The Steel Guitar Forum

Hello all,

I recently posted about some LDG's for sale. Didn't land either, so I am still in the market. I would like some recommendations on good pedal steel guitars to consider. I tend to buy quality over quantity and am hoping this is a healthy budget or an instrument that will keep me occupied for many years.

My budget is $2k-$3500. I am fine with a single E9 neck and will stick to my Gibson Console for C6 stuff, but would do a double neck as well. I'd like an LDG mostly due to the looks and my love of Lloyd Green, but I don't want to pigeon hole myself to a particular model, hence why I need your help!

I listen to mostly classic and outlaw country. Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Charley Pride. As well as the modern "alt-country" scene like Whitey Morgan, Cody Jinks, Turnpike Troubadours, Hank III, etc. I always have a soft spot for Alan Jackson and George Strait and other 80's-90's figures as well. If I had to pick the tone I am going for it, I would say it is more the classic country sounds. Mooney is an ongoing obsession.

I will eventually buy a Fender Twin or similar, but for now I will have to send the steel through my Orange or Marshall tube amps.

My background: I am a 20+ year guitarist with a lot of slide experience. I have been playing C6 lapsteel for a couple of years and want an E9 pedal steel.

Thanks, all!!!!

Go to Oceanside and get with Jim Palenscar at Steel Guitars of North County. Well worth the trip. He is one of the truly good guys that will only help you. Even if you don't buy a steel from him you will know what you need to do by the time you leave.

Other than that try not to apply your knowlege of guitars to pedalsteel buying. It's a very different thing. Vintage steels can be an unplayable mechanical nightmare if tinkered with or not maintained.

I would reccomend a Mullen Discovery. A quality instrument that will do anything you need it to do, and its in your price range. I've been a Mullen player since 2009, and its a great pice of work. The Mullen crew will treat you right.

If it was me I'd get a used GFI Ultra single E9. one just sold on the forum, right in your price range: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... hlight=gfi

Nice thing about GFI is you can get parts and service. Unlike some vintage brands. They sound great (I played John Widgren's last week and it is his grab and go steel), light and a pro instrument.

If it was me I'd get a used GFI Ultra single E9. one just sold on the forum, right in your price range: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... hlight=gfi

Nice thing about GFI is you can get parts and service. Unlike some vintage brands. They sound great (I played John Widgren's last week and it is his grab and go steel), light and a pro instrument.

Since you already play C6th lap steel, You may want to consider going S12 with Universal Tuning that way you would have E9th and B6th all in 1 guitar. Move 1 fret down neck and you could use your C6th knowledge to your advantage. It is your call.
Good Luck on your steel guitar journey, Happy Steelin.

There's a black D-10, 8+6 Carter listed on the forum right now for $2850 +shipping. That's a good deal and also a very good guitar. (And you don't have to take my word for it! )

Buddy Emmons wrote:I have two Legrande III models, one of which I used on Gene Watson's last album. Just for the record, I used a Carter D-10 on Gene's Gospel album and for all practical purposes, I can't tell a dime's worth of difference, but what do I know?(2/17/02)

~

Consider the Excel Robostar:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... d1801251b9

Chuck Back's Desert Rose Vintage Pro is a serious E9 guitar worth looking into

I would endorse GFI as an unglamorous but excellent workhorse, easy to work on and with great customer service.

Carters were good enough for Jeff Newman.

Larry Baker wrote:I would reccomend a Mullen Discovery. A quality instrument that will do anything you need it to do, and its in your price range. I've been a Mullen player since 2009, and its a great pice of work. The Mullen crew will treat you right.

+1; love my 3 x 5. They’re great to deal with and have lots of reasonably priced options.

There's a nice split case Carter D10 for $2850 on sale in the forum right now. It's not mine I'm just saying. Hard to go wrong there for your first one.

I strongly recommend an Emmons Steel Guitar, namely an Emmons S-10 with three pedals, four knee levers, and the "push-pull" split style changer.

Start your career out at the source. Tone and tuning are everything. Without that, you'll be at a disadvantage from the get-go.

If you treat it right (and even if you don't treat it right), it will treat you right. An Emmons takes a lickin', but it keeps on pickin.'

Also, when you start to play out, showing up with an Emmons will lend you credence in all situations. I was once hired on a show that employed multiple steel players. I was way over my head (to say the least), but I had an Emmons, which helped me settle in with the other musicians.

Find a reputable dealer to find and set one up for you. An Emmons will only accrue in value, but after you bond with it, you will not want to sell it for the latest greatest thing. It's best to buy the best at the start. You can waste a lot of time and money settling for less.

