The Steel Guitar Forum

I see that b0b is selling a new Pedal Steel Guitar called ETS. Looks good, sounds good, nice price.

Has anyone compared the ETS with say a GFI?

// Anders

ISTR that ETS is Bud Carter's new line. That's enough for me to trust it.

The ETS is an aluminum body guitar. What is the comparable GFI made of?

An aluminum body with a maple die board top.

Will ETS make a U-12?

Their website doesn't list one, but their website, steelguitaruniverse.com is beyond rudimentary.

Considering Bud plays the Bb6 universal tuning, and quite well, it wouldn't surprise me.
On the flip side of the argument, they designed it to keep costs down. They might have skipped making a 12-string body

As far as I know, ETS hasn't even tooled a D-10 body yet. The S-10 is the only model.

The guitar is exceptionally easy to work on. It's designed for expandability to 5+5, which is the most that an S-10 should have IMHO.

From what I can tell, the GFI Expo is the comparable model and it costs about $350.00 more than the ETS and it weighs a couple of pounds more. Is the case included with either of these? I haven't seen or played either, so I'd like to hear feedback from anyone who's played them. I am saving up for another S-10 and I'm keeping my eyes open. From what I understand Bob can set the ETS up anyway you like. For me it would be a C6 tuning. Don't know if GFI could do that or not.

I've got both an ETS and a GFI Ultra SD10. No comparison, completely different animals.

ETS sound is unique, nice definition, distinct bass when hitting high/low harmony riffs on different strings. Highs are also bright. Aluminum body seems to have nice natural resonance. Mechanically it is a featherweight, not built like a tank at all.

GFI is more mellow, less punchy. Less individual string projection. Mechanical build is more substantial. I think there is more tone lurking in the GFI than I'm getting. I'm thinking of updating the pickup from GFI2 to tonealigner or alumitone. Anyone have any experience with changing to those pickups on a GFI?

as far as i know the ETS has an E66 humbucker mounted which is similar but a tad brighter than the GFI 2 you have on your guitar. i play as S 10 ultra and have changed to a wallace truetone recently, which means a little hum but a noticably nicer tone to me.

here`s a picture

Michael Belkin -

Don't think twice about it. Change the GFI II to an Alumitone. There's a world of positive improvement to it. Contact me for mounting instructions.

Richard

How does the BMI Axius fit in this mix?

http://www.beckmusicalinstruments.com/BMI-Axius.html