How many steels does it take?

Guest · Posted 1 Aug 2003 4:39 am

Brett Gordon started an intereting thread when he asked for advice on which steel he should buy. Here's my question to fellow forumites.

They say you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince. How many steels did you have to buy before you found the one you stayed with? Or are you still kissing frogs?

As for me, I'm done looking. I've bought and sold a bunch of steels before I knew what I wanted. My collection is now complete.

1) 1960s Electrotone, my first steel that I will never sell.

2) Sho-Bud Professional that was restored by Duane Marrs and Jeff Surratt.

3) A new Fulawka I should get by year end.

You can poke a fork in me now, I'm done.

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

I've owned 8 steels in almost 30 years
a S-10 MSA
a D-12 MSA
a S/D-12 MSA
a S/D-12 ZumSteel (for 20 years)
a S/D-12 Emmons p/p
a D-10 Emmons p/p
a S-12 Fessenden
a S/D-12 Fessenden

The only one of the bunch I wish I still owned (that I DON'T still own) is the ZumSteel. It has a lot of memories attached to it. We went through a lot together and were inseparable for many years.

I now have two S/D-12's and have decided that owning a push-pull and the best all-pull 12-string I can find is my strategy. So two works fine for me. I may look for a lap steel one of these days, but the 'Beast' (my push-pull) and my new Fessy are all I feel I need right now. As much as I love brand new guitars, I've only owned three.

Great topic, Red-Eye.

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Wayne Baker · From: Altus Oklahoma

I would like two more. Mr. Bobbe Seymour has a D10 p/p with wooden necks I'd like to get, and I would also like to get a burgundy D10 Emmons Legrande just like Mr. Dave Musgrave. Now, I'd like to be able to play them like a friend of mine that currently resides in Fla. (Who knows how many yrs, that'll take).

I have an S10 p/p Emmons, circa 1982, a (what I believe may be home made) D8, circa who knows, and of course my D10 Emmons Legrande, circa 1993.

Thank you,
Wayne Baker

[This message was edited by Wayne Baker on 01 August 2003 at 07:37 AM.]

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

After hearing Billy Robinson on the GOO with Red Foley and Grady Martin week after week, I decided as a teen-ager that a Bigsby would be the ONLY way to go. I got it, still have it and will never part with it.
In the early 1970's I elected to get an Emmons P/P (no idea if that term even existed back then).....still have it and love it.
For fifty years, longed to have just ONE Rick Bakelite.......and now that I have eleven, I satisfied.
Each one has been a great investment and working tool for me. No regrets!

Guest · Posted 1 Aug 2003 7:28 am

I forgot to mention how many frogs I had to kiss. Actually, none of them were frogs -- they were all great steels.

1976 Sho-Bud Pro III
2002 GFI Ultra
1976 Emmons
1971 Emmons
1986 MCI RangeExpander
1970's Rusler

I liked them all. All but one I bought used and I sold them for pretty much what I paid for them, so kissing the frogs wasn't that expensive, I just had to pay the shipping.

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Joerg Hennig · From: Bavaria, Germany

I´ve owned four so far:
1. VERY beaten up push-pull Emmons. A basket case, forced me to learn a lot about PSG mechanics from scratch, still sounded great somehow. Time and effort needed to fully restore it would have been too much for me at that time so I got rid of it.

2. Dekley SD-12 6p/6k, once custom made for a prominent German player. Very solid and stable mechanically, I experimented a lot with different copedents on that one. Too big and heavy in the long run and also not what I really wanted so I eventually got rid of it also.

3. ShoBud Pro-II Custom, the one that started my love for ShoBuds. I refined my knowledge on that one and improved some things, now it plays VERY well. Is still being played regularly, along with

4. Early ShoBud Professional I bought from Ricky Davis. Now that one for me is about the epitome of what a PSG should sound, play and look like. While I may get another guitar some day (not so soon) to get different impressions, I have a feeling that ShoBud really comes closest to what I need for my kind of playing.
The only one I´ve played so far that maybe comes close in "vibe" is that original ´66 Bolt-On Emmons that a friend of mine has, but it´s a totally different animal... I´m not quite sure if I could really get used to it. On the ShoBud, instead, I had the instant feeling that it´s my kind of thing.

Regards, Joe H.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I still have my first and second guitars- both MSA u-12s. My first one, is green with a lacquer finish. When I decided I wanted a spare, I bought a mica one, then sold it to our fellow forumite Gary Morse, and then bought it back from him.

Along the way I acquired two more lacquer ones. One (a vintage XL) was stolen and I sold the other.

I also have a D-12, but the E9 neck desn't work and I just use it to practice the C6.

------------------
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I'm schizophrenic,
and so am I

John Cox · From: Texas, USA

Well, let's see Iv'e had 5 Enemmmons pp-s and 2 M-ostly S-ound A-wfulls 4 Summsteels and 2 S-ho Boats 4 M-ule-uns 3 Le-grands and 2 SRGT/Carters and haven't found the perfect steel yet, but if you talk to most pros, they've tried eveything too and might tell you the same....

J.C.

