The Steel Guitar Forum

I purchased an mci steel about 10-12 years ago and i was wondering if anyone knew how to tell how old it is. It is a D-10, 8/4 and it has a number underneath it that say i believe 7847. I think that the mci was a bud carter design guitar, but does anyone know something about how long they were made, were they considered a good instrument,etc. It seems good to me but it is the only pedal steel that i play. thanks, gene

Yes, they are good guitars for sure, and Bud Carter was involved in the design. There are earlier and later versions - the later ones, called "RangeExpander" had a welded aluminum frame. I had the sucessor guitar to that - an EMCI. Also a real good guitar. There has been quite a bit of discussion on the Forum over the years about the MCI and EMCI guitars, which ones were built in Waco and which ones were built in Arlington, and various other complexities. You can find some of these threads using the "search" feature I'm sure.

Thanks bob, your reply and the search engine were helpful. gene