Pierce steel guitars

Gil James · Post by **Gil James** » 15 Nov 2023 8:57 pm

Would like to see if anyone on here can shed any info on this guitar and its maker. Found very little info doing a search. It's got a great sounding pickup,with a volume and tone control. A primitive looking undercarriage, but it works, although a little wonky pedalwise. Otherwise it's in great shape cosmetically. Thinking of converting it to a non pedal console. It is super lightweight. Thanks.

Rick Abbott · Post by **Rick Abbott** » 16 Nov 2023 2:59 pm

All the cast metal parts and the pickup were probably made by a guy named Ray Krick from Rochester, IN. He had partnered with someone who built these. I think he originally came from around Muncie, IN, and the Pierce guitars were made around there, maybe Winchester?

Ray was a non-pedal guy who played in Muncie and Indy back in the 1950's. He was a jewelry repair guy by day. He saw an early pedal steel on a bandstand, and when he asked about the tuning and mechanics, the guy told him to take a hike. So when the player went to the bathroom, Ray looked at the mechanics of the steel and went home and built one. He built every guitar he ever played. He played up until 2015 or so. He sand-casted all his own pedals, cranks, necks and keyplates. He wound his own pickups. Strange and interesting dude. He was a really great player, and he used a G6/D9 tuning that played with the A-B pedals down, so you would release them to get the typical A-B pedal moves...some guys back then did that.

Gil James · Post by **Gil James** » 16 Nov 2023 7:52 pm

Thanks Rick, info like that is what makes these old guitars come to life. The whole body of this steel is one piece,cast. With,what looks like a hard rock maple top and neck. I'm trying to figure out what the original tuning and co-ped would have been, as it was totally disassembled when I got it. With 4 pedals,eight strings and no lower mechanism, if it was E9,I can see A,B, and E/F, but I'm lost on what the 4th pedal would be used for.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 17 Nov 2023 11:16 am

,, yikes...Don't hack that nice little guitar into a console.. Its in great shape, its rare, and there are probably very few left, especially looking as good as that one does. Why not add another lever or two, tune it to tuning you like, and play/enjoy it as it was intended, with pedals intact. Any non pedal tuning you would care to put on would benefit from a few pedals anyway. You would only save a pound or 2 by removing the pull mechanism anyway, if weight is a concern.. If you really need a non pedal console,there are guys here that would buy that steel in a second as it sits, and then you could simply buy a non pedal guitar.. Someone might even swap straight up for a non pedal of some sort, if thats what you really want... bob

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 17 Nov 2023 11:25 am

The integrated pickup and bridge assembly look a whole lot like the Holiday non pedal steel guitars that were made in Winchester. Wonder if there might be some connection there.

Dave

Gil James · Post by **Gil James** » 17 Nov 2023 2:40 pm

Yeah you're right Bob, thanks for slapping me back to reality. The more I tinker with it, the more determined I am to keep it in it's original state. One pedal rod is broke so I will be replacing it. Putting some levers on it was my first thought too, and still might,if my pea brain can figure it out. But I would sure like to know the original co-ped and tuning that the builder conceived, with 4 raise pedals. If I'm going to learn to play it with no knees, I'd like to know what he had in mind.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 18 Nov 2023 8:49 am

The old Fender 8 string pedal guitars [ model 400] were made I believe to be played in A6.. lots of guys adapted them to E9 as well, but the earlier[better sounding] long scale models from like 1958 to 63 or so would break the high g# relentlessly.. D9 was a better choice if one wanted to use the E9 chromatic tuning.. If I had that nice little Pierce, I would check out the mechanism closely and see if it was indeed a "fixed" changer that could not be adjusted outside of the original setup.. I tend to doubt that personally.. You might be able to get a lot more out of thet guitar than you think.. In any case, lets say its totally fixed and can't be changed.. I would check out some standard 8 string lap/console tunings, and see which ones would benefit from raises on the strings that are being raised currently... Think about this.. In the 50's guys would give anything to get an 8 string console guitar that could raise 4 strings.

Look at this video.. This guy is a master of course, but this is what he can get from his "limited" steel guitar.. Poor guy,, only has 6 strings and 2 pulls!!.LOL!.

I would ask some questions here on this forum about 8 string tunings with ideas for 4 pedals.. Me, I would go with a modified E or E7 to get the standard "A/B pedal country changes, and also see if I could get at least 1 lower out of the changer thats on it.. Thats a great looking old guitar, and i would enjoy playing it,, Its not something you see every day, and there's lots of great music left in it.. I hope you enjoy it for a very long time... bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn3mR0HRcbg

Rick Abbott · Post by **Rick Abbott** » 18 Nov 2023 4:11 pm

David Ball wrote:The integrated pickup and bridge assembly look a whole lot like the Holiday non pedal steel guitars that were made in Winchester. Wonder if there might be some connection there.

Dave

I think there is a connection. Pretty sure the partner of my friend Ray was the guy building the Holiday guitars.

Man, I wish Ray was alive! He would have really loved to talk about this stuff.