The Steel Guitar Forum

Checkout the way the lights were hitting my Sierra MOP fretboard on stage:

Awesome! Purty!!

BIG NEWS for all you older Sierra owners....
Jim Palenscar (Steel Guitars of North County) now has every Sierra spare part still in existence. He drove up to the old Sierra shop in Oregon last week and and nabbed everything that was useful.

Jim has been our official service and parts guy for a few years now but the delay in getting parts from me or Tom Baker is now a thing of the past.

He also has the last remaining Sierra Wheel-eze cases.

We are beyond stoked to work with Jim...as you all know, he's one awesome guy!

Thanks for the kind words Ross. Warning- the price went up when the water pump went out on the motor home resulting in a 50 mile tow back to Freightliner .

Larry Thomas, this guy knows more about the musical instrument industry than anyone else on earth! And I couldn't be more thrilled that he loves his new Sierra S12.

Let's see some closeups of that fret board!

When Memphisslim worked on my old Sierra S12 earlier this year, I got to sit down at his newer Ross-built S10 and noodle a bit. The feel and tone were butter-smooth and ax itself was feather-lite.
Truly an inspiration! I’d love to play a U12

Memphisslim: Larry promises pics are coming

Gary: These kind of comments from an awesome player like yourself mean a ton to me. THANK YOU!

just in case you missed it...
https://youtu.be/wMC_h8i-9iw

That was fun! Thanks for the video, Ross!

I have been remiss about sending these photos of my new Sierra Universal 12, but Ross gave me a lesson on uploading, so I"ll give it a try. I feel like Michael Small and Memphislim did a great job demonstrating the fantastic design and ease of playing, so I'm going to show photos of the incredible detail and workmanship of the wood and inlay. Ross and I picked out the wood and collaborated on the stain finish. I also asked Ross to laminate wood to the front of the pedal board for an extra touch.
Ive been a wood nut for years, and this is a guitar that every time I see it, I want to sit down and play...

I want to point out that the maple edging and fret markers are all inlayed by Ross. The position markers were enlayed by Larry Robinson, who is a very acclaimed artist in his own right. ( Think Martin million model guitar).

Here a photo of Larry Robinson and Ross at his farm in Petaluma. And a shout out to Dan Rollins who built my new pack seat in a fabric to go with the guitar. All ready for Covid relief and playing with real people again.

Just a little information. My first steel was an Emmons cable steel. Tough hoeing with that baby, but great tone. My next steel was a Sierra Sessions Universal 12 which Tom Baker set up for me years ago when Don was stlll the guy. I misspoke about my new steel. I decided to go with an E9 extended 12 this time, not a Uni. I'm too old and pretty much all of my pedal playing is on E9 anyway. Otherwise, Im on lap steel, guitar or dobro. larry

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

Sweet, sweet, sweet! Welcome to the club Larry!

I've put a Telonics X10 in my Sierra since I made that video. It takes it to the next level, for sure. Especially live, it really cuts through the mix in a way no other pickup I've tried does.

New Guitar Day smiles never get old. I'm honored that Sheila picked a new Sierra for her dream steel! Sheila is an awesome Portland Oregon musician who will be making some not so typical steel guitar music on this beauty. Keep your ears open for her band "Cober"

Wow!

Sweet rig!

Fantasmic!

Another out of the park slammer! So gorgeous

I saw this guitar before it was finished. The fretboard is spectacular! From the seated position, the upper frets are inlaid with the "big dipper" constellation. Very inspiring. Also notice the new black carbon fiber pedal board - another Ross Shafer innovation. Strong, light, and beautiful.

Man those things look nice.

Many Thanks for the compliments y'all! Here's another one headed for the east coast today.

I love my Sierra Tapper. One neck with a raised fretboard for using the tapping technique or standard guitar playing.
The raised fretboard and second compensated bridge were designed by Ned Steinberger. The compensated bridge is needed to keep it in tune for fretting
Thanks to Don Christianson (RIP) and Tom Baker for making it happen.