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Topic: Zumsteel Encore Owners |
Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 21 Aug 2017 12:44 pm |
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Hi fellow forumites:
My name is Brian. I have ordered a new Encore from Doug at Stageone steel guitars. I am very excited about this new guitar and was curious about how many owners of an Encore or stage one there are out there and if you might chime in and share some info on your amazing pedal steel guitar. Namely:
1. How long you've had your guitar?
2. How does it compare to other professional grade steels you have experience with?
3. Which pick-up you got, humbucker or tru-tone?
4. Did you request a different co-pedant than the standard emmons co-pedant?
5. 3 pedals or four? If four, franklin or something else.
6. From 1 to 10 how much do you love this guitar.
7 anything else you want to share about your zumsteel
Sorry in advance for my excessive cuiosity and all the questions. I'm just so excited about this guitar. I have been recording my own music for the last 30 years now and have always wanted pedal steel in the mix. Hopefully all you encore and stageone owners will be happy to share some info and stories about your amazing rigs. Thanks in advance. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 21 Aug 2017 1:06 pm
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And if you have any pictures I'd love to see 'em.  ) |
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 21 Aug 2017 1:20 pm
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I'm sure you'll receive many positive replies.
You can also do a forum search for all the past threads on Encore experiences.
h |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 21 Aug 2017 1:34 pm
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| Hi Howard. I have read pretty much all of them, but most of the posts were written back when the encore was brand new. I'm interested in how folks feel about their stageone's and encore's over time. Are they still as pleased as they were a few years ago? I'm pretty sure they are. From what I can tell these guitars are made with a whole lot of love, quality parts and integrity. |
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Greg Thompson
From:
Taumarunui, New Zealand
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Posted 21 Aug 2017 1:52 pm Zumsteel Encore Owners
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| What Howard said. And yes I am still happy with my Encore, as good as anything out there. Copeadent is a matter of personal choice. Emmons set-up is the most common. I run a Truetone, but that again is a personal choice. If you are still learning your way around steel,keep it simple unless you have 20 odd years plus to spare because it ain't easy to play pedal steel well. It really does take time to master the beast. Doug is also a mine of information and you would do well to be guided by him |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 21 Aug 2017 4:41 pm
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Because I find the split of combining the modern 1st and 2nd string raise with the whole tone drop of 2 is something pretty cool, I like having P1 raising 1 and 2 to G# and E respectively, with the A, B and C pedals on 2, 3 and 4.
The knee lever that many people use for the 1st and 2nd string raise, I use to raise 1 to G and lower 6 to F#
See a little bit of overuse of the 1st and 2nd string raise (combined with the whole tone drop of 2) on this video here: https://youtu.be/XUykptG6DBQ
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2017 7:29 am
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Hey Lane:
Thanks for the video link. I have watched many of your pedal steel videos. Thank you |
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Karl Paulsen
From:
Chicago
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Posted 22 Aug 2017 9:14 am Re: Zumsteel Encore Owners
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| Brian Coulson wrote: |
1. How long you've had your guitar?
2. How does it compare to other professional grade steels you have experience with?
3. Which pick-up you got, humbucker or tru-tone?
4. Did you request a different co-pedant than the standard emmons co-pedant?
5. 3 pedals or four? If four, franklin or something else.
6. From 1 to 10 how much do you love this guitar.
7 anything else you want to share about your zumsteel |
My review, pics, and the story of how I got it are here:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=286475&highlight=brother
1) About a year and a half.
2) No idea. It's my first steel
3) Humbucker. I like it. I think the guitar is as bright as I'd want and it's always nice to have less hum to worry about.
4)Standard copedant.
5)4 pedals, I think it's the Franklin. I haven't really used it yet. I've been deliberately sticking with the basics.
6)10, though as mentioned I've nothing to compare it too. My teacher thinks it's a great guitar and likes it more than his own emmons.
7a) Got the arm rest and I like it, but I thnk I'd have placed it just a bit to the right so that the end wasjsut a bit past the string termination. I'm still experiementing with hand positions though, so I'm not totally sure.
7b)Also, if you get the lift kit make sure you find which front leg has a spacer and put that one by the pedals. My pedal-adjacent leg kept slipping and it wasn't til I took the front legs apart that I realized that only one has a n orange spacer cap inside. No slipping now.
