The Steel Guitar Forum

I can get approved for a credit card at sites like musicians friend, and stores like my local music chain of Menchey music but they dont carry pedal steels. Is there a way I can finance a pedal steel on a credit card? Do Mullen , Fessenden, Emmons, Zum Steel offer a credit line? Thanks.

Builders and Official dealers please chime in. Im looking to purchase!

Many makers require a deposit, and then a multiple month wait for completion. That'd let you save up.
Or you could do what I'm currently doing: I am saving $60/week for my next steel: it's going to be SERIOUSLY loaded up, and will take two years to save, but I'll get it.
If you want a new economy axe, like a Stage One, you'll have the money for one in 4 months at my savings rate, so it'd take longer to save for it than to get it (That better, Doug?). An Encore would take 6 months of savings, and no bank takes your interest.
If you want a used axe, 6 months would get you a nice axe on the forum.
Since most makers are 1 or 2 person outfits, i doubt they'll do the financing. No harm in asking

EDITed per Doug's info. I still think saving works: have your bank hide the money from you in a savings account just for gear. If you never touch the money, it builds quicker

I take credit cards through PayPal. There is no "in house" financing. I do not know if any of the other builders offer credit to the consumer.

Lane, I appreciate the effort to help but the wait times are nothing like that. Please fix your post. Development of the Encore has been a slow process but it's done now. I'm just catching up on a bunch of Stage Ones and then jumping in to getting several Encores into the hands of the waiting public.

Yeah Lane,watsamatta witchew

We do not offer credit at Mullen. If you qualify at all those stores you mentioned you should be able to get a regular credit card, Through your bank, capital one, etc. Then use that card to purchase the guitar. Mullen accepts all major credit cards.

Also you can finance sortof. You can pay us weekly, monthly, whatever and we can build your guitar when you pay it off.

Also there is going to the bank for a personal loan. If people really looked at, credit cards may have an intorductory rate and then go up to 18% +, but some banks will give personal loans at like 7-12%. Usually something like a 1-2 year term and may be able to get one off credit or a little colateral.

Hope this helps a little.

Lane Gray wrote:Or you could do what I'm currently doing: I am saving $60/week for my next steel

Sound advice Lane! Putting several thousand dollars of debt on a credit card for, of all things, a steel guitar is unwise. Furthermore, credit cards have a usurious interest rate of about 20%.

Like Lane, I save up for toys too. Keep your credit card for unexpected household expenses or career education. Even very rich people like Jay Leno buy toys, and he has a lot of nice ones, from disposable money.

It would be much better to get a $100 lap steel and save for the PSG. You will meet your PSG saving target way before you ever master a lap steel.

Doug Earnest wrote:Lane, I appreciate the effort to help but the wait times are nothing like that. Please fix your post.

I am not in the market to buy a new guitar, I am asking only because I am curious. Do you mind saying approximately what your wait time is?


JSB

what is a credit card?

Actually chris, it is an exercise machine of sorts. You JUMP on an impulse buy, you RUN at a chance to buy without being able to afford it. Then after 30 days you are trying to KICK yourself in the butt without further medical expenses to repair your leg and knee joint. Hope this helps.

thanx ray! now that's funny!

I'll send Jeff a private email so as not to get this post off topic. And no, I don't mind saying.

Thanks guys.I know its always best to save up and just own the item at once, Its just that I've been without a steel for 6 months now and I just cant stand the feeling of getting behind. I would rather spend a little extra to have one now than to wait another 6 months. IF anyone knows of a way to finance a used steel let me know. I also have Trades that I can offer if anyone has one for sale.

My credit is good......I owe everbody......

Sell all the stuff your new steel will keep you from having the time to use anymore.

Saving up the money to buy a PSG guitar is perfect for giving a person time to study up on music, do a lot of research, learn the PSG neck on paper and all those good things you need to know to get the most out of your practice sessions.
In other words do all the things you may not discipline yourself or take the time to do if you had a PSG handy to plunk around on aimlessly at first.

I sold a 73 Telly Thinline.that i bought new for $275 and played for years.. making money , for a hefty profit and then invested in another pedal steel which I now make money with..
Sell your old gear and use that to finance your steel

hi,,,try pay/pal ,,then bid on one one ebay ,,,but be careful what you buy ,,,you can get stung real bad sometimes,,i know .,,,,i have a few welts on my backside,,,ken

Never EVER buy instruments on credit....EVER. Better to do as Lane says and save. In fact avoid debt as much as you can. Debt enslaves you. Take it from someone who has been there. You will appreciate it more when you own the pink slip.

There's a lot of wisdom in Dustin's post. (hi there, buddy) I've been there also. VERY unpleasant, if not painful.

I advise you sell off any thing you can do without and save like there's no tomorrow. You'll gather the funds faster than you think...and you'll appreciate the guitar far more because you worked hard to get it.

Just my 2 cents.

Mike Wheeler wrote: I advise you sell off any thing you can do without and save like there's no tomorrow.

Hmmm... I don't know about that advice. If there were no tomorrow, why would anyone save anything, at all?

Evidently, this is not about to happen again anytime soon:

In 1972, when I was still a few months from graduating college, with only a part time job, I decided I would need a new tenor saxophone (mom said she would pay for 1/2 as a present). So, I went to Mobile Music, in Glenn Rock NJ, to look.

They had three Selmer Mark VI's in stock. I played them, picked one and informed them that I didn't have enough money with me to buy it, but could I leave a deposit and come back in a week or 2.

He asked my how much I had, I said $50. He said OK, give me the $50, take the horn and we will bill you for the rest. Would $100 per month be OK? I said sure, gave him $50 and left the store with a $750 tenor sax. He did not ask to see my drivers license or any ID. I did not yet have a credit card. He just asked name, address and phone#.

A bill for $100 or so dollars came for the next 7 months.

2 overhauls and 8 mouth pieces later, I still use that horn.

So what if you could get a gig to pay the credit card payment. Be kind of like a free guitar. You can get in trouble with credit for sure, but most people need it sometimes. House and car are usually a for sure, not many can go pay cash for them. If you NEED a steel and credit is the only way, well then you are using it for what it is designed for. Just pay it off quick as possible.

Good luck to you either way.

I bought my first steel with a credit card. An MSA Red Baron from Carma Lou's House of Music in Waterloo Iowa for $450.
Had to have my limit raised at that.

I might not have ever owned a steel guitar otherwise. Worked for me.

Sometimes you can get a 1 yr. or so extension to pay off certain transactions interest free.

Yes, you have to be careful not to let credit cards become a problem, but they can be a most welcome solution at times.

They're just like anything else. Depends how you use it. Can be a nightmare when abused.

Before I say what I'm about to, first I respect everyone's opinion and I don't mean to insult or disrepect anybody with this. Just remember it's my 2 cents (maybe less these days). Having survived a heart attack and so far diabetes, I have the opposite look at this than some that have commented, I see nothing wrong with taking out reasonable debt (as long as it fits the budget without strain). The way I look at things now is that I'm not promised tomorrow or the lenght of time needed to save the cash. I bought on credit so I could enjoy now because I don't know what tomorrow brings or if I have a tomorrow. That's all up the man upstairs. Just don't go in for more than your family can afford if you pass on. Again, my 2 cents.