GFI Expo are they really that bad looking?

[Micky Byrne]

Hi Quentin...I do post once in a while on something I have to say lol e'mail me...my e'mail address is on my website home page.. I'd like to add you in my address book. Thanks to Bob, I've added quite a few from this fantabulous Website

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

[Ryan Lunenfeld]

Sorry to rehash this thread... but how do you all feel 6 years later when styles have changed?

I've been eying pedal steels, and for the life of me I haven't been able to get over how garrish most look...

Which ones do you think are attractive?

I kind of love the look of the black expo, and the look of the blue one.

This to me looks beautiful :




while something like this is rather atrocious?




I hope I don't get too much hate for this opinion!


Or is there a purtier pedal steel?

[Erv Niehaus]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".
Erv

[Donny Hinson]

Ok I have taken some ribbing about the way my beloved Expo looks, I have been told by two people that it is kinda "homely" one even said it is "ugly"...

Yeah, lotta "gear snobs" out there. They'd rather run you down than improve themselves.

If life has taught me anything in almost 80 years, it's that there are (at least) three things in life that you should never select on the basis of looks alone...a guitar, a car, or a woman.

[Ian Rae]

I am one of the many who have always thought that GFIs are a bit charmless compared to lovingly finished lacquer guitars, but now that I have actually had the opportunity to play one I can see that they are intended to be light, strong, playable, and simple to work on. The sample that came through my hands made a decent sound and stayed in tune even after being being transported some distance.

Gene Fields may have been more of an engineer than a luthier, but as engineering goes.... it's beautiful.

[Ken Mizell]

I actually like the look of the black GFI Expo myself. The Expo also looks great with the “Vintage Wood” mica. The Ultra is nice looking too, without the Ultra badge, and there is one for sale here on the forum right now. With that said, I love the looks of both mica and lacquer traditional guitars, like the ShoBud pictured above.

[Jeremy Threlfall]

i reckon GFIs look great

[K Maul]

I recall my first time meeting Bobbe Seymour. He sort of turned up his nose, mostly regarding looks, when I mentioned I’d recently bought a GFI. A couple years later he was selling them.
It’s a much more “Post-modern/industrial” look than my ol’ Bud Crossover but they play great and you don’t need a crane to move them.

[Joe Krumel]

I'm old and own a keyless ultra s-10. No alligator snout headstock. I have owned a s..t ton of steels,the GFI is not a guitar to be looked down at.Years ago at bobbe S. store, the repair guy fell in love with it when he did some changes for me.They are very comfortable to play.That is my old person opinion.

[Jack Stoner]

I have a (2000 year) Ultra D-10, Black of course, that was acquired with some "horse trading". Its my only guitar after selling the Franklin. The only thing I miss from the Franklin is the short travel of the knee levers. After 9 months with the GFI, I still don't like the long knee lever travel, especially the RKL.

Other than that "minor issue" I think the GFI is great and will last me the rest of my days. Body weight is the same as the Franklin. I had a two piece case set for the Franklin that I built with 3/8" Baltic Birch. I have a Kevin Hatton built two piece case set (no wheels version) for the GFI, also built with 3/8" Baltic Birch. Both the Franklin and the GFI bodies weigh the same in the cases (I think it was 46.2 Lbs).

[Rich Upright]

Actually, I think the GFIs are nice looking guitars, especially that navy blue one.Ultra I think. But, I ain't familiar with how they sound or play.

[Jack Wilson]

I think one of the most attractive guitars built today is the Sierra. Some of the guitars pics posted on this thread are no longer in production. I guess beauty didn't help them stay in business.

[Michael McGauley]

Nobody notices our rectangular box until it starts to sing!!
Then it makes the stars shine brighter.
Used a little pinline tape to show off the lines.

[Jack Stoner]

The pinstriping looks good.

[Jacek Jakubek]

I've been eying pedal steels, and for the life of me I haven't been able to get over how garrish most look...

Which ones do you think are attractive?

I depends on what music you want to play on your pedal steel. The black GFI is more suitable for playing Megadeth and Slayer songs, the yellow Sho-bud is more for George Jones and Merle Haggard...If you want to play some Eagles or Travis Tritt, you should get a blue one.

[John Sluszny]

They look good and they are awesome but I don't like their logo, that's all !

[Jack Stoner]

Sho-bud is more for George Jones and Merle Haggard

Norm Hamlet, Merle Haggard's steel player is playing a GFI Ultra.

I played a Franklin for 38 years, what would be considered conventional body design. I've had the GFI D-10 Ultra for about a year but it didn't become my gigging guitar until I sold the Franklin earlier this year. The non-conventional body design doesn't bother me and I don't miss the "cabinet drop" that the Franklin had. The Fender 2000 that I started pedal steel on, in 1969, would also be considered non-conventional by some.

[Terry Elms]

Send me all of your ugly GFI guitars. I'll take em!

[Ian Rae]

Michael, that tape makes an amazing difference!

Expect to see it on production models soon....

BTW, where do you get it? Is it an auto accessory?

[Lee Warren]

Hey Michael McGauley, that pin line tape really adds a nice touch!

[Lee Dassow]

Didn't Ralph Mooney play a GFI in his later years? T.L.

[Michael McGauley]

Thanks
Check out Jockomo Guitar Inlet Stickers
They’ve got a lot of choices
Good luck

[Jack Wilson]

Ralph had several GFIs in his later years. Every time he sold one he would send Gene Fields the money. I helped build the last one he got, an Expo X1 with vintage wood and birds eye maple split front mica.
He willed that guitar with his seat and gray cowboy hat with all the famous steel players signatures to GFI.
GFI still has all that and displays it in the GFI room at the Dallas shows. Sometimes when people visit the GFI factory, Bob will break it out and let people play it.

[Dennis Montgomery]

Definitely very modern, sleek, almost industrial. When I went shopping for the pedal steel of my dreams back in 2018 I gave GFI a really close look. One big problem was they only make 12 strings keyless and I didn't want keyless. In the end I felt a connection with a more traditional design and once I saw a Mullen G2 it was game over

[Ian Rae]

GFIs are indeed "industrial", which possibly explains why they make such a good workhorse.