SHOJI: New Steel Guitar Brand from Japan

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Hi Jared

Thank you for your interest in my steel guitar.

I'm very sorry, but the price has not yet been determined.
I understand that everyone is particularly concerned about the price of steel guitars.

Ask me any questions you may have about steel guitars.

Thank you.

[Jared Ruari]

Hi Jared

Thank you for your interest in my steel guitar.

I'm very sorry, but the price has not yet been determined.
I understand that everyone is particularly concerned about the price of steel guitars.

Ask me any questions you may have about steel guitars.

Thank you.

The guitars look incredible

I look forward to learning more as the brand takes shape. I'm cheering for you!

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

No matter how much time I spend polishing them, the pedals quickly lose their shine because you step on them with your shoes on.
I have decided to use carbon for my steel guitar pedals because it is scratch resistant and inconspicuous.
I like the look of the black pedals too.

[Joseph Lazo]

These look to be well designed and superbly finished instruments! I'm curious...is the pedal steel popular in Japan? I never hear of any Japanese bands or artists using the instrument. Please let us know!

[Lynn Kasdorf]

These are beautiful looking instruments!

Good to see a lot of use of carbon fiber. The lighter, the better, as long as it doesn't slide around when you use the knee levers!

I can't wait to see the price point.

Is the cabinet all aluminum, or is carbon fiber incorporated? I'd love to know the weight of a D10 with carbon fiber everywhere possible.

How is the cabinet drop?

Best of luck with your new endeavor!

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

There are not many pedal steel guitar players in Japan.

I will introduce you to a famous performer in Japan who is not a traditional country musician, but is well-known in Japan.

Pedal Steel:Hiroki Komazawa & Gen tamura
https://youtu.be/Zvcn-wxut4g?si=RzoaDKdGILoR0del

Pedal Steel:Gen tamura
https://youtu.be/14-UquVuDZg?si=SHe-edgiVou5zxKU

Pedal Steel:Tsuyoshi kon
https://youtu.be/4g9Xfw3h9DU?si=vdRM0BQ8MKqT7oAf

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

The cabinet is aluminum.
It would cost an enormous amount of money to make the cabinet out of carbon, and I think it would make the steel guitar too light in weight.

I weighed the steel guitars with as much carbon parts as is currently possible.

S12 (with E9/C6 Lock and 8p all options) is 11Kg.
D10 (8P) is 12.7kg.

Please take into account that the weight of steel guitars varies due to differences in the number of knee levers and other settings, as well as individual differences in the weight of the wood in the neck.

I don't want to exaggerate and lie, so I don't say there is no cabinet drop at all, but it is very little.

[Cody Farwell]

Gen Tamura is great! I have seen clips of him playing with Yann Tomita, one of my favorite artists.

12.7kg (~28lbs) for a D10 is super lightweight! The guitars look very well thought out. Can't wait to hear demos of how they sound.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I took pedal steel lessons directly from Gen Tamura.
I am surprised that you know Yann Tomita. You surely know a lot about diverse genres of music.
In the future I will upload video and sound as well so please wait.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

The cabinet is aluminum.
It would cost an enormous amount of money to make the cabinet out of carbon, and I think it would make the steel guitar too light in weight.

I weighed the steel guitars with as much carbon parts as is currently possible.

S12 (with E9/C6 Lock and 8p all options) is 11Kg.
D10 (8P) is 12.7kg.

Please take into account that the weight of steel guitars varies due to differences in the number of knee levers and other settings, as well as individual differences in the weight of the wood in the neck.

I don't want to exaggerate and lie, so I don't say there is no cabinet drop at all, but it is very little.

Thanks very much for answering my questions! So now, I am motivated to sell some of my excess steels and amps so I can save up for a new Shoji!

One feature that would be very desirable is modular pickups that allow rapid changing, like the old Sierras.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Thank you Lynn!

Modular pickups like the old Sierras are nice.

I used to own a Sierra from that era.It was probably made in the 80's.
It was a great steel guitar, but I had to let it go because the replacement modular pickups were already unavailable and it was super heavy and gave me back pain.

[Sonny Jenkins]

I think more recently MSAs had modular pickups??

[John Sluszny]

What is a modular pick up ? Thanks.

[John Larson]

What is a modular pick up ? Thanks.

Probably talking about something like MSA currently produces where the pickup can be easily swapped without removing the strings or getting tools involved.

No idea if this link will work but here's MSA's demonstration.
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=5144920 ... eelguitars

Looks like Aaron from Steel Picking on YouTube has the system in his MSA. Pretty neat.
https://youtu.be/5xt748VJeUc?si=IBviBBUmLhqmy1B8

[John Sluszny]

Right, thanks for your quick reply.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

The MSA system of loading the pickup from the front seems like a great idea. I used to have a Sierra S-14 (!) that I eventually strung as a 12 string. This left the bottom of the pickup exposed. These slide-in pickups go in from the player's side, and my hand would sometimes accidentally pull it back enough to dislodge.