All in all I really like this guitar. I play it every day (only missed 5 days this year) and it's a joy. I'm so glad I started on an instrument that is so good sounding, easily adjustable, reliable, lightweight and with such minimal maintenance requirements.
I'll be taking it out to jam in public for the first time this week and performing for the first time next month. I'm sure it won't let me down, though there is some question about the guy playing it... |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2017 9:54 am
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| Hey Karl, thanks for your reply and the link to your thread. Very good info in that thread.👠|
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2017 3:24 pm Re: Zumsteel Encore Owners
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[quote="Karl Paulsen"]
| Brian Coulson wrote: |
1. /viewtopic.php?t=286475&highlight=brother
7b)Also, if you get the lift kit make sure you find which front leg has a spacer and put that one by the pedals. My pedal-adjacent leg kept slipping and it wasn't til I took the front legs apart that I realized that only one has a n orange spacer cap inside. No slipping now.
... |
Thanks for mentioning this tip Karl. I am pretty tall and will be getting a lift kit also... so I will pay close attention to this. 😀 |
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Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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Posted 23 Aug 2017 1:49 am
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| Brian, I got my Encore in April of 2013. It has 3 pedals and 5 Knee levers with the splits on lowering 5 and 10. I lower 4 and 8 with my RKL, everything else is pretty standard, although instead of lowering 6 a whole step, I raise 7 a whole step. My first steel was a Sho Bud Professional which I played for around 30 years and then I went to an '82 Emmons P/P, which is a bit lighter than the Sho Bud and is what I play now when I want to bring a double neck steel to a gig. I love the Encore, the tone is great. It has the humbucking p/u on it. I love the "vintage" steels that I have and both of them have amazing tone, but I dig playing the Zum as much, it has a growl to it that I like quite a bit and gives it its own personality, although it is a modern tone as opposed to the vintage tone of my other two steels. E9 fits the band I've been playing steel with lately really well, so I have been playing the Encore a lot. You can't go wrong with an Encore, and Doug's customer service is great. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2017 7:37 am
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| Bob Watson wrote: |
| Brian, I got my Encore in April of 2013. It has 3 pedals and 5 Knee levers with the splits on lowering 5 and 10. I lower 4 and 8 with my RKL, everything else is pretty standard, although instead of lowering 6 a whole step, I raise 7 a whole step. |
Hi Bob:
Thanks for sharing info on your Encore. Your set-up sounds slightly customized as far as RKL lowering 4 & 8 rather than the LKR, and raising 7 a whole step rather than lowering 6 a whole step. Did you make these adjustments on your own or did Doug set it up this way for you. I have heard the Encore is capable of many Co-pedant variations but are such variations easy to do for the mechanically inclined, or is it something left only for the pros like Doug to do?
Thanks |
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Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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Posted 23 Aug 2017 7:29 pm
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| Brian, you can order the Encore with your own setup on it, within reason. Lowering your E's with RKL is pretty common,probably the second most popular place for that change. I don't do my own work on pedal steels, except really easy adjustments. I do know that the Zum Encore is an easy pedal steel to work on. Mickey Adams, a fellow forumite, has a video out that teaches you how to work on modern "all pull" pedal steels. I will probably check it out sometime. I'm sure you can find info on it with a simple forum search. You're gonna love your Encore. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2017 10:28 pm
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Bob.
