The Steel Guitar Forum

A good friend of mine who works in a music store here in Vienna called me today for help. They have a used Pedal Steel Guitar for sale. The guitar was owned by the late Faron Kelf, a well-known British-born steeler who worked a lot in Germany and Austria.

The steel is a Bennett and I must admit that I have never heard that brand name. It is a D-10 with 8/9, standard tuning. I inspected the guitar this afternoon and also tuned it. Does anybody have more info about this brand? It looks like a solid instrument and playable instrument to me, but more information is welcome. Is this a British brand?

Kind Regards, Walter

Hi Walter,

Bennett steels are made by Ronnie Bennett. Made in the Liverpool area of England. I started out on an old one. Quality instrument. Really well made. In the 2 years I owned it I don't think I ever had to do anything to it except tune it. Mine had a thin/brittle sound - almost strat like.

This was from 3 years ago but the info may still be relevant.

basilh wrote:
A search of the forum yielded this result. :-

Ron's number is 0151-608-4562 from outside the UK int+ 151-608-4562 and his address is :-

Bennett Guitars
85 Derwent Road
Babington, Wirral CH63 2LD,
United Kingdom
Fax +44 (0) 151 609 0464
Voice +44 (0) 151 608 4562..
E-Mail :- bennettsteels@btinternet.com

The details are correct and Ron can be contacted there.Ron builds a great guitar as well as doing repairs etc. He added levers to my old ShoBud at a very reasonable rate, job was superb, a real gentleman to deal with.For those of you who don't know him Ron was the steelplayer with the Hillsiders from the Liverpool area many years ago, probably one of the best known country bands in the UK.

I've owned two Bennetts & still use one as my main gigging guitar. Ron makes a superb guitar & also does renonvation & spares for just about any make or model. He is such a nice guy & his prices are always amazingly reasonable. We here in the UK are very lucky to have him!

Ronnie Bennett has been building quality steels since before the 70's and you couldn't find a nicer person to chat to. He's also a darn good steel player. With regards to Faron Kelf, he used to live in Lowestoff Suffolk, and as a kid his dad used to take him to shows to watch steel players. I saw him several years later and he'd turned into a monster player. It was such a shame about his untimely death at such a young age. The last time I saw him was before he moved to Germany, and he was playing a Bennett S-10 ....tasty player.

Micky Byrne U.K.

I recall being on tour with 'Patsy Cline: A Musical Tribute' in the '90s and, while I was sound-checking at the Liverpool Empire, yet another pot-metal bell-crank failed on my Pro 111!

Fortunately Ronnie was just a 'phone-call away, and he got my guitar up-and-running with some nicely-engineered replacement parts in plenty of time for the show.

He saved my bacon that day - a nice man and an excellent steel-tech! A very good player, too....

Thanks for the input! I already thought from my short visit that it is a high quality instrument.

Kind Regards, Walter