The Steel Guitar Forum

I would get neither one, even though the maverick would stay put the carter starter is like a GE washing machine in spin cycle. you cant learn on something you spend more time on trying to keep it still. the pedals are weak and are always breaking. you can not add anything else to it. you just as well put your money on your porch and let the wind blow it away.if you are really wanting to learn you should get you a pro model used around 1600 to 2000. you can recover your money faster. the carter starter will drive you away of wanting to learn a pedal steel guitar. and so will the maverick. but my two cents worth even though the carter stater has a few more knees on it it dont even come 6th place against a maverick. but I would have neither

I don't have much experience with the student/intermediate models out there, but, the Carpsteel has been an absolute gem so far. It feels solid for as little as it weighs, and has heavy duty components. It holds it's tuning and is a breeze to play. I got a great deal from Billy Carr on this forum. Shoot him an email or call him to talk about pricing. This guitar is a triple raise/triple lower and can be added onto and your copedent can be changed if you need to. The factory setup is working fine for me so far, but, I like the prospect of being able to change things.

Love it!
-vwg

William,
I started out on the Mavrick, when I started playing over 30 years ago. At the time, a friend of mine told me, after three months I would be wanting to upgrade to a doulble neck, with more pedals and knee levers. There is not a whole lot one can do on it. You can't add knee levers to it nor pedals. The Carterstarter has more than one knee lever on it and you can do more with it. And the tone is out of this world. The Sho-Bud Maverick was and is a very basic guitar.My friend was right. After about 3to4 months after owning one, I was wanting to move up to a better steel guitar.
Tommy Shown
SMFTBL

If the Carter Starter is in good shape and you can pick it up for $450, definitely get the Carter Starter.

If you decide that you don't want to continue with pedal steel guitar you will be able to sell the guitar at the same price you payed for it.

If you do want to continue to learn pedal steel guitar, you will be able to practice with your Carter Starter while saving up for a pro model guitar.

I started out with a Carter Starter. It did what it was suppose to do which is introduce you to pedal steel guitar.

I still used my Carter Starter for about a year after purchasing a pro guitar.
I used it for band practice and even a couple gigs.
Of course they were gigs in places where you wouldn't want to take an expensive guitar.
I wound up selling the Carter a few months ago for $500.

The Carter Starter does move a little when you play it. Especially when using LKR because that knee lever is a bit stiff and has a long travel. But the guitar had very good tone IMO, and a fixed but very usable copedant.


Good luck with whatever guitar you decide to purchase.

Rick