Thanks for the tip on Mickey Adams pedal steel guitar mechanic video. I was able to find the link. Sounds like Mickey made a 2 hour video on how to work on the pedal steel guitar but I can't find it antwhere. The links he has go to youtube but no vid available. If anyone knows what web site sells this video I would be interested in purchasing it... sounds really interesting. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 24 Aug 2017 3:04 pm
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| Hey Bob. I did a little research and found the Mickey Adam's video is for sale through paypal. Paypal was a bit confusiing, but i'm pretty sure I just purchased Mickey Adams "pedal steel guitar mechanic" video. I figure while I wait for the Encore I might as well learn how to maintain everything under the hood. Thanks again for directing my attention to the video. ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘😀😀😀 |
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Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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Posted 24 Aug 2017 9:08 pm
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| Brian, let me know what you think of the video. I've been playing pedal steel for a long time. When I went to some of my first Steel Conventions in St. Louis MO. back in the mid 1970's, all of the iconic players, Buddy Emmons, Jimmy Day, Curly Chalker, Maurice Anderson, Doug Jernigan, Speedy West, Herb Remington, etc. all had their own setups, and even though a lot of them had similar tunings and pedal and knee lever changes, a lot of the time they would be the same raise or lower but on a different pedal or knee lever. I have learned to play with the basic changes, but I wish I knew how to work on my pedal steel and make changes to the setup that suit my ideas. The innovators all had their own setups. To play commercial C&W or Pop music these days, the "standard" changes and setup will give you what you need to play the "record licks" that you are hearing on pop tunes. I don't know how much music theory that you know or what kind of music you want to play, but learning how to make changes to your setup is really cool, and will give you your own personal style,which is a good thing. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 26 Aug 2017 9:52 am
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| Bob Watson wrote: |
| . I don't know how much music theory that you know or what kind of music you want to play, but learning how to make changes to your setup is really cool, and will give you your own personal style,which is a good thing. |
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I totally agree Bob. I know how to maintain and alter tunings on my other instruments to create different sounds. Knowing at least how to properly maintain my new pedal steel is important to me. I want to know as much as possible. Of course there is also the danger of messing something up. I will try to tread lightly. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 26 Aug 2017 1:47 pm
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I found this picture of an Encore that Raymond White had for sale on the forum. I like the red pin stripes. I asked Doug if he was able to do that on mine and he said he can do it. So mine will be all black with red pin stripes on the front and everything else just black. Should be pretty sharp looking. Can't wait.
Anyone else recently got a new rig from Doug? Got any pictures? Would love to see em.
I will definitely take and post pics of my new Encore when I get it. |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2017 8:32 pm
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| Any new Encore pics? |
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Jason King
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2017 5:42 am
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Brian, I bought one for my son Jacob for Christmas this year. I don't play steel, but I will tell you that he has a couple Zum pro models, yet loves his Encore. He says it plays great and feels very much like the others. I love the sound and its the stock pickup that Doug puts in. I didn't have a pic handy of his blue Encore, but here is a short video of him playing it Christmas morning so you can get an idea of the tone. He is playing it through a 78 twin.
His guitar is a 4x5 and has a few changes non standard but as a whole its pretty close.
Enjoy that new guitar. Doug is a great guy to deal with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyzsq_SXw-8&t=12s
Jason |
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Brian Coulson
From:
Hawaii, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2017 10:12 am
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Jason, thanks so much for the video link of your son Jacob. He sounds fantastic on that Encore. As I watched the video you linked, once the video was finished, it loaded up some other videos of Jacob playing some of his other zum pro models. I must say he is a very good pedal steel player...and the tone of his Encore sounds very close to the zum pro models. Incredible!
Thanks again Jason. |
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Jason King
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2017 5:34 pm
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| Thank you! Best wishes. |
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Keith Calmes
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2024 7:20 am Tunable split s?
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| Does the Stage One Encore have tunable splits? |
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Allen Merrell
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2024 9:57 am
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Keith, go to their site and look at the tuning chart. The splits I have used work great. I had Doug help me with a split I wanted to use and his directions had me up and playing in less than 5 minutes. Great Steel and the best service in the steel market.
_________________
72 ShoBud 6153 D10, Encore, Nashville 112, Boss Katana, Spark 40, Quilter TT12, GT001, ProFex II,Jackson Pitch changer (Love this bender) |
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Jeremy King
From:
Rochelle, GA, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2024 11:11 am
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1. How long you've had your guitar? About 2 years
2. How does it compare to other professional grade steels you have experience with? It is as good, if not better, than the other steels I have.
3. Which pick-up you got, humbucker or tru-tone? Humbucker and I love it
4. Did you request a different co-pedant than the standard emmons co-pedant? Emmons
5. 3 pedals or four? If four, franklin or something else. 3 pedals. I have another steel with a franklin pedal and I rarely use it.
6. From 1 to 10 how much do you love this guitar. 10 - I love everything about it.
7. Anything else you want to share about your zumsteel? Doug is great to work with and it plays and records great. Easy to travel with too. |
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