Why are there so many ?

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 5 Jan 2004 4:28 pm

Why are there so many more steel guitar manufactures and makers, than standerd guitar? There many more guitar players than steel. If there where less makers would they be able to market better,and make more starter Steels? Joe[This message was edited by Joe Miraglia on 05 January 2004 at 04:43 PM.]

Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 5 Jan 2004 5:40 pm

..Hey, Joe..has it been a while since you've window shopped the music stores and catalogs?...there are dozens of standard guitar manufactures, way more than there are steel guitar....just check out a Musicians' Friend catalog, and they don't have all the brands by any stretch of the imagination...

...the simple economic fact about starter guitars is that the pedal steel is a machine with dozens of machined parts, much more expensive to make than an inexpensively mass produced wooden guitar with a few machined parts tacked on...

...the simple practical fact is that for kids, the six string is also portable, easier to learn and maintain...

...and the standard guitar is just plain sexier, no marketing can get around that fact...the pedal steel is no different than a keyboard for visual stage presence...Billy Preston tried carrying the keyboard around the stage with him 30 years ago, it just never caught on...[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 05 January 2004 at 05:50 PM.]

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 5 Jan 2004 5:48 pm

not only that, but with a standard guitar, you can play various kinds of music other than country!...

Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 5 Jan 2004 5:58 pm

...you can with a fiddle, too, but then you have to call it a violin....

...hey, maybe if we called it a pedal steel guitar only when it plays country music, and at all other times, we could call it a...??...needs a good classical Italian name...no, not a Corleone...

...a string bender would be a Spagospronza?..

...a sustainer would be a Sostenera?..

...how about just Una Tarchiato Madre?...[This message was edited by Pat Burns on 05 January 2004 at 06:20 PM.]

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 5 Jan 2004 9:04 pm

There's been thousands of different makers of standard guitars, but only a few hundred for steel.

At my last count, there were about 250 different standard guitars in the M/F catalog, bt only 2 steels (5 if you count the resonator models).

(There were also at least 9 banjos)

Standard guitars are made in almost every country...not so with steels!

And...on the Internet.....

"steel guitar" generates 258,000 hits (on Google)

"bagpipes" generates 279,000

"banjo" generates 1,710,000

But a boolean search for standard guitar (+guitar -steel) generates 10,400,000

"piano" generates 15,500,000

That we're not represented as highly as bagpipes should tell you volumes about the popularity of our instrument.

("Pipers", go easy on me...I'm from clan Ewan!)

Chris Forbes · Post by **Chris Forbes** » 6 Jan 2004 3:18 am

I'm obviously from Clan Forbes, but I understand you perfectly!! Sigh, what a sad state of affairs.

Tony Davis · Post by **Tony Davis** » 6 Jan 2004 4:09 am

Well I am from Clan Destine....there are a lot of standard guitar makers here.....I have one by one of the best.......there could be a few pedal Steel makers too but the only one I know of ......lives about 30 or 40 minutes away from me and makes what some people consider the "Rolls Royce of steel"...Noel Anstead...but he has Loong waiting list......too long for me.....besides my Emmons is still in tune from when I bought it in 1974 !!!
There was a time when you could go into a music shop and see a couple of steels set up and for sale here in Aus........dont think you can now though !