Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn
Michael, if he can't tell the difference, it probably means you shouldn't worry about it.Buddy Emmons wrote:I have two Legrande lll models, one of which I used on Gene Watson's last album. Just for the record, I used a Carter D-10 on Gene's Gospel album and for all practical purposes, I can't tell a dime's worth of difference, but what do I know?
.Clete Ritta wrote:Me too, but unlike you, I was quite fond of mine because it was my first. It stayed in tune, sounded good and had the basic Emmons changes to learn. For a year, I didnt know what I was missing. It served its purpose very well to me. YMMV.Dustin Rigsby wrote:...The first steel guitar I owned was a carter starter...
Even with its shortcomings (due largely to its less expensive design), it was not mass production that made it inferior to pro level steels IMO, but merely the cheaper parts it was made of, and its inflexible copedent. It is still a very affordable beginners instrument. Im glad I had the opportunity to start on a very inexpensive used Starter model. I was instantaneously and thoroughly hooked on pedal steel from the day I got it. There are many threads here, pro and con on the Starter, so I will just leave my positive note here on that.
It was and is probably the best student guitar for the money. Plus it still holds its value at 500.00 to this day, which is what I paid for it 8 or so years ago...man if I had only known then what kind of $$$ I would be dumping into steel guitars,amps,and efx to try and steel Lloyd and Buddy's tone.... 
Not to rain on anyones parade but ! I think the Carter sounds ok and plays ok but the quality is the main problem i have . When i saw the under side of them i was quite '' unimpressed '' ! To me it looked like someone hung some '' coat hangers '' for changer rods ! The pro model seemed to stay in tune very well but i thought the quality i was use to playing and looking at wasn't there ! Most folks on here know i have been a Sho~Bud freak for many years and also an Emmons LeGrande lll ,so i look for the quality thats in these guitars and judge the rest by them ! Not meaning to start a '' range war ''but you asked for opinions ! Have a nice day .
I don't know of any builder that does that...not even Noel AnsteadMike Perlowin wrote:The reason some people look down on Carter is that they were not made by hand, one at a time. Instead they had the parts pre-manufactured, so they could assemble the guitars quickly and less expensively than some of the other builders.
Efficient manufacturing, even if it's just one guy, dictates that while a machine is running, you're off assembling a changer, or doing something else. Or, while the cabinet's drying, you're loading small parts into the tumbler and polishing a pedalboard. When machines make the parts (as opposed to the old by-hand "file, hacksaw and pistol drill" method) the parts are about as identical as they can get, so if you make 10 pullers on a manual Bridgeport, or a jobber makes 2,000 on a CNC Fadal, the only difference is time and money...the parts are the same. Most of the difference with mass producers is that they have a lot of semi-skilled people doing simple, repetitive tasks, while only a few might have all the skills necessary to make and assemble a guitar. 
If I want something I want it "NOW" I'm impatient. If you remember the clip from their first website, John said if they had a real emergency and a player came in at 9am in the morning,they'd have his steel ready for him by 4pm. I'm sure that with two on the job of assembly they really "could" do that...with all the parts there.
