The Steel Guitar Forum

What recommendations for an beginner with 40 years experience as a guitar player.What type or brand pedal steel? (E9) ? where is a good place to buy one? I'm looking for a sweet sound price is secondary but I'd like to buy something that if it doesnt work out I can sell it without taking a beating?(if possible)

try "Encore" , 3 pedals and 5 knee levers, brand new, plays great and sounds great, for around $1500...guys love those guitars, if you decide to quit, you can sell it here on the forum with no problem, without losing arm and a leg...

Db

Mullen all the way. Why well because of the people who build them. Go to Links at the top of the page look their page up. Check out the video youll see what I mean.

The Ghost

Buy an Emmons or Zum, they hold their resale better than anything else, and playand sound real good. My humble opinion

Carter

You might want to check with Mr.Fred Justice-S10 3x4.great fella & Justice steels sound really nice.

Find somebody local in NY
and tell them what you're trying
to do, then they can point out
something for sale here that's right.

They'll know to see if you need something
that's too high or low, where the knee levers are in relation to your knees, etc.
all sorts of stuff you'll never find out
online. This will save you a lot of time
and trouble later on. But this is the
right place to buy it, once you've had some
advice.

I am in the almost exact same situation.

My number one advice is find someone who know how to play and pay them for some starting lessons. I wish I had started that way.

I have owned a Sho~Bud an emmons an MSA a Marrs and a Fessenden.

I liked the sound of the emmons best.

I have sold all mine except for the Fessenden.
Its an SD10.

I think its very close in sound to the Emmons and it was reasonably priced.

The guy who's now teaching me plays a Zum and it sounds good, but I suspect that's more about the player than the guitar.

As a beginner on pedal steel that 2cents worth of free advice..

I hope you develop mad skills way faster than me... LOL

Enjoy..

Kevin

all of the guitars above are great guitars, at the end, it comes down to your budget, and how much you want to spend on your guitar..

Db

It's tough to know what to buy. I mean, look at all the answers that have been posted. Whaddya gonna do? In the end you end up with no answer to your posted question. Tough spot to be in when all you want to do is get a good steel to start out on.

I've been playing for 35 years. Old fart. Been around the block a time or two. Still gigging. Will probably be late for my funeral because I've got a job to play. Maybe I know a thing or two about these contraptions, of which I own, what, maybe 17? Lost count but that's beside the point.

All that being said, maybe the best way to answer your question is to tell you what NOT to get.

- As a beginner be careful about buying a used pedal steel. I mean, I buy 'em, but that's a whole different situation. If you run across one then see if you can get a steel player to personally check it out for you. A used pedal steel can be a great buy, or it can be a mess, or it can be somewhere in between. The thing is, you won't know because at this point you don't know enough about these instruments to make any sort of informed judgement. Bluntly put, don't think you're smart enough to evaluate one because you know 6-string guitars. They're two completely, completely different animals. Believe it.

- As for what TO buy? Well, consider this. Everyone knows that if you buy a new car it's value goes down $2000 or more the minute you leave the dealership. No escaping that fact. But you can buy wisely knowing that some cars hold their value better than others. The same holds true for pedal steels. That being said, I'd recommend a new Zum Stage One to start out playing. I mean, I constantly watch the for-sale section on this site and others and that model doesn't last long when one comes up for sale. There's a reason for that. Heck, I'd take one to a gig. Dang, it's got 4 knee levers, it doesn't move, wobble or shake when you operate the pedals and knees, which a lot of beginner steels do, it's got a real nice changer and mechanism and it sounds good. For a good, reasonable price.

- There are other brands that, when bought used, are good buys. Sure, but, again, you have to be careful or you might get burned. There are certainly other student/beginner/starter steels made by other companies. I'm sure, if they're anything like their pro-line models, they're real nice, too. But if I were a beginner on a desert island, had some $$ but not a whole lot, then that Zum is what I'd have with me. Plus every recording ever made by Buddy Emmons.

Just my opinion.

i started six months ago. as eric has said, i didn't know anything about pedal steels, so buying a used one was too big a gamble. i ordered a stage one that worked perfectly right out of the box, and i could concentrate on playing. i'm a vintage kind of guy, so i just bought an old sho bud. if i had the money i'd keep the stage one, but i don't, so i sold it on the forum with no trouble for pretty close to what i paid for it.

the important thing is to get a guitar that works well so you can start practicing, 'cos it's gonna take a while....

Art,
I don't know where you are at in New York, I am in Walton, Delaware County, 160 miles north west of NY City, south of Oneonta, an hour east of Binghamton.

I teach beginning to intermediate E9 pedal steel along with the theory necessary to learn. I would recommend a new Zum Stage One, the Fred Justice entry level steel, or the Mullen entry level steel. Some times you can find a used Carter (NOT the starter), Zum, Mullen, BMI or MSA in a reasonable price range. Get something with at least 4 knee levers.

Feel free to e-mail, call or stop in if you are in the area. Good luck. Feel free to ask me any questions. I love to talk and promote pedal steel guitar.

Larry Jamieson
607 865-5670 days www.countryexpressmusic.com

www.waltonmusichouse.com

John Widgren in Ct is a good guy to get in touch with. He could help you buy a steel and get you started out.

Also Gerald Menke in Brooklyn.

Whatever you do make sure you spend some time with actual live steel players and there steels so you know what you are getting into if possible.