The Steel Guitar Forum

ok it is not made of wood it is made of metal and over the years the paint has been beat ho and off it has been moved from camp to camp at festivils and all that after I got it no telling what it has seen since 1947 I am just glad it has not told. every tale and story it has lived thru. it may be unkind to the eye but it plays great sounds huge and never fails to do the gig. I am sure if it started life looking pretty it would take les than a few months to look beat to stew ainyway. I have never had the heart to paint or polish it it. so things in life are easy to love just as they are

I like the GFI guitars but I just prefer them keyed. My favorite bellcrank is the one used on GFI's. I've wanted a D-10 Expo for a while now. I'll add one to my herd when I start having more than one guitar again. I like the solid black Expo's.

Isn't it wonderful that we all like something different! I think it is fantastic that we can collectively appreciate each others view point. Simply amazing!

Isn't it wonderful that we all like something different! I think it is fantastic that we can collectively appreciate each others view point. Simply amazing!

There are players and than there are lookers.
I am a player not a looker.

Gene don't change a thing about GFI they rock!
Especially the stripe in the middle.

I will have to admit I have lusted after this guitar...



But I still like mine...

Whether a guitar looks good depends on the room they're in.

I think the GFI looks 'about right' in a music studio, with synthesizers, recording consoles, mic cables, etc., around it. Note that the new synths don't look like Hammond B3's either....However, a GFI wouldn't look right in my living room. Neither does a older style Peavey amp for that matter.

The only steels that look right to me on stage in a honky tonk bar are sho buds...haha, so, its all in what we're used to seeing, maybe.

My eyes don't think it's so hot but my back says it's beautiful.

" The only steels that look right to me on stage in a honky tonk bar are sho buds...haha, so, its all in what we're used to seeing, maybe"

And this ,y friends is why steel guitar got left behind, just sayin

Maybe steel guitar got left behind when Sho-bud stopped production ????

I don't think they look bad Mathew. The pull fingers look real stable. Aluminum legs. You can see Gene wanted to keep it light. Ralph mooney played a GFI. So if he played one they got to be good! Ralph wouldn't play junk. Whoops, I just read the whole thread. Seems like a lot of pro's play GFI's. There you go, case closed. Tennessee Lee

Looks just like my GFI. Same color S-10 With pad. It's a very good guitar, plays well, stays in tune and requires almost no maintenance. I think it looks good also. As the old saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

Looks just like my GFI Expo SD-10. It looks good to me, and it plays well, stays in tune, and needs almost no maintenance. As the adage goes,"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Just bought Jeff Porter's black Expo S-10, and I have to respectfully disagree with those thinking it's ugly, cheap or industrial looking! Different for sure from what people are used to seeing.
I'm loving this guitar, both the way it plays and sounds, and think it looks pretty cool and sort of hi-tech.
Foamed out a wheeled SKB trap case for it and it's 40 lbs.
Thanks, Jeff!

Erv Niehaus wrote:The GFI is the "Edsel" of pedal steels.

Erv, how well you play says a lot more about you as a player than what brand you might use.

Sorry to resurface this horrible thread but I thought it would get the attention of all my GFI buddies.
What would I expect to hear in difference between a GFI 2 pup and a GFI 3 pup on the E9 neck. Are all the mids and low attributes the same with the excecption of a bit briter in the higher frequencies?

The GFI 2 pup sounds amazing on the C6 neck.

All pedal steel are beautiful..........if they are black.

GFI's are wonderful guitars.

GFI's sound good, play good and stay in tune good but they still look cheap compared to most other all pull guitars. I think it may be the changer end to me. Wouldn't mind play one at all though.

Erv Niehaus wrote:Curt,
It's better to be a "has been" than a never was!
A keyless guitar reminds me of a chicken after you cut off their head.

But you generally don't eat 'em with the head on,so...

I'm sure they're fantastic guitars, and beauty is definitely a matter of taste. However, based solely on the specific question asked about looks only, yes, imho, they're hideous. But I'm sure others might say the same about things I find attractive.

i've always avoided fat chicks!


but ralph mooney, norm hamlett, mike sigler...have sounded just great on their gfi's..

I wouldn't trade this one for 10 GFI's:

Well said Jerry (Overstreet)


Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

Hi Mickey! Good to see you posting here havent seen your posts in a while.