The Steel Guitar Forum

(moved from an ad in the Classifieds)

I'm sure Dan will be very happy with it, as I am with my 1978 Sierra Olympic:



A short post by Jake Bopp was accidentally deleted in the xfer:

Jake Bopp wrote:Now you're just rubbing it in, Bob. 😀

Jake Bopp wrote:Now you're just rubbing it in, Bob. 😀

Of course he is, lol.

This thread really makes me miss my 83' S-10 Sierra, 5 & 4. It was a fantastic guitar. Eventually, traded it in on a D-10 Sierra, which I loved...but I wish I could have kept the S-10 as well.

My D-10 weighs 60 lb., and 90 in the case.

Sierras are heavy, yes... but that's what they make hand carts for...

Tim sums it up perfectly. Sierras are exceptional instruments--but heavy. They were the Cadillac of pedal steels back in the day. Not cheap either.

How might that compare to my '74 Sho-Bud 6160 S-12? I'm kind of new and just bought this bud. Moved up from a Carter Starter. It's a nice improvement, and I tend to like the different levers (E lever is on RKL instead of LKR) and I'm loving the 12 strings (I'm a guitar player), it's Extended E9. But it's old and pedals seem super sensitive (it's 3x4) - if I don't really push them all the way down then it's not on pitch. Just thinking I might have done better ($1500). Seems pretty solid, definitely looks it's age, especially underneath.

I don't know the weight of the 'Bud. Probably lighter--it's on a single body. I suggest finding a steel guitar player/tech to help you set the guitar up. It can be made to play real well. Great tone too. Parts are available online for those. I played a Pro-1 model S10 Sho~Bud for about 20 years.

Now he's rubbing it in some more!

Scott,

I agree with John on that Sho-Bud, as far as going over it a bit & setting it up for you, maybe looking at the changer to see if it is in need of a cleaning. My first steel was a Sho-Bud S-10, 6 pedals, 1 knee. Always loved their sound.

I'm sure a bit of fine tuning and adjustment will make you very happy with that one.

Scott, if you do all that and still aren't happy, contact me. I turned down a deal on a Sho~Bud S12 over 20 years ago and regretted it ever since.

John Russell wrote:Scott, if you do all that and still aren't happy, contact me. I turned down a deal on a Sho~Bud S12 over 20 years ago and regretted it ever since.

There's one on E-bay right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ShoBud-S-12-ped ... Swc-tY8R1X

Thanks, Mike. That looks pretty sweet. It's got the good undercarriage. If I bought it, there goes a couple of weeks of my life adding the changes I need for my setup--and several hundred bucks. Tempting. Considering the cost of a new, natural finish guitar that looks that good, very tempting.

I had my instructor, Pete Grant, help me with some adjustments and it's playing pretty sweet now. Amazing why a few minor tweaks here and there can do! And the tone is the real effin' deal. I played it through his Telonics and, oh man, what a sound. Even with my playing! When he got on it, fuggetaboutit.

The one on e-bay is nice. Undercarriage is a little cleaner than mine but that case....sheesh...can you say road-worn? My case is in great shape.

What's the foam in the undercarriage for? Just to dampen the rod movement noise?

thanks!

Scott Nipper wrote:... my instructor, Pete Grant...

I took lessons from Pete too, back in the 80s. He was a great teacher. I'm a better player because of him.

Great guitars...in 1978 I worked at a keyboard and guitar shop in North London U.K. I asked the owner if we could sell steel guitars.We got hold of Don Christionson (spell). This was in Portland Oregon. We ordered 8 Sierras. Some 10 strings and 2 Single 12's. We sold the lot in a short space of time. Heavy..yes, but so well made

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

i have played a 10 string session for the last 12 years....light n stays in tune waaaay better than i do....also i've beat it up pretty good......n still plays great.....love sierra guitars

I always wanted to try a keyed Sierra. Has the Session 12 keyless. Nice guitar and easy to make changes.

Len, didn't I buy the black one pictured above from you? I might be wrong - it was so long ago.

Talking about weight, that Sierra Olympic is the heaviest guitar I've even owned. Shipping weight in the case was 90 lbs.

Micky Byrne wrote:Great guitars...in 1978 I worked at a keyboard and guitar shop in North London U.K. I asked the owner if we could sell steel guitars.We got hold of Don Christionson (spell). This was in Portland Oregon. We ordered 8 Sierras. Some 10 strings and 2 Single 12's. We sold the lot in a short space of time. Heavy..yes, but so well made

Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

Yep.

Arch.

B0b:

I don't remember having a 12 string keyed Sierra. I bought 3 new keyless Sierra Session guitars and I bought a used 12 string keyless just to get the Danny Shields pickup then gave the guitar to a friend.

I traded a guitar for a keyed Sierra Double neck but only had it a short time. I always had it in my mind to play a U-12 keyed Sierra to hear the difference between both guitars.

Heavy guitars but when I was younger it wasn't an issue. Now😩

Mine should be here Tuesday, I'm looking forward to joining the club. It looks like I'm getting an s12 pre-rp mullen too, but I think I'll have to adjust the copedent when I get it.

I'm a little salty about not getting that steel Dan got. It's ok though, I bought a BMI s-10 the next day. Getting a full setup and stuff before it gets mailed down to me.

I'm sure another one will come up. I've been looking for an s12 for quite a while now, and now I've got 2 on the way.

Jake, what's the pedal/ knee lever set up on the BMI?

4x4 with the Franklin change. Pretty straight forward, I'm sure it'll be beneficial starting out where the most information exists for beginners. It's a nice guitar, and I don't think I could have purchased it from a nicer guy. I plan on documenting my journey on YouTube. There's nothing like that on there, someone's day one setting up the steel and noodling around - then whatever progress I make as I post videos.

Cool, post a link on the forum here, I'm sure plenty of us would watch.

So I've got the guitar, and it's great. It is in fair shape, but I am going to clean the changer when I get a chance. I've got a couple questions though:
1. What are these holes for? The discs behind the changer?

2. Only the middle coil works on this, and one of the selling points of this guitar was I thought it was a humbucker. How would I go about changing this to work as a humbucker? Ideally I'd like to be able to switch back and forth, but if I only get one it's definitely the 'bucker.