The Steel Guitar Forum

I picked up my new Williams D12 in late July in Minneapolis from Bill Rudolph, a great guy who built me another great guitar. He spent as much time as I wanted with him as I went over the guitar in his shop. It's a real gem as you can see. Cabinet drop with pedals 1 and 2 only 1.5 cents. Plays like a dream with sustain to spare. Now I have 2 blonds - a D10 and a D12. I love the keyless tuning, much easier for me than keyed. My E9 tuning has added an A and an E at the bottom. The C6 has an F# as string 1 and a D as string 2 added to my regular C6 with a G on top. Bill said it's the first one he's built with that tuning - I'm not sure if that's good or bad! I've found a ton of uses for the F# in combination with different pedals, even more than I suspected. I can't say enough about Bill's work.

I had a Williams model 400 keyless for a while.Super compact body and it's was amazing how Bill was able to pack all the hardware I had (8 +*) underneath. Your guitar is pretty awesome!

Beautiful .. Same graduating class as mine.. Same color too!

Always loved the pictures I’ve seen of the Williams cabinets...
Steve this is one pretty guitar... Congratulations

Oh my Oh my

Steve it was a pleasure talking to you a few months back. That is one beautiful guitar. I just wished I had the money to buy you old Sho-Bud when you had it for sale!!!

sharp guitar , I like the keyless look also

beautiful color...is this a custom color from Williams or a stock color?

I believe that's Honey Amber which is stock.

Great looking Williams. Keyless....only way to go.

That is really awesome! To be a D-12 it looks really compact.

OOPS.......

That's a really handsome guitar! Way to go, Steve!

Dick Wood wrote:I believe that's Honey Amber which is stock.

That Amber, she sure is a honey. Gorgeous. Congrats, Steve. What are the pickups?

I would imagine it is a lot easier to restring with the 700 series style changer where the string cant slip out of the groove. If I ever get another, it is probably going to be a keyless Williams.

Pickups on both my Williams D12's are Telonics 427's.

Bill Rudolph and his son Tom create works of art and well functioning and sounding pedal steels. My wife and I have been to their shop a couple of times and have found both of them to be fonts of steel guitar knowledge and plain friendly guys. Stevet

Congratulations Steve! These Willy's are such beautiful instruments. I got my U12 a couple of months ago and I'm lovin' it! I had emailed Bill in September to ask about lead time for a new U12 (migrating from a D12) and he gave me the details and mentioned that he happened to have one that was ready to ship if it suited my needs, and well, it was pretty much exactly what I had in mind so I took it... absolutely no regrets!

My friend Lucky Oceans just played his Williams D-10 at the PSGA show in Connecticut a few weeks ago.

steve takacs wrote:Bill Rudolph and his son Tom

Steve, I think Bill's son's name is Tim.

Amazing guitars! The pedals and knee levers are so responsive. Wouldn't part with mine for quids...

Lots of guitar there and beautiful cabinet. Maybe a sound clip with it sometime?

I played this D12 as well as my green Williams D12 on both the Root Cellar Xtract albums("Rear View Mirror Eyes" and "Lonesome Miles"). Also on our 3rd album "Dusty Afternoon" being released on October. Available online with many of the cuts in Youtube.

I've had this U12 since 2018. It's a work of art, and when I'm too old to play, it'll still be a beautiful piece of furniture. Forgot to mention it sounds good too

Ian, Burnt Orange? Great color with the curly maple.