The Steel Guitar Forum

Maybe the answer is having a guitar made in China... for around $600 .. Chinese manufacturers seem to have no respect whatsoever for USA intellectual property and will rip off any good Made-in-USA design and mass-produce it. The only really unique piece(s) of a PSG are the changer/fingers and argua...

I've never been to a NAMM show, but I've produced, managed, or presented at dozens of construction industry tradeshow exhibits, live events on the show floor, and educational conference sessions. It is crazy-expensive for any company to exhibit at a national show. Our national construction tradeshow...

Just sent you a PM.

..very pound counts !! True that! I've been doing more with 1/2" baltic birch and ditching the 3/4" altogether - You can buy small pre-cut quantities of Russian Baltic Birch from these guys- it's good enough that you can route or dovetail the edges - pretty much void-free. http://www.wood...

Hi Hiro I don't have a piece of ultra-lite plywood for you... but I work with homebuilders all over the US/Canada. A 3/4" thick piece of anything used for subflooring works good for pedalboards (I've built a bunch of them). Many of our clients are using something called "Advantech" wh...

....unless you have a lever locking device (to enable the Es to stay lowered... Lynn - I was under the impression that if you were going to seriously play B6... you'd need some kind of locking mechanism. It's hard for me to imagine playing a whole tune (or set for that matter) and having to manuall...

Mark van Allen wrote: I have an 80's Zumsteel Universal you might take a look at.

So what are you asking for the Zum? You can either email me or PM (I think I have that turned on .

Lynn Honestly I hadn't considered anything that new but I'm not opposed. Questions 1) Do the E's have to be on the right in the universal tuning for some functional reason, and... 2) If not, is there any physical/mechanical reason they can't be moved to the left on this guitar? I'm probably enough o...

Hi everyone. I'm in the market for a gig-worthy U-12 set up E9/B6. I trust the pickers here to know a good guitar and make a no-BS recommendation. I'm ok with a fixer-upper as long as the bones are solid. Thank you in advance.
Joe Stoddard

There's a nice looking Fessenden D-12 on ebay currently - someone might know the gentleman selling it. Price seems almost too cheap - asking $2250. Any input? And dumb question - how is an "Extended E9 or C6 normally extended - one string in either direction?... 2-strings higher?... both lower?...

Ok- I've play(ed) bottleneck slide since I was a kid - you hardcore steelers are going to have to unlearn a lot of things - same as me going the other direction but in reverse if that makes sense :-) - Robert Randolph often sounds like a rock/blues slide player. I reference his set-up a few times b/...

Been out of touch for a few weeks and just caught this horrible news. I'm an old picker but a brand new 'steeler' like so many 6-string converts. I can't even begin to consider myself anything but an outsider to this wonderful community. But that also gives me a fresh perspective. Until 5-6 yrs ago ...

What will the C6 tuning do that the E9 won't? Bill - this is an over-simplification and I am a noob myself - but in general I'd associate the E9 neck with modern country "Nashville" music and pop tunes where a pedal steel guitar is in-use. The C6 neck, aside from being much lower in pitch...

Hi Joe, FWIW, the Roland (synth) pickup is NOT a midi pickup.. .. Yes I do know that. And as soon as I sent it I knew someome would call me on it - I was trying to over-simplify and use "MIDI" generically- my bad. But you get the idea -whether it's a Roland PUP or just a Piezo or somethin...

... and it may even be cost effective. After all, electronics are cheaper now to make than something machined. I, like you, prefer to play the old way by never can tell what's in the future. :P This is my way of thinking. I think eventually, for the instrument to survive and not go the way of the S...

Thanks everyone for the input thus far. I wanted to throw this in the mix.... I think by far the "feel" of real pedals would be the toughest thing to duplicate. Tough, but not impossible. There are very realistic digital piano mechanisms now- both keys and pedals. That said- keyboard playe...

I'm going to quote Scotty from Star Trek on this one: The more you overhaul the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. I just simply do not see the necessity of doing all this..... There is no "necessity" - in the 'necessity is the mother of invention" line of thinking. If ...

Bryan, Is there anything a non Apple owner/user can do...James. PMFJI - if you have any kind of smartphone.... I use Stitcher radio app (all major brands of SmartPhone and also a web browser version) to listen to podcasts- I was happy to find the Pedal Steel Podcast available there. http://www.stit...

Howdy all - I did a search and didn't find anything on this topic. I'm sure I'm going to get dissed by some purists for even bringing this up - but time is marching on and nothing much has changed in the world of PSG in decades. But 6-string guitars are changing... and live sound gear is definitely ...

Hi Mark (and anyone else with some .02 to toss in) I'm a semi-retired 'newbie' learning to play PSG after 45+ years as a 6-string picker. I'm trying to sort out the plusses and minuses of various PSG mechanisms because I'm really interested in eventually building a PSG. Mullen seems to be the only (...

I'm looking for a pro-quality all-pull D10 in good condition. I'm a beginner so I don't want to spend a used car for a PSG. I missed what I would consider the best deal I've seen in a long time- I'll let the "old pros" tell me if I'm wrong and why. Did you guys see the GFI D10 Ultra/Keyles...

... but it's not fruadulent to buy a Fender guitar and put your own label on it. No problem putting your sticker on it if you're just playing it. If you're *selling* something and claiming to be the creator when another party actually holds the intellectual property (IP)rights (trade, copyright, pa...