The Steel Guitar Forum

Just wandering what was the cost of a new D-10 sho-bud or emmons or any other brand in the 60s and 70s??I wanted to start playing steel about 69 or 70 but my dad kept telling me they cost to much. he traded for a lap steel.got my first sho-bud pro I later.. thanks Billy

My first D-10 in 1975 cost 2,200 8&3 ....
My first steel in 1970 (A Single Neck Clark Custom) was about $900 and it was a student model 3 & 2.....

Omar's Music in Olean, NY wanted $1000 for the beautiful MSA S-10 he let me borrow for a couple of weeks in early 1977.

My lawyer needed $1000 at the same time

I paid $1,250.00 for my dbl-10 Emmons with 8+4, including the case in about 1972. Jeff Newman expressed surprise as he said that was only about 1/2 price what they were going for new.
Mine was brand NEW!

I paid $1200.00 for my 1973 Emmon D10 w/case, 8 /4 pedals in 1973, brand new direct from Emmons

early 70's price sheet.

In the early '70's, a new "The Professional" Sho-Bud with 8+4 retailed for $1495.00. My dad made a deal for mine at about 50% off probably 1973 because it had been in the store for about a year and a half with no takers.

Bought my D-10 Pro, 8 and 2, in 1972 from Ralph Henzil at West Allis Music, for $1,200 out-the-door.

Bought this new, w/case and volume pedal, from the Emmons factory in '74 for $1200. 8+4, 1867D. Been playing it ever since, and it's in better shape today than I am. Just a couple more gigs and I'll have my money back.

in 1980 I bought a Sho-bud proII custom from Scotty for $1,250.00 plus shipping. (wish I still had her)sold it to a nice guy from Ind. Billy

Hey Billy -

Is that really a link to your website?

When I bought my LDG, the catalog listed it at either $1195, or $1295. Can't remember, it was too long ago. And the proII was about $200, to $300 more. I am guessing, but think I am close.

Nan said I paid $1,800.00 for my Professional with 8 and 1, I bought 2 knee lever kits with it, they was in my shop till they rusted and threw them away, at the time I did not know what to do with them. Later went to Bill Rays shop and had 2 levers installed. I bought some other stuff at the same time, pack seat, pedal, country gentleman, kawai piano, 6 vhanel mixer,yamaha,.1972.

ernie

Some of you could have bought a new car for the price you paid for a guitar. You could have driven a long wasys with the car you had.

Hey Frank, nope thats not my website. the only website I have now is a myspace site. www.myspace.com/billypeddycoart I will try to change that.thanks Billy

FWIW, I just checked an inflation calculator and the current value of $1200 from 1973 would be $5543 today. Given that most D-10's nowadays don't cost over $5K, that means the real (inflation-adjusted) price of steels has actually gone down since 1973 (and that builders are making less now for their efforts than they did in 1973).

Jim,ha,ha, You are thinking way to hard for a Saturday morning. Billy ( I love the way your mind works)

My first professional steel was a 1985 SHo-Bod Pro II Custom, 8 & 2, Bird's eye maple, red and beautiful. I bought it in 1990 for $650 with case, Dekley low boy pedal and drummer's throne. I later traded straight up for my Pro I with a half pad, 4 & 5, natural bird's eye maple. Didn't play C6th and didn't need the extra weight.

How about this ? a dealers price list from 1973 !
Frank Bloomfield. Corfu

The "list" price for a D-10 Emmons, with two knee levers, was $1595 in 1972. I worked for Little Roy Wiggins' "Music City" music store on Lower Broadway and the store was the Emmons dealer for Nashville at the time.

I remember my first ZB student was about £400.

My Sho-Bud Super Pro was £1,750 bought in 1978 from Cambridge.

Me and Joe Wright at the ISGA last week below...




David Hartley

In 1976 I bought my first steel a new ShoBud Pro 1 for $600.

April 1975 I bought my first pedal steel guitar it was a Lloyd Green Sho-Bud gave $1295 for it and the case.

I purchased a new MSA supersustain custom built for me by Reece Anderson, Bud Carter and crew 1981 and it was around $2400.

It cost a lot to make a steel guitar and they are a complex instrument but never will we have a lot of steel players. With that said, You and I are in the minority. How does that make you feel?

Well here's my reasons why I say this,


1) Because first steel guitars are difficult to play.

2) They are very costly; probably the biggest reason for limited numbers of players. People just don't have that kind of extra cash laying around unless their relatives are in the oil business.

But here are some of my proposals for solutions for these problems:

1) I purpose to those who can't afford a pedal steel go for a non-pedal steel. There are many greats who played non-pedal steels; Jerry Byrd, Leon McAuliffe, Cindy Cashdollar included.

2) Next, I offer several easy to learn steel instructional courses that I feel are very affordable. I typically recommend DVD instruction because you can watch it over and over for the same price. I pay for private piano lessons and drum lessons for two of my children and it costs a bunch. THe DVD is the most affordable way for instructions.

3) Finally, if you don't want to sell the farm for an expensive pedal steel guitar, save, save, save for that pedal steel. You can do it, others did. I did it in two years and purchased my first new steel this summer since 1984. I saved ever extra penny I made for teaching steel, recording sessions, and horse tradin' as they say here in the Ozarks.

Well, good luck and may GOD bless!

Terry Wood

I have the orginal Emmons brochure that I got from Buddy around 64 and it shows the new retail price of a D10 pp in the case to be $995 if I remember correctly. In the early sixties I traded my Fender 400 and $100 for a 1000. I think I paid $750 in 1968 for a beautiful permanent Sho-Bud orginally belonging to Buddy C. I bought a new MSA in 73 and it retailed around $1800 for a D10 8-4 and inlayed pedal bar. I played it 24 years. My new Zum,like everything else,was a tad higher. Amps have pretty much followed the same way. For what it's worth, a normal Saturday night gig in Ohio was $10 in the late 50s early 60s.