The Steel Guitar Forum

Okay,I've owned a bunch of pedal steel guitars and the three guitars that have bit me Sho-Bud Maverick,my first steel guitar didn't have any roller nuts broke G#'s every few minutes,MSA Semi Classic never could get used to it tried different pickups,Plus the neck taper at the nut just made it harder for me...I really didn't know much when I had this guitar,My third least favorite was a ZB SD-10 3+4,a pretty guitar that never stayed in tune ,constantly tuning knees.

Mine was a MSA Clasic S10 5x4. Cross rods for the knees were round and constantly slipped. I ended up putting lock tight on them to stop it. That guitar, #1C2196 is still missing. I consider it stolen.

Geo

An '85 or '86 Emmons D-10: the pedals were too stiff, the knee levers too short, and I could never get that sound. I know, it's a poor craftsman that blames his tools.

Sho-Bud Super Pro. Reason: pot metal knee lever brackets breaking.

For me it was an late 80s Sierra D-10. The knees were so hard to push I literally had bruises on my legs! Now go figure, I sold it and the guy that bought it loved it and played it till the day he passed away! Just goes to show that not all guitars will fit everyone... I ended up buying a late 60s P/P from Clem and played it for a long long time

Cheers,

1) MSA Red Baron for its obvious limitations, but it did what it was designed to do which was to get a person started.

2) Sho-Bud Pro I because it could not be adjusted to both lower and raise the fourth string with any hope of it returning to pitch in tune.

Mike Scaggs wrote:I ended up buying a late 60s P/P from Clem and played it for a long long time

I ended up buying four-year-old '73 P/P from Clem and am still playing it.

Sho Bud crossover. A real piece of junk. It never stayed in tune. The rack and barrel system was horrible, and the shift lever never did work as it should. If I remember correctly, Bobbie Seymour once sold one of these beasts for a dollar a pound just to get rid of it.

Jack Hanson wrote:

Mike Scaggs wrote:I ended up buying a late 60s P/P from Clem and played it for a long long time

I ended up buying four-year-old '73 P/P from Clem and am still playing it.

Clem sold a lot of PP didn't he

My 1st pedal steel was a Sho~Bud fingertip.
I was not too happy with that guitar.

Years ago in a trade I ended up with a Mullen D10 which had to be the worst guitar ever. I am sure it was just a lemon as I have played several others since that were rather nice.

Robert

Interesting topic. Id have to be careful with my answer, as Ive owned steels previously owned by very famous players, and respected builders, who treated me really well. For whatever reason, some of these were not a good match for me.

Fortunately, they were somebodys "dream guitar" , and they were thrilled to get them from me.

Sometimes one mans "least favorite" can be anothers favorite.

I did have a Fender/Shobud with a pot metal knee lever bracket fall off during a job, so Id give that one a few points off....

Some are better than others, but I don't believe that I've ever owned an instrument that I didn't like. I mean why? Even the Carter-Starter was OK for what it was and in the end I traded it straight across for a GT PBS-D, so no complaints there either.

Looks like Steve S kind of made my point while I was typing. Great Minds and All That...

I started on a Maverick in the late 70's, I knew of it's limitations and shortcomings and absolutely loved it anyway, just because I had a steel guitar I could learn on.

I've owned many guitars since then that I would have been satisfied to play for life, nearly perfect in every way ( but I just like to explore different brands and designs). Also had a few that , no matter how I tried, couldn't warm up to for one reason or another. Brands seem immaterial, as the very same guitars make other people really happy. There are some obvious design fubars, like pot metal parts or fragile "doggones", that seem to be deal breakers for some and no issue to others. I've had a couple of (different brand) guitars that I simply could not keep in tune. Many other folks have no problems with those brands. I've never been able to make friends with keyless tuners, many love them. My mileage varies.

In 1972 my first steel was a Miller 10 string, 3x3. Would NOT stay in tune, had no pull stops (so very mushy pedals), and several other deal breaking features. It must have been a student model, but I couldn't stand it, so I dumped it within 2 weeks and bought a brand new MSA Classic Universal, 12 string, 7x5. (talk about jumping in the deep end!!!) Used that gem for 12 years and countless gigs 5 nights a week.

The only other guitar I wish I never had was a Super Pro D-10 that broke 2 different knee levers on 2 consecutive gigs. What an embarrassment! None of my many other guitars ever let me down on a gig.

I would say every PSG I've ever owned before I realized that my anatomy requires that the knee levers be re-positioned, and I found the courage to drill some holes.

I never have any problems with the guitars I own, but the one I rented before I started playing steel, a Sierra Artist S-10 kinda had one little issue, the pedals clattered too much, but I loved the guitar itself. I didn't have time to hear how it sounded as far as bar movement, since I didn't have a bar at the time-I just used picks and pedals, but its' tone was awesome even without a bar, the pedals just needed some work done to stop the clatter. The steel was at a store called Phil's Music in Mauldin, SC and the guy who was working there at the time played some notes on the guitar and it sounded awesome!

I guess the worst pedal steel I ever had was my first, a "Pepi Jo" made down around Knoxville TN. by Guy Peeler.
All aluminum frame, totally impossible to get in tune so didn't have to worry about staying in tune, never got there.

My first and worst pedal steel was a Gibson Electraharp. There were a couple Fenders in between the Gibson and the next worse guitar a 1968 Sho~Bud Crossover. I also gigged with a Sho~Bud Pro III around 74-75 and that guitar just didn't make it sound-wise.

The absolute worst for me was a Marketrite Mark 1. This was a guitar designed by Freeman Cowgar and was a kit that cost $150., in 1976. It came with a hard case and a oedal steel course. In many ways it was a bare boned version of the sho bud maverick. The thing that This guitar did was provide people with an inexpensive way to get into pedal steel. Although the guitar was beyond horrible, Mr. Cowgar is remembered fondly, by me, for providing my portal into psg.

Herb Steiner wrote:My first and worst pedal steel was a Gibson Electraharp. There were a couple Fenders in between the Gibson and the next worse guitar a 1968 Sho~Bud Crossover. I also gigged with a Sho~Bud Pro III around 74-75 and that guitar just didn't make it sound-wise.

A question Herb.. When you were playing the Electraharp, did you realize at the time how bad it was, being a young player, or are you comparing it today to your later guitars that are of course much more playable..


Also, at the time you were playing the Fender guitars, were you happy with them, or did you feel something was lacking compared to more modern guitars such as Emmons?.. I imagine going from the Gibson to a Fender was an upgrade at the time. bob

An MSA Supersustain 12 string without a doubt. It had the deadest darkest tone I've ever heard.

I got a sho-bud maverick in the 80's.
It looked like a steel guitar but looks can be deceiving.
I already had been playing a couple years and got fed up, sold my steel, got un fed up and bought the maverick.
I think I got worse playing it before I sold it and got a different steel.

Bob Carlucci wrote:

Herb Steiner wrote:My first and worst pedal steel was a Gibson Electraharp. There were a couple Fenders in between the Gibson and the next worse guitar a 1968 Sho~Bud Crossover. I also gigged with a Sho~Bud Pro III around 74-75 and that guitar just didn't make it sound-wise.

A question Herb.. When you were playing the Electraharp, did you realize at the time how bad it was, being a young player, or are you comparing it today to your later guitars that are of course much more playable..


Also, at the time you were playing the Fender guitars, were you happy with them, or did you feel something was lacking compared to more modern guitars such as Emmons?.. I imagine going from the Gibson to a Fender was an upgrade at the time. bob

Bob C.
When I had the Gibson and the Fenders, it was over 50 years ago. When I got the Electraharp I was in my mid-to-late teens and didn't know anything about anything. And I remember even less, only that I sold the Gibson to Rodney Dillard and was embarrassed to get $75 from him for it.

The Fender 400 I traded off to Jeff Hanna for a Martin D-21 (good deal for me), and the Fender 2000 I had borrowed from Michael Nesmith for my Ronstadt gig and I returned it to Michael in mid-68 when the Crossover showed up.

The Crossover I sold to a friend of mine in 1973 for $500 and was embarrassed I did that.

Traded for a sickening green Emmons p/p. I've had three other p/p's than sounded great, but this one was just dead and played really stiff. I'd like to get my hands on it again and play around with the neck mounting screws. I didn't know anything about that issue at the time.