Why so many change steelguitar's

Ron Scott · From: Michigan

Just want to know if you have a great sound with a certain steelguitar then why keep getting different one's and selling the old one you are getting a great sound from? Can't figure this out,and when you get a new one then you try to make it sound like the old one. Maybe someone can shed some light on this for me...Been playing some 35 or more years and I have had the same steel for about 25 years.Maybe I found the right one for me?????????? I understand if someone needs a second one for practice at home,in which case I don't play out anymore,so I don't need the second one. Ron
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Franklin D10 Stereo - 8 and 6 - Black Box-Zum Encore 4 and 5 Nashville 400,Session 400, DD3 for delay ,also Benado Effects pedal.
Steeling with Franklin's..and Zum Encore

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Ron

You should be applauded. Recognizing that you need help is the first step toward recovery.
You know you need more steels. Just say yes.

Stan Paxton · Posted 4 Jun 2007 2:31 pm

Maybe chasing the elusive dream? I never have yet got the tone down just where I want it. 2nd guitar for home is beginning to sound just like the other one, lacquer vs mica; must be me is the problem Confused

Johnny Thomasson · From: Texas, USA

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I've been playing the same Franklin D-10 since I got it (new) in late 1981.

Bo Borland · From: South Jersey -

I played the same MSA S10 for 30 years, somehow found a way to get an acceptible sound but always craved another steel.. I finally decided on a D10 Derby.. what can I say ., she is a totally hot babe!
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Bo Borland
Rittenberry SD10 , Derby D-10, Quilter TT12, Peavey Session 400 w/ JBL, NV112, Fender Blues Jr. , 1974 Dobro 60N squareneck, Rickenbacher NS lapsteel, 1973 Telecaster Thinline, 1979 blonde/black Frankenstrat
Currently picking with
Mason Dixon Band masondixonband.net

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I see you're playing a Franklin. Perhaps that's why you're so happy. Smile

Not too long after I started playing, I found a very early Franklin. It was a fantastic-sounding guitar but had been rode hard before I got it. The guitar really needed some work, and I think it must have been set up shorter than normal - I could never comfortably play it with my 6'4" frame, even with a lift kit on. Unfortunately, I finally traded it instead of getting it refurbished, and have been trying to get that feel and tone ever since. I have a couple of guitars that are pretty bloody good now, but I'm not sure anything is really quite like that Franklin. IMO, the Maserati of pedal steel guitars.

So consider yourself lucky. Or if you ever decide to part with your Franklin, let me know. Wink

Jim Bob Sedgwick · From: Clinton, Missouri USA

David, maybe your physician could perform an altitude adjustment for you. Shouldn't cost more than $40,000 +. "Just kidding" Wink

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Geez, I think I can get a new Franklin cheaper than that, eh? Wink

I'll tell you one thing - that experience motivated me to learn something about PSG mechanics, if for no other reason than to know what the design limits are. I found I had to do the same thing with guitar many, many years ago.

IMO, if you don't know enough mechanics to know what is possible, you don't know whether you can do better or not, and can easily keep on shooting for impossible targets. The classic guitar example is someone insisting on lower and lower action and less and less neck relief from their tech, and then complaining when the strings buzz and it sounds bad when the play hard. As a guitar dealer, I saw people sell or trade fantastic guitars over and over again because they had them set up poorly. Once you understand the tradeoffs, you can intelligently make what you have work.

On PSG, the tradeoffs are more in the line of pedal and lever throw vs. stiffness, changer design and materials vs. tonal qualities and tuning stability, and others. I think it's a good idea to work on these things enough to get an idea when you should stop tinkering and trying new guitars out, and just play the thing.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

It takes me a couple of years to get real comfortable with a new guitar. I can't figure out how these people who trade around a lot ever get to the point where thay can play one in tune.

Remember, you have to play well to get a good tone. If you never take the time to settle into a guitar, you never get comfortable enough to play well.

That's how I look at it, anyway.
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Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

The older Franklin's were an inch shorter than the current "standard" height. I always had problems touching the underside of the guitar but never really thought about it until talking to Mr Franklin he mentioned he had started building them "higher". I bought a 1" lift kit, which brought it up to the current Franklin height (and the same height as Emmons, etc) and found out that cured the problem. I then ordered new pedal rods and two new front legs from Franklin. The lift kit worked but it looked like an "abortion".

