The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey Everyone, I'm new to pedal steel over here. I have this 1976 Marlen D10 for about 6 years now and am finally getting back into steel after a few-year hiatus. I was looking to see if anyone had any info on this particular steel or notes I should know about.

I have contemplated selling it for a more modern steel/single neck that would cut down on weight and possibly simplicity. At this point, I'm not sure what it's worth or if I have something pretty good for a beginner and should hang onto this instead of seeking something newer. Any advice would be great. Thank you!







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Dear Matt - The answer really depends on what kind of music you play? I highly recommend the E9th tuning myself, its so versatile you can play Beethoven or you can play Branson Missouri. The E9th tuning is "Pedal Steel", about 80% of what you have probably heard on the radio over the years for country, rock, folk, and country rock.

So one big decision is do I play E9th or do I play C6th??

You do have a "complicated" set up for a beginner, but it looks like a great guitar - if its all in tune. You can start on that guitar, use the hardware you need, ignore the other pedals, and get started; All the while you can still keep an eye out for a single neck rig.

Since I recommend E9th, here is the rest of my recommendation. Nobody plays all the pedals and levers at once, we have to learn them little by little starting with the most important ones. For the E9th neck, for example, the most important pedals are the A&B pedals, and after that the E flat knee lever. You can study and practice those ones all year long, with all the instructional material that's out there, and just ignore the other hardware until you get used to the basics, or whatever the particular instructional material that you have recommends.

The main thing is getting help to make sure its all in tune on that front neck, and that the pedals and levers for the E9th neck are doing what they were designed to do.

Your guitar looks nice, and I would be glad to play that guitar myself - if its tuned and adjusted properly. That is what you have got in front of you, try and make it work even if you are still going to end up with a more simple rig 6 months from now.

Regarding the price of how much its "worth", I will defer to others to suggest a price point. I do agree 100% that a D-10 is heavy to drag around to play out.

this is vintage Marlen , awesome guitar… keep it , and play it

What you have in your possession, in my opinion, was a masterpiece of engineering in its time. The changer was just different enough that the builder was given a patent for its design. History tells us that some of the best players alive at that time, and well beyond, played the Marlen in that configuration. In fact, those steels can be found being played even today. It has a three up two down all pull changer which some of the steels built today have I believe. They are heavy, the builder didn't scrimp or use light materials and in fact, aircraft grade aluminum, readily available after the Viet Nam War in North Carolina where it was built, can be found in them. Mine is no exception. They play easily, can be maintained easily or be configured to today's standards of set-up like mine has been. My S10 single metal neck Marlen is a 3 pedal 5 knee lever steel, using half stops where I wanted them. It sounds as good as any and plays as easy as the best. The wood used, just shy of 3/4" in their construction, is now seasoned by time while the original pick-up stands with the best. I'm not in the market for another steel, but if I were, your D-10 Marlen would be in the running. Enjoy it while you have it.

I believe what he has is an pull/release changer , but I could be wrong , I’m not expert on Marlen … pull/release are my favorite Marlens tho

Damir, after looking at the end plate again, you are correct, it is a pull/release. A little older and harder to make changes to, but still an exceptional sounding steel and a keeper. Thanks for the catch...

Wow, what a guitar! I would keep that, for sure! I play a 1974 Marlen (set up as it might have been at the time of it's making, so it doesn't have ALL modern changes) and it's an incredibly stable guitar with a beautiful tone. Dick is spot-on, a masterpiece. They take a bit of work to add modern changes, but it's been done plenty of times. I play my Marlen everyday and gig a few times a month, and it's never let me down.

Richard Alderson wrote:Dear Matt - The answer really depends on what kind of music you play? I highly recommend the E9th tuning myself, its so versatile you can play Beethoven or you can play Branson Missouri. The E9th tuning is "Pedal Steel", about 80% of what you have probably heard on the radio over the years for country, rock, folk, and country rock.

So one big decision is do I play E9th or do I play C6th??

You do have a "complicated" set up for a beginner, but it looks like a great guitar - if its all in tune. You can start on that guitar, use the hardware you need, ignore the other pedals, and get started; All the while you can still keep an eye out for a single neck rig.

Since I recommend E9th, here is the rest of my recommendation. Nobody plays all the pedals and levers at once, we have to learn them little by little starting with the most important ones. For the E9th neck, for example, the most important pedals are the A&B pedals, and after that the E flat knee lever. You can study and practice those ones all year long, with all the instructional material that's out there, and just ignore the other hardware until you get used to the basics, or whatever the particular instructional material that you have recommends.

The main thing is getting help to make sure its all in tune on that front neck, and that the pedals and levers for the E9th neck are doing what they were designed to do.

Your guitar looks nice, and I would be glad to play that guitar myself - if its tuned and adjusted properly. That is what you have got in front of you, try and make it work even if you are still going to end up with a more simple rig 6 months from now.

Regarding the price of how much its "worth", I will defer to others to suggest a price point. I do agree 100% that a D-10 is heavy to drag around to play out.

I appreciate the thoughtful response! I am definitely going in on learning E9 as I currently play guitar in a country band and lean more towards E9 based style. I also play non-country stuff that this tuning seems to lend itself toward those styles as well. It sounds like for now I will probably stick with this as I definitely do not want less "features" just looking at some possible weight reduction and possible reliability but it sounds like this is good to go as is! I had it setup a few years ago and switched to an Emmons setup from Day so for now I'm not seeing any major issues in playability and tuning.

Dick Sexton wrote:Damir, after looking at the end plate again, you are correct, it is a pull/release. A little older and harder to make changes to, but still an exceptional sounding steel and a keeper. Thanks for the catch...

It is a pull/release! I had this set up by Ron Pruter who is on the forums shortly before I moved out of AZ. He knew I was starting out and wrote me a very thoughtful guide on tuning and the guitar knowing I was just starting out. In the notes, he mentioned that it was a pull/release!

Being newer to steel I'm not sure if this is sacrilegious, but I had toyed around with the idea of pulling the C6 neck out and putting a pad in its place. Ultimately, some weight reduction would be nice for something I'm not going to use. As a guitar player, I'm not sure if this is along the lines of gutting a 65 Strat and putting new hardware on it. I definitely wouldn't want to be taking apart and desecrating a nice vintage instrument.

Don't remove the C6 neck. If you need something lighter for lugging around town, just get another guitar.

I understand why someone who doesn't play C6 might want to remove the back neck and keep playing the same guitar. However, steel guitars from the late 50's through the 70's are now vintage instruments that will hopefully outlive all of us. There are so many dismantled steel guitars out there, and it's hard enough finding someone who can put them back together now, never mind 20 or 30 years from now.

I really love Marlen pull releases, got three of em right now. I've been playing a really old one ('64ish) as my main guitar for 7 or 8 years. Feel free to get in touch if you're ever stuck.

Got it, that answers my question perfectly and confirms what I already was thinking was the case. I may just look into getting another guitar. The goal is to try and start gigging/recording with steel so moving it around easily would be something I would really like. I may just end up looking into selling this one for something a little more portable. I love this guitar but my back sure isn't

On a similar note, anyone who could post an idea of what this may be worth would be appreciated.