How Many Pedal Steels Exist?

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 15 Apr 2013 4:10 pm

so the carter pro models may number 2300.
the emmons push pull estimate is 5000.
there must have been alot of professional era sho-buds because i've seen lots...then into the super pro era, a bunch more.
msa probably produced more than anyone because i've seen more of them than anything in my life.
emmons all pull, zum, dekley,...mci, emci..
jch, rains, rittenberry, gfi, fender,...

all this adds up to what? maybe 20,000 pedal steels?
we've got 30,000 members on the forum.
(oops..actually 13,000)

how many electric guitars exist? ...10 million?

steel players are still a small specialty group, and their treasured tools are still limited and special.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 15 Apr 2013 4:14 pm

oh yea...zb....quite a few units...
mullen..a whole bunch..
kline, williams...they still don't make huge numbers add up.
lots of smaller builders that don't even add 100 to the mix.

thoughts on the matter?

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 15 Apr 2013 4:26 pm

Derbys, Marlens, Anapegs, Fulawkas, Cherokees, then all of the one or two off, on and on. Where are they all?

Correct... Thanks Bent!

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 15 Apr 2013 4:51 pm

Don't forget: Six BenRom

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 15 Apr 2013 4:53 pm

Dick Sexton wrote:Derbys, Marlens, then all of the one or two off, Anapegs, Falawkas, Cherokees, on and on. Where are they all?

Dick, the Fulawka is more than a one or two - off. They number in the 2000+

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 15 Apr 2013 5:05 pm

Did anyone mention BIGSBY and/or WHEELER or Clinesmith?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 15 Apr 2013 5:12 pm

57,479

Dick Sexton · Post by **Dick Sexton** » 15 Apr 2013 5:15 pm

I did Ray... "On and on!" I assure you, no dissrespect ment to any builder great or small, mentioned by name or not. There are builders, then there are the rest of us...

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 15 Apr 2013 5:25 pm

this isn't to mention every last brand, just to get a concept of approximately how many basic useable fairly modern-day steels there are in the big picture.

doug may be right! but i'm thinking less than that.

it's ok doug...you can win the prize anyway!

...let's see...where did i put that...?

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 15 Apr 2013 6:12 pm

I'd say a at least 100,000, there are so many makers, like Ronnie Bennett in the UK, and hundreds more all over the world that don't have global household names like the Sho bud etc

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 15 Apr 2013 6:38 pm

Emmons, MSA, Sho~Bud, Fender, Harlin, and Carter all number well up into the thousands, so I'd hafta agree with Doug!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 15 Apr 2013 6:55 pm

I've heard from reliable sources that the Big PSG manufacturers only made (or make) 200 to 300 pedal steels a year. That would be Emmons, Sho-Bud, MSA, and Carter in later years. I know that Carter made Loads of student models. I see them all over the place. I would guess that the smaller manufacturers probably make less than 75 pedal steels a year. Some only make a few each year. So it's Not the HUGE industry that many of us steel geeks think it is.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 15 Apr 2013 8:09 pm

i just can't believe 100,000...

how many franklins..couple hunnert?

Ian Worley · Post by **Ian Worley** » 15 Apr 2013 9:22 pm

there are actually only 13,000 forumites, but how many of us have two or three or four or..? and how many have met their demise? How many buried in closets since grandpa passed away? Don Blood's Sho-Bud serial# tally alone is over 18,000 http://www.donblood.net/page5.php. Most of them live (or have died) east of California. I've never seen one in a music store around here but there are many in existence. It's a really good question. ~60,000 - 70,000 since 1960? We'll never know.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 15 Apr 2013 9:55 pm

you're right on the forum member numbers. i screwed up on that.

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 15 Apr 2013 10:07 pm

David and Harry Jackson are building steels like the Sho-Bud-the Jackson Steel, which started in 2005.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 16 Apr 2013 3:51 am

32,314

but I could be wrong...

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 16 Apr 2013 7:31 am

Ray wrote:

"Did anyone mention BIGSBY and/or WHEELER or Clinesmith?"

If you read the thread you'd know the answer, surely?

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Apr 2013 8:19 am

as i said, all makes and models don't necessarily have to be named (though i know you love those , ray!). i'm more curious about the approximate rough estimate of basic gig-worthy pedal steels circulating.

the shock factor comparison to how many electric guitars are out there should be very telling about what a very small niche steels have in this world society.
from within our steel forum world it looks to be a fair size community, but from outside of it, it may seem very tiny.

it would, of course, be very interesting to have a true tally of just how many steels were ever made by each company and individual, but i don't think that's possible at the moment.

thanks for everyone's input.

with bent's six beautiful BenRoms added in i think tony has the number right. but i already gave the non-prize to doug because he was first to offer a number!

Niels Andrews · Post by **Niels Andrews** » 16 Apr 2013 8:45 am

Can you leave out Fender?

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 16 Apr 2013 9:00 am

i did mention fender in the first post, but you can leave it out if you want.

...i also think that for any one, two or three man operation to put out, say, a thousand steels is a huge task. i can't even imagine the constant plugging along that would take! (even a hundred for that matter)

getting a rough estimate of the total msa's would be interesting....reece? i mean...what a major influence he has been (as a builder 'and' a player)...and still offering absolute state-of-the-art steels.

Leo Melanson · Post by **Leo Melanson** » 16 Apr 2013 9:50 am

What percentage of all the pedal steels in the world are in the USA?
What percentage of those are in the Nashville area?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 16 Apr 2013 9:51 am

This thread is about pedal steels... but I'll bet that close to 200,000 Lap steels were made. Gibson made 15,000 BR-9 models alone. That's just one of their many models. Valco Co. built thousands of lap steels for Supro, Oahu, Silvertone, National, and others. Sold door to door by salesmen and at stores like Sears, Mongomery Ward. Then there was Fender, Rick, and others. And other manufacturers in Europe and Japan. Heck, there were probably a half a million lap steels made from the 1930s to today!

Jan Viljoen · Post by **Jan Viljoen** » 16 Apr 2013 11:43 am

I have been reading a lot about pedal steels and musical instruments in general lately and I also came to the conclusion that there must have been about 100 000 built.

I also read somewhere about two years ago there are about 60 000 players in the USA only. I am sure not all are playing professional though. That's the elusive desire of all.

It is a fact that Gibson built 15 000 BR 9's after the war.

We have at the most 10 pedal players in South Africa.

Let the games begin!

Lee Dassow · Post by **Lee Dassow** » 16 Apr 2013 1:15 pm

Dont forget about BMI. Don Fritche must have built about 5000, of them. I've owned 2. T.L.

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