An Emmons is a horn that will carry you through.

great guitar, great price, and a great seller here:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=392679

You have a pretty healthy budget to work with. You can find some very nice guitars in that price range. As mentioned, the Mullen Discovery is a great guitar and Mullen customer service is top notch. You can get a loaded guitar that will cover all of your E9 needs and not max out your funds.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful responses. Lots for me to think about. Looking forward to finding the right fit. More to come, thanks!

I have a new condition Mullen Discovery available here on the forum
With 5 an 5, split tuning factor flags on knee leavers available.

Close please

Heya, Brendan. Research what forumites think about old (70s/80s) MSA guitars here. These will get you reliability & great sound. If weight isnt a factor, either the black or blonde D10 here would be good, and you'd have dough to spare for amp-/accessories. No affiliation, just know a good opportunity when I sees it:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=394373

Another thing- if you buy a guitar & have it shipped- consider using Pirate Shipping (if the seller is amenable to properly packing themselves) & have some dough.

And- ditto what Bob H. said- Go see Jim at Steel Guitars of North County.

Be good,
-Pete

You can't go wrong with a steel from Johnie King.

You could likely find a single neck 3&4 EMCI near the bottom of your budget and it would be a great guitar to grow with - I played one for around 20 years, it sounds great, plays really well, is relatively light and is very easy to work on/change around while learning about all-pull mechanics.
It’s only sitting in the closet because I needed something even lighter because I’m now living in an old European city with few elevators and no car but if I was still in North America I’d have played it forever.

Call me old fashioned or conservative but I still consider $2000-3500 serious money. With that investment, I would NOT consider any new "student" or "entry"-level guitars for that kind of money, but rather a previously loved, preferably "bed-room" good quality PSG of "recent" vintage (80's and up) with at least triple raise / triple lower, split tuning and at least 3 pedals / 5 knee levers on at least one 10 string neck.

You buy NEW when you KNOW what you want and from whom, and you want exactly that. That's when you have been playing and become proficient enough to know this IS your instrument.

First consideration is to get a "PRO"-level instrument that won't get you frustrated early on with limitations, mechanical short comings and quirks, or the suspicion that it is the instrument which doesn't sound as good as you think you ought to sound.

Second considerations is, you want to be able to "punch out" and re-sell the instrument with no or minimal loss in a reasonable amount of time. Student and entry model, and some semi-antique oddities will be more difficult to sell.

For above price range, you can pick up a PRO-level Carter D10 with 8P/5K... Derby's, Fessenden, Sierra Crown or Session S10, GFI Expo and sometimes even as a D10. Probably not a ZUMsteel or an Emmons or current MSA or Mullen and certainly not a Franklin at that price range.
But still good PRO guitars which many have played in studios and are proven mechanically still today, on tour and clubs. Carter, which sadly is out of business because the untimely death of it's founder, built several 100's of Pro-guitars A YEAR from the mid 90's for over 10 years and they were comparatively "inexpensive" in their time due to a more "industrial" manufacturing process. Many have never seen the world outside the basement or bedroom. Some never really got played. Don't like her or the instrument as such, it will sell the next day for the same money you paid IF you bought it right.
Older MSA, I would suggest only the 1980's "Vintage" model, as it will resell easy should you want to get out of it too.

There are good deals on the buy/sell section of this forum every week, some on ebay too, and there are a few resellers like Jim Palenscar (who is a Forum Member) already kindly recommended by Bob Hoffnar, but so many more, I don't know of any today which is not reputable.

If you are unsure about an instrument you look at you can always come back and ask here.

That's just my OPINION.... J-D.

Seconding purchasing a steel from Jim Palenscar. He is easy to work with and has a huge variety of steels. I think of him as the modern day Bobby Seymore.

If you're going to spend that much or more on an instrument, it would be beneficial to plan a trip to a well-stocked steel guitar store and test-drive as many different guitars as possible. You may find that one particular design just feel right for your personal ergonomics. Without naming names, I found that several well-built and great-sounding guitar brands did not feel good to me, while another equally esteemed brand did.

Bob Hoffnar wrote:Go to Oceanside and get with Jim Palenscar at Steel Guitars of North County. Well worth the trip. He is one of the truly good guys that will only help you. Even if you don't buy a steel from him you will know what you need to do by the time you leave.

Other than that try not to apply your knowlege of guitars to pedalsteel buying. It's a very different thing. Vintage steels can be an unplayable mechanical nightmare if tinkered with or not maintained.

I would agree with Bob. Plus you know that when you buy a guitar from Jim it will be set up to play and play right. I myself have never bought from Jim but I know fellows that have and they have nothing but good to say about him.