The Steel Guitar Forum

Hello Members,
My Name is Peter. I am new here and new to playing pedal steel guitar. But not so new to the resonator guitar. I have been playing Dobro/Reso steel for 27 yrs. I finnally got a D10 with 8 pedal & 6 knee levers.
It has no name on it at all. I looked everywhere! The only thing marked are the pedals that say SK 125 on the bottom. I attached a few photos hoping maybe someone knows this particular guitar.
Any help I can get from forum members would be appreciated. also a copedant for this type would be helpful. Warning! this is the start of my flood gate of questions....Help

Peter, you might want to work with the Forum "Search" function at the top right of the page. For your copedent questions you could type in "copedent" or "E9 copedent" or "C6 copedent" to find previous discussions of the topics you're interested in.
Good luck,
John

Good Luck with the new steel. I wanted a Dekley but decided to get a Zum Stage One to learn on. I don't know what it is, but I just love the look of Dekley Steels. Ive never heard one, But love the look!! Wonder what happened to the logo?

I tried to work out the copedant from the photo of the under carriage but so far it seems to be a quasi-Day setup with several pedals working both necks. Not a standard system that I recognize, but then I'm not much of an expert on Dekleys....

Thanks everyone for the great feedback and support,
So, You guys think it's Dekley. Mine sure looks like the rendering in the O/M Also Thanks to Georg Sørtun for the manual.

It's definitely a Dekley fretboard. It looks like Dekley body. Are the pedals in the shape of the letter D? If so, congratultions. You have one of the best steel guitars out there.

Dekley's are wonderful instruments. You may want another steel at some point, a spare, or something lighter, but you will never need one. This one will last forever.

Judging from the undercarriage, it looks like it has an Emmons setup.

It is an Emmons set up.
Those extra bell cranks that looks like the pedal works both necks are rod guide support cranks.
BB

Welcome to the wonderful world of pedal steel guitar, Peter. You will love playing this beautiful instrument! The more you play, the more you will love it! The key to learning songs is practice things like scales, chords, pick techniques, bar techniques, familiarizing yourself with the pedals and knee levers. And practice hard because this is a great way to come up with your own style, and if you make a mistake, don't worry because all steel players make mistakes.

Brett

I can't help noticing how well-engineered the Dekley is, especially after looking at the manual.

It looks like someone with a production engineering background had a big input in the design of these steels.

It makes the undercarriages of some pedal steels of the same era look a bit silly

I second Mike P's statements. I own a Dekley and they are rock solid guitars with features that make it a pleasure to play and very easy to work on. The tone is excellent! And I also own an Emmons, MCI and an MSA, and have owned many others in the past, so I have some perspective regarding tone.

The ONLY drawback, to me, is that they are a little heavy. But I think that contributes to their wonderful tonal response.

You have an excellent steel, Peter. You have all the guitar you'll need to become a pro player.

I have one of these and they are "tone machines". If you were to change setups make sure you use premium quality allen wrenches as the cheaper ones will round out the screw, and the drilling begins....not fun at all. Replace the set screws with a different type of fastener for easier changes later on. Welcome to the forum and the world of Pedal Steel Guitar, this is a great place and evrybody is willing to help.

Boy do I feel fortunate to have such support! Judging by the comments on my guitar, I feel fortunate to have stumbled on to it at a great price!
Emmons setup huh? I guess I'll have to look into that.
I did notice that while watching a beginner video (for six string guitar players)on Steel Guitar.com That my KR1 (E<Eb) is actual the video instructor's (s10 3pedal 4 levers) KL2 (E<Eb).
of course it will take time to grip all of this. My head is whirling right now. (In a good way)
Does anyone have a suggestion as to where I can get a logo name tag for my Dekley?

Bobby Bowman wrote:It is an Emmons set up.
Those extra bell cranks that looks like the pedal works both necks are rod guide support cranks.
BB

Bobby, is it that, or are they the cross shafts of *KLs that are working on both necks? It looks like they pull one string on the back neck and 2 on the E9

Peter, if you go down to the "Wanted to buy" section of the classifieds and ask, someone might have a decal

Peter Mosco wrote:
Does anyone have a suggestion as to where I can get a logo name tag for my Dekley?

You might have to live without one. Dekley went out of business back in the 80s, for reasons that had nothing to do with the quality of their guitars, and the founder/owner recently passed away.

If however, you ever need a part for the undercarriage, Michael Yahl makes replacement parts for steels that are no longer being manufactured.

It looks like the E raises and lowers are on different knees. This is one of those things where there is no right or wrong way to do it. Some prefer this setup, while others (including me) prefer to have those changes on the same knee.

My advise is to not change anything. You have a lot to learn, and instead of tinkering with the setup, you should find a teacher, or get an instruction book or course, and start practicing.

After you've been playing a while, you will probably want to experiment with different setups. But for now, work with what you have and learn as much as possible.

Hey Pete - Is that a banjo in the corner of your photo of the steel? You best not use that thing if your gonna be a steel player!

Bud Angelotti wrote:Hey Pete - Is that a banjo in the corner of your photo of the steel? You best not use that thing if your gonna be a steel player!

Hey Bud, I can't help it...I have been playing banjo and Dobro for over 35 years. I have been building and repairing them 10 yrs. My web site is http://maconstringedinstrumentco.com/ I build world class resonator guitar that sound and look like any 3K to 8K Reso guitar out there. Mine start at $900.00. for laminate birch and solid wood ones at $1800.00.

Here's a photo of a solid maple "Cowee Model" LW body That just got done.