Prices are going up. Way up!

[Chris Templeton]

I really like this discussion and hearing points of views from all over. This is NOT about politics, (though there's a relation), but about the ability for people who service the steel guitar and keep it viable in that market and in music.
By doing that, the instrument stays modern instead of being thought as that "vintage instrument".

[Doug Earnest]

The global supply chain is a fine thing as long as all the links stay intact! Yes, other countries sure do have it much worse than we do, no doubt about it.

Boston Scientific can't send the "at home monitor" for my new pacemaker because they can't get the computer chips, along with a few other miscellaneous small pieces. Great.

The tuning key situation is not good either. The next shipment is due in April. Due does not mean it will really get here at that time.

It's all connected!

[Jack Stoner]

Supply chain issues with some Gator cases, too. I wanted a light weight case for the new GFI S-10 with pad I ordered early September (3rd). Research and found the G-PG-49 keyboard case (6 lbs) was being used by several steelers. Just what I was looking for but there was none to be had (that I found on the Internet). I called Gator to see if it had been discontinued and was advised it was not, stuck in transit between China and the US. Finally, a week before Christmas I found one music store that had 6 (new stock) listed and bought one. There are apparently still supply chain issues as its still out of stock most places. Surprisingly, there has not been a price increase.

[Don R Brown]

As an example, try to manufacture a simple extendable chromed steel leg with a friction clutch and rubber foot here in the US and see what it costs. The last ones I had made here many years ago were costly and were absolute junk. The ones that the man was having made overseas were about a third the price and were absolutely perfect.

Something is wrong with this. We may not be able to do much, if anything, about the cost or delivery of a widget made in China. But we SHOULD be able to make that same widget here, perfect every time, even if at a higher cost. If overseas labor is so cheap that the price is low, that's one thing. But when items made in the US are of poor quality, I would maintain that's a separate issue. A millimeter is a millimeter, an inch is an inch, no matter where on the globe you are.

We need to remember the concept of "absolutes". When discussing a given standard, something either IS or IS NOT right. There is no "sort of" nor an alternative answer. The dimensions for a leg for Doug's steel are specific. The capacity of a beam in a tall bridge is exact. If a part is not made correctly, the part WILL fail to perform as needed.

[Doug Earnest]

You are correct Don.

In fairness, those legs were dimensionally correct.

A great many of the tubes were not straight.
The chrome plating was pitted and in some cases had surface rust.
The clutches were prone to sticking.
It was all a case of lack of attention to detail.

That manufacturer had been making legs for years but it was not something they did day in and day out.

[Don R Brown]

You are correct Don.

In fairness, those legs were dimensionally correct.

A great many of the tubes were not straight.
The chrome plating was pitted and in some cases had surface rust.
The clutches were prone to sticking.
It was all a case of lack of attention to detail.

That manufacturer had been making legs for years but it was not something they did day in and day out.

Doug, I'm sure you didn't order dimensionally correct parts. You ordered a usable, functioning leg. That should include all its parts being in proper working order. Whether they made them day in and day out is not relevant. Even if it's a once-in-a-while order (and maybe even more so in that case) that attention to detail you mention is critical, and from the sound of it, that cost them your business.

I bought one of your Stage One steels new. YOU very obviously DO pay very close attention to detail, as everything was exactly as it should be. One of the critical things for any parts supplier or subcontractor who wants to bring business back from overseas is that same attention to detail. Again, it either is or it is not right. Nobody here would accept a new pickup truck which was the right size, but had surface rust on the doors and headlights that didn't work. Why would anybody think to ship you sub-standard PSG legs, or anything else you contracted for?

[Tom Gorr]

Let's see all those homemade pedal steels! They're coming back into fashion soon, I hear...

Prices and availability aren’t any better for DIY'ers

Let's start here! A couple coat hangers and you're in business.

I made something like that for my Grade 4 son's music project. Except used a dog dish for a resonator, a piece of walnut lumber for a neck, and authentic wood violin parts for tuners.

I think I got up to 3 strings working properly before the deadline. HAHAA!

Called it the Dog Dish Dobro.

Now - my son was with me watching me use the shop tools, and he helped so it wasn't a total dad project.

[Jack Stoner]

You are correct Don.

In fairness, those legs were dimensionally correct.

A great many of the tubes were not straight.
The chrome plating was pitted and in some cases had surface rust.
The clutches were prone to sticking.
It was all a case of lack of attention to detail.

That manufacturer had been making legs for years but it was not something they did day in and day out.

Doug, I'm sure you didn't order dimensionally correct parts. You ordered a usable, functioning leg. That should include all its parts being in proper working order. Whether they made them day in and day out is not relevant. Even if it's a once-in-a-while order (and maybe even more so in that case) that attention to detail you mention is critical, and from the sound of it, that cost them your business.

I bought one of your Stage One steels new. YOU very obviously DO pay very close attention to detail, as everything was exactly as it should be. One of the critical things for any parts supplier or subcontractor who wants to bring business back from overseas is that same attention to detail. Again, it either is or it is not right. Nobody here would accept a new pickup truck which was the right size, but had surface rust on the doors and headlights that didn't work. Why would anybody think to ship you sub-standard PSG legs, or anything else you contracted for?

The leg problems are not new. I remember Paul Franklin Sr complaining about pitted and poor finish on legs 30 years ago and that he rejected an entire shipment of legs.

[Bill McCloskey]

Good for the used market I would assume.

[Doug Earnest]

Yes, Jack, extendable legs have been a problem since the first time somebody wanted to screw them into a mechanical gadget that might make music.

I think mainly it is like most other things in this industry, the numbers just don't justify a manufacturer getting real excited about trying to be a part of it. I would suspect that in the glory days of ShoBud and MSA things might have been just a little different and they could put in orders of sufficient quantity to demand cooperation.

I have been known to pay for a $15000 order of legs up front, and hope that they really would be delivered from overseas months later......with no guarantee other than a mans' good word...but not again, not in todays' world. This amount of legs would not be a drop in the bucket for what would be considered a decent order from a US manufacturer. If all of the steel guitar manufacturers went together on an order for two years worth of legs it still wouldn't make much of a number to get a manufacturer interested.

And this has to do with the topic of prices going up in that yes, I probably can get legs made here in the US if I want to pay $50 each for them. I don't want to and my economy guitar customers don't want to.

I didn't really mean to get off on the subject of steel guitar legs and whine about the problems of being a small businessman but I do think it is just one good practical example of why things cost so much today.

[Fred Treece]

Builders like you are where the rubber hits the road, Doug. I think that’s exactly what this discussion is about. We haven’t even touched on the cost of tools and shop maintenance (howbout insurance?), not to mention vehicle fleet upkeep and fuel for shippers.

[Allan Revich]

Inflation always has the same two root causes.

1) Too much money chasing too few goods.
2) Governments devaluing their currency by recklessly increasing the money supply.

Typically, because cutting government spending is politically impossible in democracies, the only way governments can reduce the money supply is to increase the cost of money by raising interest rates. Inevitably, this particular “cure” is as bad as the disease.