I guess I'll jump in.
I had the pleasure of living with one of Ross' prototypes for a few months now, as a favor to him. He wanted it "road" tested, or at least get a few miles on it. It's an interesting guitar made of spruce. I've used it on almost every gig between now and the day I took it home. (I needed the double neck for a Commander Cody gig

) At first I had trouble dialing it in because the spruce reacts lot different than the maple but I figured it out. The maple guitars sounded better to me when I AB'd them. Some of the sound men that have heard me many times with my beloved vintage Zbs all had positive feedback, some even offered it without me asking the question "How was my tone?" They said it cut through without having to eq the board too much and for them that's a good thing. One guy even said he thought it sounded more like what he thought a steel should sound like.
Our resident bay area celebrity hippie steel wizard, Barry Sless approached me after a gig and was very curious. He said I was definitely the brightest sounding instrument in the mix in a "very pleasing way". His exact words. He was blown away with the twisting adjustable pedal rods and flipped out when he saw me walking out with a tiny compact case that was only 38 pounds. He asked for Ross' number.
Now there are a few guys that are stuck on the vintage thing that like my Zbs better, and believe me, I get it because I've been that way for a long time But I surrendered to a modern guitar....and it's ok! I LOVE it!! I actually feel like my playing improved because my confidence improved.
The pedal and knee lever feel is very precise and smooth and it's very fun to play, with all the stops being very accurate. The notes from the pulls snap into place beautifully and the pulls are balanced and even. I rarely have to adjust the tuners including the endplate.
No shortcuts were taken on these steels.
I ordered a maple S-10 3x 5 and have no regrets. I just hope I don't end up wanting spruce. This prototype has really grown on me. In fact I have to give it back and I will miss it! Sorry about the bar dings Ross, and the case works great when somebody spills a drink on it backstage! The steel stayed dry!

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