The Steel Guitar Forum

I searched the forum for "steel guitar inlays" in an attempt to see if this had already been addressed, but I couldn't find anything. Apologies if I missed it.

On some makes of pedal steel guitars - Sho-Bud, MSA - fret markers are oriented so that they appear upright if viewed with the tuners below them. Other makers - Fessenden - orient fret markers so they appear upright if viewed with the changer below them. Some makers - Emmons, MCI - go with something that looks fine either way.

More traditional guitars usually feature inlays that look "correct" when the guitar is being held horizontally - like when it's being played. Some, however, are similar to the markers on Fessendens - they appear upright when the guitar is sitting on a stand with its tuners above its bridge.

Maybe this is a silly question, but where is the BOTTOM of a steel guitar? Is it the tuner end or the changer end?

I'm sure there's no "right" answer. FWIW, the style used on Sho-Buds and MSAs looks "wrong" to me. What say you?

The bottom is the side closest to the floor.
Erv

I'm with Erv.The fretboard is visible only when a steel is set up.

I agree with Erv & Dave that the bottom is the side facing the floor but I think the Author (David) is referring to the picture below regarding the fretboard symbols and their orientation.
Sorry if I misunderstood the question

None of my guitars have markers that face any particular way. Now those chess pieces look as though they should face the audience...

I like something that looks good from any Angle. And looks good when sitting behind the steel in the drivers seat.
I played a MSA for 19 years or so. The GFI I play now looks good with 4 leaf clovers and horse shoes.
When I built a steel years ago, I made the fret boards and used long white diamonds for markers. They looked good from any angle.

David Nailling wrote:
Maybe this is a silly question, but where is the BOTTOM of a steel guitar? Is it the tuner end or the changer end?

I'm sure there's no "right" answer. FWIW, the style used on Sho-Buds and MSAs looks "wrong" to me. What say you?

Contemplative, I am. And while no grand expert, I’d guess the term “headstock” should give you a clue.

Does it trully make a difference which way they face? IMHO they are there to simply mark the fret. Diamond, heart circle what have you, they just mark the fret.

Sam

Samuel Phillippe wrote:Does it trully make a difference which way they face? IMHO they are there to simply mark the fret. Diamond, heart circle what have you, they just mark the fret.

Sam

No - it doesn't really matter. I was just curious as to what people's opinions were.

John Palumbo wrote:I agree with Erv & Dave that the bottom is the side facing the floor but I think the Author (David) is referring to the picture below regarding the fretboard symbols and their orientation.
Sorry if I misunderstood the question

Not only is this exactly what I was referencing, but the image you provided is much more helpful than what I originally posted. Thanks!

Yup. It's a "head" stock. The MSA ones have always just looked wrong to me. YMMV.

I've only ever had one PSG - the MSA - so I've never thought about this. But, if the fret markers were suddenly turned around it would certainly look wrong to me.

You're right though, if the same markers were placed like that on a regular 6-string guitar they would be upside down.

Aesthetically, I think the MSA markers were wrong, but I’d guess they just followed the Sho~Bud paradigm, which was also wrong.

On MSA, I do like the chess pieces but agree with Ian, turn them towards the audience.

This "bottom" of the steel guitar terminology reminds me of the old thread about whether we move our bar "down the neck" or "up the neck" when sliding to fret 22

Paul Bigsby inlaid card suits into the neck of several of Merle Travis’ 6-string guitars. Probably where Shot got the idea for his fret markers.
Merle’s markers are positioned correctly and ordered heart, club, diamond, and spade.
ShoBud’s are flipped and ordered heart, spade, diamond, and club.
Not a far stretch to imagine that whoever laid out the original ShoBud graphics (Magee Display?) may not have been familiar with musical instruments.