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Topic: Your next steel... |
A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 8 Jan 2007 7:44 pm |
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| What improvements from builders would you like to see come down the line for steel guitars, me I would like to see more knees added at no extra cost! |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 3:25 am
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I would like a Steel that already knows all the licks and songs  |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 4:18 am
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I'd like to see an instrument made in the far east or some other country which would be of a good enough quality to gig with. Something similar to the Epiphone Les Pauls which cost less than half of what a Gibson LP does. That's what's keeping a lot of kids from taking up pedal steel IMHO, the price of these instruments. I know that if I was starting out today as a kid and my family situation being what it was when I was first learning to play, I'd have never been able to take up the steel as I had no cash and my dad worked his butt off just trying to keep us fed! Maybe a lap steel, but you couldn't do anything played on recordings with that. I'd just like to see the price come way down with reasonable quality remaining but I think the only way that could be done was if the instrument was made somewhere where the cost of living wasn't near as high as it is here...........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 5:16 am
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Jerry - in relative terms, pedal steels are cheaper than they were 30 years ago. I don't think they will ever be cheap. Maybe one way to go down your route would be to do what Goldtone and others do with their banjos. They outsource all of the components to the far east and assemble them in the USA.
It is the engineering that bumps up the cost, plus the fact that a pedal steel is not mass produced in the numbers required to bring the unit cost down substantially.
Back to the original question, I would like to see a self-tuning guitar (not impossible), one that weighs no more than 20 pounds for a D10 and has zero hysterisis. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 5:48 am
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| I support Ken B's final paragraph, and would add that I'd like to see the legs and pedals just fold right out from the undercarriage, no need to assemble and dis-assemble every time (boy, are we lazy or what?) |
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Gerald Menke
From:
Stormville NY, USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 6:19 am
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This might not really address the question, but my next steel will be another old push pull, I am consistently amazed by the tone of those steels every time I sit down to play one. If Emmons were to start building them again I'd line right up. Sure there are some maintenance issues, and I don't have any splits, but for me there's just no beating the sound of an Emmons.
Maybe cases with wheels as standard would be nice.
Hope everybody is well and gets lots of gigs and practice time in this year.
Gerald |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 7:15 am
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Top o' the morning, Jimbeaux!
In answer to one of your desires, some Sierra guitars from the 1980s had the fold-down legs you describe. Apparently the idea didn't take.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 7:19 am
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A damper pedal.
_________________
Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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Micky Byrne
From:
United Kingdom (deceased)
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 7:54 am
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Hi Jerry, perhaps you're so right about having some made in perhaps the Far East.They do push out great guitars, sometimes even better than their American made ones IMHO, but as Ken said, steels are not mass produced like guitars, and the tooling up would be a big expensive issue. Herb, I agree on the 80's Sierras' with the folding legs, I used to import them to the United Kingdom. Shame those legs didn't take....perhaps instead of the square legs that they had, some guy could invent round legs that did the same folding job, it would be a clever idea. Lets hope!!!!
Micky Byrne |
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John Sluszny
From:
Brussels, Belgium
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 7:58 am
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9 floor pedals & 8 kneelevers standard on D-10.
4 & 5 on S-10. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 8:33 am
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A staggered bridge pickup, with the low pickup closer to the bridge for more string definition, and the high pickup further out for less shrillness.
A neck pickup next to the 24th fret.
Interchangeable pickups (some brands have this now, but they all should).
Tuners with both a low gear ratio for changing strings, and a high gear ratio for fine tuning.
A mechanism for easy adjustment of the hinge point of knee levers, rather than just an angle adjustment.
Even better, adjustable knee levers that push some kind of glider on a track, so that the lever angle doesn't change. This would make the activation distance and pressure the same, whether your foot was on the pedals and up high on the lever, or off the pedals and down low on the lever. Adjustable spring loading might also be nice.
Okay, as long as we are dreaming, stationary strings, with the pickup for each string and all the pedals and levers connected to a computer, for programmable pitch shifting and midi sounds. |
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A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 8:54 am
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| Jerry I would love to see the price drop, some PSG are a little out there for me to justify buying one. However I really feel the PSG should be made in USA INMO. John you read my mind why cant builders offer that? Adding extras to your guitar really adds up quick! I would love to se 8X8 right out of the gate! |
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A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 8:59 am
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| I remember a forum member cant think of there name but I thought they had a good idea, sometimes you may get groves in the changer fingers from strings, well why not have a brass crown that is held in place with set screws, and can be replaced with ease? |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 9:36 am
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| Frets that glow in the dark. |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 9:43 am
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I think the Left Knee "Forward" lever should be standard on all Steels.
If you haven't tried it, it works perfectly (beats the heck out of staggerd levers imho, although I guess you could have both).
~pb |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 10:06 am
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| Herb/Mickey, am I correct in recalling that the older Sierras only had fold-out legs, but didn't have the pedals and pedal rods integrated so that the entire thing folded out together and snapped into place? That's what I'm a'lookin' forward to! |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 11:01 am
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I would also like to see a Strat style pickup system on S12U steels, (3 pickups, maybe with individual volume controls).
Actually, maybe it could be a "dual" Strat style system, with the top 6 strings independant from the bottom 6 strings, allowing more tayloring of tone for plain and wound strings.
Funn Stuff! |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 11:02 am
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| A D-10 or U-12 that weighs less than 10 pounds. (The millennium weighs 19.) |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 11:32 am
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| I would like to see Anapeg license his guitars to a manufacturer in the U.S. who can build them so I can own one in my lifetime..Stu |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 11:49 am
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| David Doggett wrote: |
A staggered bridge pickup, with the low pickup closer to the bridge for more string definition, and the high pickup further out for less shrillness.
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All you 10 string players and some 12 string players should be able to use two 6 string guitar pickups (cheap and plentiful), one for plain and one for wound strings. |
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George McLellan
From:
Duluth, MN USA
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 11:54 am next one?
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I think the ones I have now will outlive me so I guess there won't be a "next one" (even tho it would be nice to have one of each make [dream on]) .
Geo  |
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Don Discher
From:
Sault Ste Marie,Ontario,Canada
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 12:58 pm Psg
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| I've owned 5 steel guitars and because of my height i've had to buy lift kits.I'd like to see new guitars be made fully adjustable without adding a kit.I suppose if I was to order a new one I could specify the height but if I sold it the new owner would have to go through the agony of changing it. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 9 Jan 2007 5:33 pm
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| Charlie McDonald wrote: |
| A damper pedal. |
Charlie: How many feet do you have ? I've already disconnected my volume pedal because I use both feet on the other pedals. I still don't understand how someone can use more than four knee levers unless they're using some other part of their anatomy too...... |
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Gil Berry
From:
Westminster, CA, USA
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Posted 10 Jan 2007 12:16 am
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| A guitar with NO mechanical noise and with fast/quick pulls so easy you could play barefoot with no discomfort; in effect with all friction points eliminated with bearings, permanently lubed bushings, etc. etc. Oh yeah, and of course it would have to be beautiful (but building a beautiful instrument is NOT anything new - I drool every time someone posts a picture of their new guitar)... |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 10 Jan 2007 6:48 am
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Alan; it must be on the right foot, just like a piano!
(I haven't worked out the details.)
Jim, you need a Multi-Kord.
_________________
Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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