I know the pad is probably handy to lean on when not playing, but what I need to know is do you find they 'get in the way' or actually help out when you're playing, by giving you an anchor? Thanks for any and all personal opinions you can give me.

What I'm looking for is "why" a person likes or doesn't like having the pad in front. These two gave me just the kind of info I'm looking for.

Thanks

[This message was edited by Leila Tuttle on 25 May 2005 at 10:54 AM.]

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Emmons D10 8/4 P/P -75'
Fessenden SD-10 3/5
MSA SD-12 4/4 - 76'
76'Session 400
86'Nashville 400
Bandit 112

Besides the best thing is it looks so dern cool

Is it really so...that the tone might be better on one with a pad, cause its not just one skinny piece of wood?

- It's larger and weighs a bit more than an S-10.

0 My position relative to the E9 neck and pedals will be the same whether the guitar is an S-10, an SD-10 or a D-10.

+ The knees on the SD-10 will stay in the same place as on my D-10. The knees on the S-10 will be farther away.

+ I rest my right wrist on the C6 changer because picking on top of a pickup bugs me, and the SD-10 has support in that area.

The SD-10 scores +2 over the S-10.

Position of the knees and wrist support might not be an issue for you, and I'm a steel newbie, so I might be all wet about both these issues. But the SD-10 definitely looks cooler ;).

Picking-wise, I like the feel of the deep body, but not lever-wise. On an S10, the levers are much closer to the back of the body, which I feel gives me much better control. For that reason, I miss my old AVM.

On an SD10 (and a D10 as well), the knee levers are usually harder to reach if you don't have long legs. (I'm 5'11", but my legs are kind of shortish).

Looks-wise, for me the SD10 wins hands down.

To find what's best for you, you need to test-drive both kinds.

I tried out a couple of guitars at the Dallas show with the narrower pads and they didn't seem to get in the way like I thought they might. I think I'm secretly looking for something on which to anchor my arm so I don't lose my string orientation (does that make sense?) but I also realize that the more I play/practice the more secure I'll be about the moves I have to make to find the right strings.

Thanks to all of you and to anyone else who wants to make a contribution, I'm fascinated by what all of you have to say.

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Howard, 'Les Paul Recording, Zum S12U, Vegas 400, Boss ME-5, Boss DM-3, DD-3, Sierra Session D-10
http://www.Charmedmusic.com

I would want and E9 neck
to go with my C6 neck...

quote:

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Besides the best thing is it looks so dern cool

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I always thought an SD-10 looked more serious.

[This message was edited by James Cann on 27 May 2005 at 05:19 PM.]

If you are serious @ playing, go ahead and get the full double neck. That way you won't have to trade later on.

Any relation to Bobby Tuttle?

[This message was edited by Delbert Aldredge on 27 May 2005 at 09:35 PM.]

No relation to Bob. But he must be pretty popular, you're not the first to ask.

I wonder why females have such a reputation for changing our minds. I don't know. Yes, I do. No, probably not. Well...maybe.

I think its too late to change my mind. That's OK. I've gotten so many things to think about here though. Those that like the pad really like it, those that don't, really don't. And they all had good points. Too bad everybody can't just agree, then we could make a doctrine out of it. But again, its one of those subjective things I think.

Maybe if we all had perfect information about what we'd want in a guitar we wouldn't be happy, because we'd buy that perfect guitar and then have no excuse to buy another one. Just a thought. Then again....

Terry

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Mullen D10 /8x5 / session 500rd/ American Strat Highway 1 model
steelin for my Lord

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Gary Shepherd

Sierra Session D-10

Carter D-10

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Ernie
PS: I have had 7 singlewidth guitars & only 2 doublenecks [some of the singles were E9th/B6 Universal though.

And I don't think the pad looks so good. It makes it look like a sleazy piece of fake leather furniture rather than a musical instrument.

Most modern S10s and S12s have sufficient width added to accomodate all the levers you could want, and even provide a little elbow rest (without a pad).

My S12 Emmons p/p and Zum all-pull sound fine. I cannot imagine they would sound noticably better just because they had an extra wide body. In previous threads on this subject, some people even thought the single-body instruments sounded better.

With a single body you have better visibility of your feet on the pedals, even better than on the inside neck of a double-neck (which is why C6 is usually the inside neck of a double-neck). This is no big deal on a 3-pedal E9, but is very useful on a universal, or if additional pedals are added to an E9.

Finally, the smaller size and lighter weight of single bodies is very convenient. Playing around town, I never pack my guitar in the case. The case adds a lot of weight. I just stand my S12 U behind the back seat of my minivan. It is very easy to carry in and out. If I have to walk some distance or take a long flight of stairs, I hoist the guitar on my shoulder, which I can't imagine doing with a double-neck.

I'm sure I could get used to playing on the outside neck of a double body with a pad.
But why should I have to go through that? The only good case I hear for a SD guitar is from former D10 players who are use to having to stretch over the inside neck to get to the outside neck. However, I'll bet they would get use to the single body in a short time, and come to appreciate the advantages.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 31 May 2005 at 07:16 AM.]