The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi all

I have ordered a Williams S10 and I need to decide on the colour. The colour examples on the website aren't particularly helpful as it's hard to imagine exactly what they would look like on the guitar. I know what the red looks like as Greg Liesz plays one. And they have a picture of a blue steel on the website. But I am interested in less common colours like honey amber, red mahogany and yellow. Bill says he can do it in yellow but the only example is the sunburst guitar, where the yellow is just a small part in the middle. I can't get a sense of what it would look like as the sole colour.

If anyone has any pictures of their Williams they could post, letting me know the colour, I would really appreciate it. I am considering the Telonics pick up and any feedback about that is welcome too.

Hi Nick

This is what Honey Amber looks like. My choice was in honour of an old Sho-Bud knockoff I used to enjoy the look of. Not the same, but about the most traditional I could see. When I'm too old to play it'll still be a nice piece of furniture

Whereabouts are you based? I'm on the Worcs/Warks border.

That's a real beauty Ian - thanks for the pic. Yes, funnily enough, the colour of the knockoff is exactly what I am looking for. Like I said, Bill said he could do a yellow, but I can't picture what that yellow would look like 'in the flesh'. But your honey amber looks gorgeous. I do like the red but to me it's too obvious. I live in Dorset.

Burnt Orange like the old Jim Vest Sho-Bud:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Williams%201 ... yless.html

This is the brown mahogany.

I thought it was BROWN MAHOGANY but I've been told it is RED MAHOGANY.

I like the look of Gary's Uni above! I also think that fretboard color is my fave Williams fretboard look.

Here's my new natural curly maple D10 8+8. 4/3 changers and black anodized fingers.

This will be the color of the S10 I have on order for July delivery:

Bordeaux stain with Black burst ends. #365 Diamond inlay, 705 pickups

Nick, here is a darker shade of honey amber on my (now sold) Williams 2010 D-10. It's a fair amount darker than Ian Rae's, and you can certainly tell Bill and Tim if you prefer the lighter or darker honey amber shade. Also, the darker diamond inlay on this guitar makes it look a lot different than Ian's; his has the lighter rope inlay.
I was out at Bill's shop a couple days ago finalizing the specs for my own new guitar for November delivery. Gary Watkins, I like your color scheme so much I was showing Bill your photos; he called it Red Mahogany, FWIW.
New builds still have the "Williams" script decal on the front apron, but Bill said he's no longer putting the "700 Series" decal on. You can see that cosmetic difference on several of the new guitars in this thread.
Bill and Tim are great; whatever you specify, they'll get it right. Good luck. John

Nick, you may have also seen this previous thread in the Pedal Steel section called "Show Us Your Williams Guitar".

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... ++williams

Nick, what is the current wait time on an order for a new Williams?

Hi Tim. It's around 5 months.

Thanks Nick.

I like John Swain's (seems to have a white tint) to it & Larry Ball's

Check out the "Show Us Your Williams" thread. Many colors and combos.

Here’s my S10 in marine blue. Blue green.

Bill just lives about 10 miles from me and he's been turning out beautiful guitars forever. That is really a tough choice. My friend from in town had Bill build him a single 12 that is kind of a dark blue that is just stunning. I don't have a pic but maybe if Brian sees this post he'll jump in and post a pic. That one really turned my eye for sure.
John Swain, that is a nice job you did on the N400 cabinet. That one I'll bet you leave home.

Here’s my S10 in marine blue. Blue green.

My suggestion would be one of the wood grain colors, or just plain old fashioned black. If you ever need to sell the Williams, those colors should sell fast. Last year when I was looking a new steels here on the forum, various colors such as weird bluish colors, teal, red, purple, and white were immediate turnoffs for me. No go. No way. I ended up with a nice maple mica BMI, which I further restored and sold. When looking for a lighter replacement, I was looking for GFI's, and went through a bunch of ads, finding red ones, and some others. Nope. I found a nice black GFI S-10 Expo. It's mine now. It may be just me, but I think the resale of wood grain or black colored guitars may be easier. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

Those guitars owned by John Ely and Cameron Parsons are VERY nice. I could get used to that color of blue too.

If you just want something, maybe resale value doesn't come into it. But it's a fine line between novel and hideous.

Looks like a split between wood and aluminum necks. Any comparisons?