Anyway, it would be fantastic to be able to swap pickups in and out!

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

I am using 3D CAD to simulate the finished product of my steel guitar.
Don't be haphazard.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

How similar is your design to the recent Excel steels? Are there some aspects of that design that you wanted to improve? In other words, what motivates you to create an entire new brand of pedal steel?

I will give you my wish list of features that I would like to see on a new steel.

1. Light weight, small cabinet length
2. Improved attachment system of the pedal bar to the legs (this seems like a primitive design on many steels, like my Emmons)
3. Pedal rods all the same (like the new MSA) so that set up is faster
4. Interchangeable pickups
5. Ease of changing copedant
6. Ability to reposition knee levers for ergonomics (like the old Sierras)
7. Back-lit fretboard (like on the new MSA)

(it sounds like what I really want is a new MSA doesn't it?)

Thanks for sharing the CAD images.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

Conventional keyless system require a tuning wrench.
Forgetting a tuning wrench in the gig would be a disaster. You can't tune it!!
So I developed a keyless head that can be tuned with bare hands.

My steel guitar changer design is based on my 13 years at Excel.
This is the most complete and well-received by customers, who often asked for it to be reissued.
I believe that changers that are too complicated in construction are more likely to break or be difficult to repair.

I will also make a manual and video to explain how to change the strings.

My ideas cannot be realized if I remain enrolled in Excel.
In order for me to continue to provide after-sales service to my many Excel customers, I had to become independent and renovate my production facilities.
These are the main reasons I became independent.
I respect Mitsuo, and by design, I have taken over the basic design of my steel guitars from Excel, for the reason of continuing to supply parts to Excel's customers.
I hope you got my message.

Your wish list reference is helpful.
The length of my steel is 700mm.
You can easily attach the pedal bar to the legs. Simply insert the bar groove into the screw and turn the leg tip.

[Joe A. Roberts]

I noticed there are no pictures of the whole top of the guitars yet.
Have you decided on any fret board designs? I really liked the unique triangle markers that Excel used throughout the years.
Also the cabinets of the white guitar and the black guitar have subtle patterns and are very interesting, and different from Excel guitars. Excel cabinets seem to almost always be plain, solid colors.
What kind of finishes will be available?

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I noticed there are no pictures of the whole top of the guitars yet.
Have you decided on any fret board designs? I really liked the unique triangle markers that Excel used throughout the years.
Also the white guitar and the black guitar have subtle patterns and are very interesting, and different from Excel guitars. Excel guitars seem to almost always be plain, solid colors.
What kind of finishes will be available?

I am probably in the minority, but I really appreciate the colored markers on my Emmons, as opposed to monochrome markers. The colors help me, especially past the 12th fret. But that is a frailty on my part

[Joe A. Roberts]

I noticed there are no pictures of the whole top of the guitars yet.
Have you decided on any fret board designs? I really liked the unique triangle markers that Excel used throughout the years.
Also the white guitar and the black guitar have subtle patterns and are very interesting, and different from Excel guitars. Excel guitars seem to almost always be plain, solid colors.
What kind of finishes will be available?

I am probably in the minority, but I really appreciate the colored markers on my Emmons, as opposed to monochrome markers. The colors help me, especially past the 12th fret. But that is a frailty on my part

Are those colored atomic markers on the Emmons divisive? I guess some might consider them a little kitsch, but I think they are cool.
Mullen colored markers are nice too. I am not wild about the colored squares on the old Williams guitars from the 90s, but it seems they stopped using those!
These are the Excel markers I had in mind, I think I have seen monochrome too:

[John Larson]

I noticed there are no pictures of the whole top of the guitars yet.
Have you decided on any fret board designs? I really liked the unique triangle markers that Excel used throughout the years.
Also the white guitar and the black guitar have subtle patterns and are very interesting, and different from Excel guitars. Excel guitars seem to almost always be plain, solid colors.
What kind of finishes will be available?

I am probably in the minority, but I really appreciate the colored markers on my Emmons, as opposed to monochrome markers. The colors help me, especially past the 12th fret. But that is a frailty on my part

Nope, I like some color to the markers even if its the sho-bud/jackson red and white alternating.

[Toshiyuki Shoji]

You guys have too much insight on steel guitars.
I am currently looking into fingerboard designs.
I had a stereotype of steel guitars having marks on the fingerboard.
I like the look of a fine guitar like Collings or Marchione without the position marks.

So I decided to keep only the dot mark on the 1st string side, which was used in Excel, and to eliminate the large mark.
I have found that some people like the large position markings in color, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

The black and white steel was made using leftover formica from my time at Excel.
I don't know if this same formica is available now, but I can make steel with the various formica the manufacturer has in stock.

[Bill Fisher]

You might light the frets, and dots.

Bill