The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm in a quandary, in a way. There is an individual who is selling a very nice Fender 2000 pedal steel. He only lives a few hours from me. The guitar is set up as E9/C6, and even has four knees. He's asking $2,000.00 for it. Seems like a good price. There appear to be no missing parts on it, and it is very clean. Thing is, I know it's cable-driven (not of favorite of many steel pickers), and those guitars were built like tanks, which means they are quite heavy. I already have a very nice Fender Artist D10, as well as very nice Sho-Bud D10 and a Miller Custom D10. If I were to get the Fender 2000 it would be a lot for nostalgia, as I really like those old Fenders, and would even play it out from time to time. Still, though, don't know if it's really worth getting (to some) an archaic guitar. Thoughts, anyone?

Only you can decide that;i own 2 400's ,i put knees on them- i would not take any less than $1200 for either one- and i doubt anyone would pay that.

However- as long as its clean,and the cables are routed properly,it will play fine.
Easy to change pulls on them.

I feel like you might find it hard to get your $ back if you re -sell down the road.
But now i am wrong at least once a day

Okay. Sounds good! Thanks for the advice! This is probably a moot point now because because the seller ended the listing. Thanks, anyway!

At one point a few years ago I purchased $35,000.00 worth of pedal steel guitars within 2 weeks that were all vintage steels with totally unique builds and unique sounds to get those vintage sounds while recording. I make my living making records for people in Texas so that's not exactly wild spending although playing steel is a small part of the operation of owning a studio, producing, arranging, engineering and playing musical instruments. The Fender 2000 was one I purchased and I did play one in a house band in 1972 because it was used and cheaper than Sho-Buds and Emmons. I was just 18 years old and new to the manual labor workforce. It's a unique animal and nothing else sounds even close. Wider string spacing than most modern steels. I think those cables is part of that whining sound it makes. Mine doesn't have any knee levers because I enjoy playing like they did when there was no knee levers. You do a few things a little differently to fill the void of no levers. I made a little video here a few years ago of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJBIdhKteOY

I could be wrong, but $2000 seems pricey for a Fender 2000, unless it's mint.

David Mitchell, thanks for your input! Yeah, those cables could be, at least, in part, the cause of the whining sound; i.e., the "Fender zing," although I think it has to do more with the "knife's edge" changers. Andrew Goulet, the guitar is pretty much pristine. Or, at least, I think so. I think it is worth the asking price. Thing is, though, as I stated above, it's a moot point now that the seller ended the listing. Not sure why. Maybe he got a buyer.

I think the price seems ok. All pedal steels are increasing in price, so why not Fenders. The cable myth (that it doesn’t operate well) is bunk. Those steels were well made. I have a 1000 and wouldn’t sell it. I’m interested that you want a 2000 when you have a D-10 Artist. Most of the Artists I have seen are single 10’s.

One things for sure, if great is measured by the pound a Fender 2000 is worth a lot.

If you jump over to Facebook we have a huge Fender Pedal Steel group with plenty of info, advice, and experts on hand.

A 2000 is a tremendous guitar, and if it is cleaned/lubed properly (most are not - but the whole process only has to be done once, and then ONLY dry Teflon (PTFE) lube used every 3-6 months) they play great, the pedal action is fairly light, they have zero cabinet drop; volume and tone controls - which IMO every steel should have -and the tone is wonderful (the longer scale 8 strings are stiff, but still play fine if maintained well).

$2k for 2000's in very good-excellent condition (with cases) is a good price - I've seen a few sold in the $2500 range. I play and SD800 - somebody removed the back neck and installed a pad.

There are minor mods you can do beside adding knee levers that improve the mechanics - I've been rebuilding/servicing Fenders for years, and found adding a few simple Nylon or Delrin posts (loose enough to rotate) as cable guides can straighten the cable pull at the changer, significantly reducing sideways pressure and the resulting friction. And some guys have started making replacement small pulleys and slim turnbuckles for cable harnesses.

10 years ago they were being called "archaic", but once we found how they needed to be cleaned of oily, greasy dirt buildup in the changer and large pulleys cleaned of white rust that was freezing them up they turned out to be great guitars in general with quite a few advantages.

It was not in playing shape when I got it but had lots of parts. I set it up in E9 with 3 pedals, 3 knees - and because it had 2 pedals already hooked up on the right I rigged them up to do some things I was used to on my B6 9+2 8-string 400...and I've been offered 2 grand for it!

too bad it got sold, but with 4 knee levers added I know a bunch of players who would snap it up!