn't using his knee levers very much. Obviously Buddy has More tone in his hands then I'll ever have but it does have me thinking...
3x1 nashville tuning E9 Maverick??
thanks in advance for any advice suggestions.
Last edited by Robert Bunting on 20 Sep 2011 2:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Marvin Born
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2011 3:52 pm
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Robert
I would suggest you check out the "Stage One". This is an E9, single neck, 3 pedals and 4 knee levers for less than $1000 new.
http://www.stageonesteelguitars.com/
Mavin |
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Bill Moore
From:
Manchester, Michigan
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Posted 19 Sep 2011 3:55 pm
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| The maverick is OK, if you only have about 400.00 to spend. You can learn some of the basics, but you will outgrow it very soon. If you don't invest much into it, you can probably get your money back when you sell. The Stageone is a much better guitar, costs more. It's hard to find a decent instrument for less the the Stageone sells for, 949.00. good luck. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 19 Sep 2011 5:10 pm
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Sho-Bud's a great name,but the Maverick? Not so great,because one KL isn't enough.A really good player can make anything sound great,but the point is to have what you need rather than have to jump thru hoops to get around an instrument's deficiencies,and you WILL need the changes that those 4 KL's will give you.I might even go a little further and suggest considering a 12-string extended E9 instrument.I always felt that a 10 string did fine on high notes,but didn't have the bottom end to do that faux-baritone thump that some music just has to have.
I went with a Universal-tuning 12-string after many years on an S-10(sometimes a D-10),but if I'd known its capabilities at the start,I'd have begun with one.  |
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Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2011 6:20 pm
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A Mavrick that stays in tune  YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.
_________________
Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
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Robert Bunting
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 20 Sep 2011 2:08 pm
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what about the GFI sm-10's 3x4's i see selling at samash... about twice what i could afford to spend but wondering where the stack up next to the curent crop of entry level steels like the stageone.
i've also run into a late 60's marlen and a early 70's sierra but they only had one KL, lotsa pedals though.
they mighta been push-pull didn't get a close look underneath.
what about these old steels? |
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Rick Abbott
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 21 Sep 2011 5:40 pm
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Are you mechanically inclined? The old Marlen stuff is really good sounding, but needs a proper set up. Truthfully, is the Mav a wood cabinet, or one of the smallish dark "burl" things with the ashtray tuning pans? If it's the old one that looks like a cool Sho Bud, and it's 500 bucks, get it. You play steel, the pedals and levers just replace your slants and behind the bar pulls (if you use them). I'd change the one lever E to Eb, to E to F, on the 4 and 8 strings and be ok. Most of the players we look to as preeminent are former non-pedal players who did all kinds of cool things with 2-3 and 1, and up to 8 and 1 in the 50's and early 60's. Day, Emmons, Chalker, everyone I forgot, and others can do plenty with 3 and 1. But, everyone is right about the 3 and 4 thing. Depends on what you really want out of a steel, and how you handle the bar.
_________________
RICK ABBOTT
Sho~Bud D-10 Professional #7962
Remington T-8, Sehy #112
1975 Peavey Pacer |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 21 Sep 2011 5:56 pm
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| Quote: |
| I have had the good fortune to see Buddy Cage play up close and noticed he wasn't using his knee levers very much |
I've seen Buddy up close many many times, and believe me, he is using those levers as much as anyone else.
I think the Stage One is your best bet. The Maverick is usually way over priced and just not a guitar that will get you the sounds off records that make you want to play the steel guitar in the first place. If you are seeing Carter Starters costing more than they were new, there are real deluded people selling them (maybe they have had good luck selling Mavericks in the past). I love my Carter pro guitar, but would never buy a Carter Starter based on the one I saw at local music store and what I have seen on here.
I did see a BMI single 10 on Ebay today with a bid price of under a grand. Maybe someone here could look at the ad and see if it is a good deal. I hear nothing but good things about them.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Elton Smith
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 21 Sep 2011 7:32 pm
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Robert.I own a wood mica maverick.The c pedal on the changer hole has pulled completely thro.So the c pedal don't work.So to fix it you would have to heli arch because its stainless steel so I have't taken time to fix it I thought I would just use it as parts.It doesn't have pull rods its a cable pull.You can't modify it as your playing improves.Can't hardly find parts for it on and on.Im just tellin ya about my Maverick.You won't be impessed with one once you learn to play
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Gibson Les Paul
Reverend Avenger
Paul Reed Smith
Fender Telecaster
MSA S10 Classic
ShoBud
Old Peavy Amps |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 21 Sep 2011 8:14 pm
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If you do want to "make the leap into pedal land" you will need to spend around $1000 and up to get anything that is not crap. There is a good steel show in the NYC/Ct area in november. You could get some important insights there.
http://www.psga.org/
Go find a pro level steel player and buy a couple of his hours to show you what you are dealing with.It will be well worth it. There are many reasons why pedalsteel guitars need to be made well in order to be functioning musical instruments.
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Bob |
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Robert Bunting
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2012 9:29 pm still looking
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I attended the steel guitar convention in november and met some great folks.
but alas still haven't found a steel 
i've discovered lots of hen's teeth if anyone is still looking for them???  |
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Dave Magram
From:
San Jose, California, USA
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Robert Bunting
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2012 10:44 pm
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thanks!
i'm scanning on here, ebay and craig's so often the folks around me think i'm obsessed!! 
they're probably right! |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 8 Apr 2012 11:26 pm
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$20 a week since your first post about wanting to buy a steel would have had you a real instrument by now.
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Bob |
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CrowBear Schmitt
From:
Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France
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Posted 9 Apr 2012 1:15 am
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Ditto to Bob H
the hell w: ebay & craiglist - dis forum is where it's at !
zumsteel stage one would have set you straight long ago
but then a good used pro model would have too
this forum has all you need ... 
hey, i'm a new yawker too : washington heights - cabrini blvd |
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Bill Howard
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 10 Apr 2012 10:45 am Cheap Steel
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I learned on one of those Black fenders Sho Bud actually made,they were also superior to Mavericks.
that little Fender I had stayed in tune and sounded great. I traded it for a Pro 1 and robbed the only knee lever it had....Before I traded it).
Mavericks are little more than a 2X4 with strings on it...Sorry just my opinion one knee lever is not enough and theres a good chance if more than one lever were put on a Mverick it may collapse:).
Get you a Simmons Or stage one... both great cheaper priced guitars. I would say that contact paper on those Mavericks has seen they're better days:). |
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Stan Paxton
From:
1/2 & 1/2 Florida and Tenn, USA (old Missouri boy gone South)
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Posted 14 Apr 2012 4:19 pm
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Robert, I don't know about inexpensive, but I just saw this week on links from Bobbe Seymours newsletter, the new steel Jackson Steel has come out with. This was apparenty built with the lead guitar player in mind, for a doubler instrument. Is built as a stand up steel, with 3 pedals, either 6 or 8 strings, not sure. ... Look on the Steel Guitar Nashville web site, it may be on there. ...  Good luck
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Mullen Lacquer SD 10, 3 & 5; Mullen Mica S 10 1/2 pad, 3 & 5; BJS Bars; LTD400, Nashville 112, DD-3, RV-3, Hilton VP . -- Gold Tone PBS sq neck; Wechter Scheerhorn sq neck. -- "Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone." -anon.- |
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