John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

I started out--
1975- ShoBud Maverick 3p-1kl (sold-1977)
1977- Rus-Ler S11 5p-4kl Still have this steel
2003- Zumsteel S12 Universal 7p-5kl
I love the sound of my new Zumsteel, but, I'll never part with my Rus-Ler

Hans Holzherr · From: Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland

One frog I wish I had never kissed was my first steel guitar, a Framus. My first encounter with a 'real' PSG (a ShoBud LDG) happened in a small steel guitar shop in London, Denmark street. I asked the man working there what he thought about the Framus. There was a long silence. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, it's a Framus"

Winnie Winston · From: Tawa, Wellington, NZ * R.I.P.

* Lap steel, solid body aluminum by Dobro. Borrowed and returned.
* Sho-Bud rack and barrel single neck. (sold. Wish I hadn't)
* Home made steel (1974-- rebuilt 1977)
* S-14 Sierra. (sold. wish I kept it)
* home made steel rebuilt. (still have)
* Kline S-12 (bought 1979. Still have)

On wish list: an Anapeg.

JW

[This message was edited by Winnie Winston on 01 August 2003 at 04:55 PM.]

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Of the 30+ steels I've bought, I sold the first one, a Em&ms S-10 wraparound for $375.........thanks for the memory.

I also sold a couple E-Harps to cover a mortgage payment, back when I was having to eat turfbuilder.

Everything else I still have.

Carl West · From: La Habra, CA, USA (deceased)

Hey b0b,
The fun of being a musician ? Mercy, if I had your money it would be fun. Most of the time it's a hardship or a big fight with the other half on, is it gonna be the guitar or the new carpet ?

Carl West
Emmons LaGrande
And new carpet

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

I bought my first steel in 1946, (from either Sears or Wards), and I have only owned five since; a Supro, Fender Custom, Fender 1000, Sho-bud Super-Pro, and my current Carter.

I would liked to have owned many more, but in the early years I was lucky to be able to buy strings for the one I had, and my money from playing bought groceries for another week for my family.

Fortunately, I could now buy any steel that I would want.....but for now, my Carter serves all of my needs!
www.genejones.com

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 02 August 2003 at 09:02 AM.]

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

The nature of Steelers is that they'll never be satisfied. How many (other than Lloyd) have stuck with one? Even Lloyd has had others.

We are always looking for that magic/inspirational instrument. We know that magic is really within us, but we keep looking elsewhere.

I started with a MSA Classic S-10. That's gone. I now have two Carters and an Emmons. None is better than the others just different.

Carl West · From: La Habra, CA, USA (deceased)

Gene,
Maybe we had the same model ? That ole Silvertone was a dandy, six strings and carried it in a sack. But I was like you, money was needed for other things like groceries.
Emmons now, before Fender 1000, 2000, 400,
and 800.

Carl West

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Guest · Posted 3 Aug 2003 6:08 pm

Thanks to all for your wonderful replies. I guess my point here is that, while it does happen, odds are that a player's first or even second steel will not be his ultimate steel, if such a thing even exists.

Asking advice on which steel to buy might help, but is as likely to confuse as clarify. Even sitting in front of a steel for a few hours isn't really enough -- for me it takes at least a month (usually longer) to really know how I feel about any instrument.

I think there is no substitute for owning a series of instruments before you settle on one (or two or three). It's been a journey for me, and I expect for others here. And enjoyable journey at that.

peace

Tom Vollmer · From: Hamburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Gibson EH 150
Multichord 6&4
Fender 1000
Emmons PP 1965
Emmons PP 1968
Emmons PP 1980?
Emmons Lashley Legrand II double body single neck
Am still owning and using the last two on list TV

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

My problem is that I like for a guitar to sound good in my music room, in the studio, and in every room I gig in. That's hard to determine before buying and, as mentioned, it takes a while to sort it out. By that time, you own it and have to live with your decision -- at least for a while. Since I bought my first S-10 MSA, every guitar I've purchased has been sight unseen. I haven't been disappointed very often, but only three of the eight were ones I kept. Some guitars grow on you, others don't.

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Guest · Posted 4 Aug 2003 8:48 am

I've bought every steel I own "sight unseen". Living in New York State, I don't have much choice. But every steel I bought showed up as described by the seller and I've yet to be unpleasantly suprised, not to say that doesn't happen. It's been quite a learning experience.

Graham · From: Marmora, Ontario, Canada

Stephen:
Being in New York, you aren't really that far from Eddy's place. Should take a run up sometime and visit with him. He'll probably let you play around on his D-10 too, but Irene won't let him sell it to you!

------------------
Rebel™
ICQ 614585
http://users.interlinks.net/rebel/steel/steel.html

Guest · Posted 9 Aug 2003 3:36 pm

Graham, thanks for the suggestion. I'd love to visit Ed since I've spoken to him on the telephone so much and he's such an interesting guy. Unfortunately, I live on the wrong end of New York -- 350 miles from Niagra, and then another three hours to Ed from there. Maybe someday.

Forum Index > Pedal Steel	Goto page 1, 2 Next	Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic