The Steel Guitar Forum

When did the following student models first come to market?

Emmons GS
MSA Sidekick
Sho-Bud Maverick

Over 40 years.

Ron Hogan wrote:Over 40 years.

Since my first pedal steel was a MSA Red Baron that I purchased new in '77, and the GS-10 I purchased a few years back is a '73 according to the Emmons Company's records, I'm aware that student steels have been around for at least 40 years.

What I am wondering is who among the bigger builders back in the day was first out of the box with a student model pedal steel. Was it one of the aforementioned "Big 3," or was it someone else?

ZB had a student model around the same era, very early 70's is when I got mine and it was used.

A guy in my dorm had a (maple/natural) Maverick in 1971.

My first steel, an Emmons GS-10 was built in 1974.