the shock factor comparison to how many electric guitars are out there should be very telling about what a very small niche steels have in this world society.
Absolutely...If we took the highest estimate of the total number of PSG's that we could possibly come up with here... would that number approach even 1% of the 6 string electric (Spanish) guitars produced?
Maybe toss in the numbers for any electric lapsteels and console steels too. Would we hit 1%?
I'm thinking if a 1%er patch for us steelers like they have in the world of motorcycle riders, but I don't know if the numbers will add up to enough
Emmons Push Pull, BMI, Session 400, Home of the Slimcaster Tele.
The first time I saw Bobbe Seymour playing in Trenton, NJ in the late 60s, he was playing a push-pull Capri. Does everybody know the Capri story? Does anybody know the Capri story?
I'm sure there are a lot more steel guitars out there than there are players. Ignoring those who bought one and gave up, but hung onto it in the hope that someday they would get back to it and this time be successful, (which must run to thousands), those who do play usually have multiple instruments. I know I do.
How many pedal guitars did Fender produce?
MSA?
Is it assumed Sho Bud is the largest single producer with 18,000?
Fender made well over 5,000 cable guitars, plus another 4400 rodded guitars (built by Sho~Bud); so there's no way you could leave them out. MSA (who, for a period of time, made well over 200 per month) made more than 10,000. The Sho~Bud figure may be accurate, but I don't know if that includes the 4,400 they made for the Fender. Harlin also made a couple of thousand.
Thirty years ago, people would think nothing of trashing or stripping old pedal guitars, but now they're more reluctant to do so.
This is a really interesting topic.Is that Shobud number just pro models or counting mavericks as well because i assume there were a lot of mavericks produced over a period of several years.
Bent just finished building #007 for a repeat customer...it's name is "Bond"...not sure if it comes with an ejection seat, but the aluminum sure shines good :<)
Jeff Newman once told a class I was in that a steel manufacturer was doing pretty well if they turned out 20 a year. He said that after Sho-Bud, MSA and a few others had gone out of business.
So, based on that I figure there have been 4,312 steel guitars made.
I had the pleasure of playing a friends U12 BMI and it was the first time I was introduced to the world of steel guitar. My heroes on steel were the session players on Highway 101's albums. Country steel and lap steel at its finest!!
Anyone know how many Carvin made? Did Rickenbacker make any pedal steels?
"Technique is really the elimination of the unnecessary..it is a constant effort to avoid any personal impediment or obstacle to achieve the smooth flow of energy and intent" Yehudi Menuhin
Yes, Carvin made pedal steels, maybe fifty to a hundred, but you couldn't hardly call them a popular brand, or a significant manufacturer. The same goes for Rickenbacker, who made a couple of different models, maybe a hundred or two, total?
Most manufacturers are very tight-lipped about actual numbers, and don't make a lot of money...probably because there are definite tax advantages to claiming you made and sold less than you actually did.
Hear you Donny. I asked about those names because I saw one Carvin when I was 11 and only a pic of a Rickenbacker.
"Technique is really the elimination of the unnecessary..it is a constant effort to avoid any personal impediment or obstacle to achieve the smooth flow of energy and intent" Yehudi Menuhin
There have been threads here in years past that there are only about 50,000 pedal steel players on the planet ! Most own one. Some two...only a handful of collectors own dozens.
Maybe there are a few more players now, but 100,000 PSG's seems pretty close.
there's thirteen hundred and fifty two
Guitar pickers in Nashville
And they can pick more notes than the number of ants
On a Tennessee anthill
Yeah, there's thirteen hundred and fifty two
Guitar cases in Nashville
And anyone that unpacks his guitar can play
Twice as better than I will
MSA "The Universal" - Peavey Nashville 112 - Fender Mustang III amp - and way too many guitars
there's thirteen hundred and fifty two
Guitar pickers in Nashville
And they can pick more notes than the number of ants
On a Tennessee anthill
Yeah, there's thirteen hundred and fifty two
Guitar cases in Nashville
And anyone that unpacks his guitar can play
Twice as better than I will
Complete with pedal steel courtesy of the late Zalman Yanovsky, played on a cable-operated Fender.
Doug, I parted out a Fender 1000 the other day, so you need to update your records. 57,478.
And I built a pedal steel in 1971 that is not in the statistics, making that 57,479 again, but, then, the mechanism didn't work very well, so I converted it to a non-pedal console steel, bringing the figure to 57,478. Then, again, I restored two Sho-Buds about ten years ago, which have already been included in the "built" figure. Hey, this is getting too confusing for me. It's no good knowing how many pedal steels have been built without knowing how many have been scrapped, and how many are sitting around in people's basements, unplayable but might or might not be restored at some stage in the future, if the Good Lord's willing and the crops don't rise. Maybe some of you should sign up for my Procrastination Workshop... http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... n+workshop
My heroes on steel were the session players on Highway 101's albums. Country steel and lap steel at its finest!!
