I know,I know, Mr Negative, but thats one of my endearing characteristics. WE are not "bashing" anyone's products by the way.. ALL modern steels are good, as well as most older ones, and I love them all, but there is always a clunker or two .

b0b has stated more than once that this forum is for discussion of steel PLAYERS.. NOT a manufacturers hype forum. I wouldn't worry about stepping on any toes.

1.. Dekley... It was long ago, but I remember it as being way too heavy.. The biggest problem for me however was the little "D" shaped pedals.. I play in socks, and I remember that steel guitar killing me when I played it.. Off it went.

2 Sho Bud Pro III.. kept this guitar for years, but I was always at odds with it. Although I bought it in mint/ unused cond.,that steel would NOT stay in tune. Open string or pedal stops.. always tuning it up. I kept the wrench right on the guitar.. Also, had problems with lowers... Had to have the changer fingers machined to get some of my copedent,and always fought it. Despite its sweet tone, off she went.

3 Sho Bud 6139[pre Pro I].. actually,a good guitar with a GREAT sound,but the changer was kind of primitive by todays standards and I could not get enough of my copedent.... I always seem to fight buds.. and I fought this one too.

4 Carter.. color...

5 MSA Classic.... color.. actually LACK of color....

6 Sho Bud Pro I... Don't want to discuss this one...

7 MSA D10 XL ..Nice guitar, but you needed 3 good men and a pack mule to move it.. the tone was also "blah",,, I don't think I kept it very long at all..

You get the idea... share a few steels that went off to oblivion because they would not work for you... bob

[This message was edited by Bob Carlucci on 19 May 2005 at 05:59 AM.]

My second guitar was a used Emmons P-P S10 model. Great sound, but again, tuning problems all over the place.

EDITED to add another guitar. Back in the late 1960's I bought one of the first Rickenbacker Pedal Steels and it would never stay in tune. Fortunately, the music store took it back and returned it to the Company. I guess Rickenbacker could never solve the problem either because they soon stopped making pedal steels.

www.genejones.com

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 21 May 2005 at 04:28 AM.]

Bob, I played a Dekley for 16 years in socks and thought it was very easy on the feet and I can't hardly stand to walk on grass without shoes on.

• Was it the steel that was bad?Or was it just bad judgement?
  
• If you knew then what you know now about the same steel....would you buy it again?
  

• Emmons
  
• Sho-Bud
  

I personally do not care for older MSA guitars, but have heard some players make them sound great. I'm also not fond of Mullen, Carter, or GFI guitars, but I might not have played 'the right one'.

There's a feel thing that is hard to measure or quantify. I can sit down to a guitar and know instantly if it talks to me. It's equal parts feel and sound in my opinion. All new guitars have pretty good mechanics. I love old Emmons, Sho-Bud, and ZB guitars, but they can be a pain to keep running smooth.

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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

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 19 May 2005 at 08:43 AM.]

I like to get really comfortiable when I play.

P.S. I tried to post a picture and it won't print. I can't seem to figure out where I'm going wrong.

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Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night.

[This message was edited by Dick Wood on 19 May 2005 at 08:54 AM.]

Worst one?........had to be the "MultiKord"!
Cables kept bustin',& ya had to have a special "screwdriver/nutdriver" combo to tune the pedals. Piece o' junk!!

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  ~ ~
  ©¿©  It don't mean a thang,   
  mm   if it ain't got that twang.
       www.ntsga.com

I've only had one steel, my little Carter Starter and I love it. My neighbors also love it: "I can't believe you get such great sound out of a giant Zither."

I do know what you mean about the Carter's color, though. It's really a woman's color and you should not have to suffer with it! You should send it to me and. . . .

Okay. I'll stop.

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

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Daniel J. Cormier
Desert Rose Lacquer D-10
EVans FET 500 LV Sessions 400 Limited ,ProFex II
http://www.cajunsteelguitar.com email at djcormier@cox-internet.com

quote:

---

b0b has stated more than once that this forum is for discussion of steel PLAYERS.. NOT a manufacturers hype forum. -Bob C-.

---

Hmm.....

naawww..

EJL

[This message was edited by Eric West on 19 May 2005 at 06:23 PM.]

Hate (but want to love, and will not surrender to): **'69 ZB D-10.

I see my latter sentiments are far from unique. One fortunate recent difference ("...more time adjusting than playing...") is I've recently borrowed a ca. '69 Sho-Bud S-10 Professional 6139 3+1. While it's no luxury machine and I'm no kinda player and I haven't adjusted the undercarriage yet, it's an exhilarating improvement over being stymied and pummeled by the D-10. Imagine the difference between being chauffeured in a Rolls-Royce with a bucket of Mumm's Extra Dry (my favorite) within easy reach as opposed to being dragged downhill over a gravel road behind a driverless, leaking Port-a-Potty pumper truck.

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Click on the pic!

My first pedal steel was one of the good early wood-neck Mavericks. Around 1974 I had Sho-Bud replace the original undercarriage with the latest Maverick undercarriage, which was not that different from a pro permanent. It was 3 and 2. I stripped off the original puke powder blue enamel and gave it a beautiful natural lacquer finish. But the 2nd string lower lever didn't always return true, and the pickup was a real hummer.

Next I got an S12 extended E9 Emmons push/pull. Once I learned the trick of not tightening the neck too much, it has had unmatchable tone. I replaced the single-coil pickup with a TrueTone, and couldn't tell much difference - the original was that good. I have converted it to an E9/B6 3 and 4 universal, and will someday add more pedals and levers. With great difficulty, I have learned to keep it in playable adjustment. But the action is clunky and less adjustable compared to modern all-pulls. It threw a rod or something in the middle of a gig, and I haven't taken the time to repair it yet. But over the long run I will keep this instrument playable for it's great vintage tone.

Next I got a used S12 universal Fessy. The BL 412 humbucker was shrill. Some of the string pins on the changer were too short. There was a catch at the end of travel on some pedals, caused by the pull rod twisting. I found setup changes difficult to make. The bellcrank screws were hard to get to, and the pull rods didn't slip into the bellcrank slots without bending the crank, and would sometimes pop out. The nut rollers were not gauged. For various reasons, this is less a problem with D10s, but is a major problem with a uni.

When the Fessy got stolen, I took the opportunity to get a Zum uni. This '90s Zum is well designed, looks gorgeous, and has no major problems. I think I've found my true love. I love the V slots in the changer that hold the ball ends without popping out when changing strings. The nut rollers are gauged. Moving the old bellcranks insanely required removing the crossbar, and the bellcrank screws were hard to reach. The new Zum bellcranks are easier to change. Now I have a mixture of the two types, and will eventually replace all the old ones.

I got a used Carter D12 to experiment with copedants. I wanted to try a Sacred Steeler E7 tuning on the outer neck, and a universal on the inner neck. But that has turned out to be a bigger job than I imagined. All the knee levers have to be taken off and repositioned, and I have to order a heckuva lot of parts. I'm wondering if I will ever get around to this project. Maybe it's just as well. The Carter mechanics seem good, but the nut rollers are not gauged. The color is somewhere between light turquoise and sky blue. Maybe that would look good out West somewhere, or in Hawaii, but anywhere else it looks silly. The plastic Carter fretboard may be practical, but it looks ugly compared to the brightly painted fretboards of my other steels. The low profile neck is probably a good idea. But it looks and feels strange to play. Most of these problems with the Carter may be unique to me and this guitar. I think Carters are good modern pedal steels.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 20 May 2005 at 10:57 AM.]