Jim Wilson · From: Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA

Had my Franklin since 1983 tried several other's and for some reason i just keep going back to the Franklin, Paul went over it about a year ago and works & sounds just fine. Jim jwilson@frpfab.com

Duane Reese · Posted 5 Jun 2007 6:23 am

Ron, a lot of these people who buy and sell are running in the narrow gap between having GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome) and going bankrupt - much like jogging down a railroad track between two cars in a moving train. Consider yourself lucky that you don't suffer from this. It's a difficult thing to treat: every time the afflicted gets a wild hair up their you-know-what, the have to excercise self-control and common sense.

Some never make it.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I justify my guitar purchases as "research". I really enjoy looking at the under belly of the different brands and comparing the construction of one against the other. Very interesting and enlightening. Very Happy

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Bob,
I solved that problem by building a better doghouse!
I added onto our garage a few years ago and built a loft over it. That's where I go and do my "research". Very Happy

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

Gentlemen, if i was a retired enginneer like Bro Erv, i'd probably be researchin' too
since i'm neither (retired or an engineer) & i've got 4 kids, 1 steel will do me just fine
when i discovered this great forum, i started out w: a Sho Bud D10 that i really dug & i kept it for a few years
it took me 2 years to save up to get a new ZumSteel
believe me, i'm 1 happy camper
more power to those who can afford gas or research Very Happy

i agree w; b0b about settlin' in & gettin' used to one's instrument

Mark Eaton · Posted 5 Jun 2007 9:02 am

Even if I had the money to have a bad case of GAS, I don't know how much I would delve into it.

It seems to require a certain type of a energy of which I do not posess. Oh - I have plenty of energy in different areas - it's not that I cruise along on a low ebb.

It's all the-buying-and-selling, negotiating, packing-and-shipping, possible freight claims, etc.

Some folks have a lot of fun with it. To me it just seems like too much work.
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Mark

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Brother CrowBear,
I am not retired, just tired!
I don't ever plan on retiring. The only way I would retire is when the good Lord retires me.
I love staying active with a lot of different interests to keep me busy and steel guitars is one of my consuming passions. I guess the reason I like pedal steels sooooo much is because maybe I'm a better mechanic than a musician.
And, as you are aware, I love tabbing out the Lord's music and affording steelers the opportunity to "give praises to the Lord on an instrument of 10 strings". Very Happy

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Duane Reese · Posted 5 Jun 2007 12:50 pm

You know now that I think about it, buying and selling steels is a less serious form of gas than buying them and keeping them all, and buying more, and more...

A common pitfall that can lead to GAS (besides consumption of beans) is taking the testimonial of others about steels too seriously. Ever heard someone say "Nothing beats one of these," or "All the pro's have one of those," or "You can't get the right sound without a..."? Even if it's a guitar that you already know and have played, the influence of others can really make the difference.

That, coupled with seeing a steel that has a really cool laquer or mica scheme that you just can't live without (until next week)...

Next thing you know, you have talked yourself into another guitar that does the same thing as your other(s), and you are quite a few dollars poorer.

Believe me, I know how this works. Cool

Charles Curtis · Posted 5 Jun 2007 2:19 pm

I currently have an Emmons, 2002, lacquer, 5 & 8; before I had an older pp. IMO, this is one of the best that I've had the pleasure of playing. Let me add that a pp that I really like is the one played by the one and only, Randy R. who plays with the great Bobby Flores back home. I believe that one of the joys of life is everyone's unique personal affinity for "sound" that they like themselves. That being said, I know full well that I couldn't get the same sound that Randy does from his psg. If I could I believe my phone would never stop ringing. (Hey, Randy, how 'bout doing an instrumental CD?)

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I look on them as an investment (at least thats what I tell my wife). I'm not too many years from retirement age and hopefully I can still play a few tunes when I reach it. Then I'll probably sell off one now and then, Hmm, but then again.......I may just keep buying them.

I had a little trouble getting used to a new guitar until I got my new MSA's. They were set up so well from the factory, and with the ability to change pedal height and knee lever angle quickly, it took almost no getting used to. I got my second one on a Friday and played my church gig with it the next Sunday with no problems. Great guitars.
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

well some may dis me for this but here goes
it took me 10 years to figure out that the sound i wanted to hear was in me!! yes some steels have a bit more of IT......BUT i found out that no matter
what steel i play i always wind up with my tone
which i have been told is very good
each player is unique...your tone is your tone
your touch is your touch
i went through a bunch of steels before i figured this out Laughing

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I don't feel people with G.A.S. are looking for something "better", they're just looking for something "different". When they make a purchase, it's different...for a short while. After a few months, however, the "new" goes away - and then they're on to something else. The oft-heard response "I'm just looking for my sound" to me just doesn't wash, unless they're buying everything without trying it out first.

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