The Steel Guitar Forum

Wayne, Desert Rose eh? GREAT choice!

IMHO

I'll stick with my Mullen D-10RP. I like the sound of a lot of steels, but for me the Mullen fits the bill. I'm sure there are people out there who swear their Oahu sounds the best. It's all personal taste. If you play a steel and it says, "This has got the sound you want" then if at all possible buy it. Play every steel you can get your hands on, and one will have that "just right" sound. No two trees are the same, and no two steels are the same either. Good luck.

Michael in the Ozarks

I currently own three. A Baggett custom U12, a MSA classic D12 and a U12 Sierra. The MSA is a TANK and bulletproof. I've played that thing probably 10,000 HOURS and it's never let me down for a minute. The Baggett introducted me to the universal tuning, and is a thing of classic beauty being constructed of African Purpleheart hardwood. It plays very well. But my favorite is the Sierra. Why? TONE, TONE, and TONE. I just can't believe the sustain on that thing. I'm doing things on the Sierra that I could never do on the Baggett or the MSA because they wouldn't sustain nearly as well. I don't know if its the pickups, the construction or the changer..but whatever it is, I'm now a Sierra convert.

<SMALL>You cannot fake a well developed technique on a Franklin...</SMALL>

Will someone please tell me which brand of guitar that I CAN "fake a well developed technique" on, so I can BUY one? My Carter seems pretty merciless in that respect too....

Wayne,

First, there is no real junk on the market any more. All brands I know of are good guitars.

Second, there are players out there that could get behind your MSA and blow you away so bad that you would never consider selling it at any price. It is not so much the brand of steel as it is the person doing the picking.

Third, If you are really ready to move on to a different axe, set down at different steels from time to time and check them out, that is really the only way you are going to know what is right for you. Your guitar is out there somewhere, there is an @$$ for every Pack-A-Seat.

Last but not least, in the words of John Fabian, the *%^&$#(*)#@#@%^*&^^ is the best &$(&%$$#$#%$ steel there is! LMAO!

On the serious side, the Dude that built so many of the MSA's like yours that are still out there in bedrooms, bars, and studios all over the freakin world is still building guitars, Bud Carter.

An earlier thread on this forum indicates that Carter has the lions share of the pedal steel market today. That tells me that a lot of players feel pretty much at home behind one.

I had a Carter D-10 built a few years ago, I liked it a lot. I sent Carter my specs for an SD-10 5 X 5, with a very unusal set-up a few months back and they built it exactly like I had asked, and in record time, under 30 days! It arrived in perfect working order and was still in tune right out of the carton!

Good hunting, hope this helps.

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John Drury
NTSGA #3

I've had four great steels, all D-10. ShoBud, Derby, Zum and now an Emmons. They were all great. I wish I had everyone. But, I didn't start playing the thing until about 3 years ago. Off and on for 30. I finally got tired of trading and changing setups and the entire tuning issue had me neurotic. Now, I just try to relax and enjoy playing. There's sooo many great guitars out there, it's hard to get a real lemon. Enjoy the addiction!