The Steel Guitar Forum

I just received my new Sierra lap steel today. It was a much anticipated affair as I had craved possession of one since the day I spotted it at the Sierra web site.

When I opened the SKB case, I sat for a good 5 minutes just checking how beautiful the instrument was. The craftsmanship is excellent & it's quite a striking instrument. It was hard to believe I had waited that long (over a year) & was awestruck by the beauty.

Anyway, post pulling it out of the case, tuning it up, etc, I had the second epiphany (OK I'm over dramatizing, LOL). I plugged it into my POD & into a little practice Peavey. I didn't have any esoteric effects on the POD; it was set clean without anything but a little reverb.

The sound was exquisite! I could get a rainbow of sound without resorting to delay, chorus, tremolo, etc. The tone knob & the volume pot on the lap were all I needed. I was literally blown away by the quality of this guitar.

Anyway, I called Don over at Sierra to tell him how pleased I was & to verify the sturdiness of the case as I may have to travel via the airlines with it. He said it should be good even in the hands of said condiitions. And I promised him that I would come over here & tell you all what my experience was.

I don't have any other lap experience so it's not really appropriate of me to comment on any other instrument. I just want to say that this experience rates right up there with the day I bought my whale blue PRS Archtop II & took it home.

Thanks, peace, )

The Bluez

I live in the suburbs of Portland, OR, and I drove down to Sierra's factory one day. Don is a very nice guy and he let me play a Sierra Lap steel, and it blew my mind away. I cannot get that sound out of my mind. I haven't played a Bakelite, but Don tells me that musicians call him and say that this is better than Bakelite Rickey (and you don't have to hunt for replacement parts). After that I tried a Fender lap and it sounded so crappy in comparison!

-Surinder

I have one, and it is the best sounding steel guitar I've ever played. All of the superlatives you've heard about these instruments are true.


Also, I have flown with it. The case protects it very well. I wrap my volume pedal in cardboard (to keep it from scratching the instrument)and put it in the case too. That keeps the guitar from shifting position, as the volume pedal is a snug fit.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Averybob.gif" width=64 height=81>Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session S-12 (E9), Speedy West D-10 (E9, D6),
Sierra 8 Laptop (D13), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (D13, A6)

I'm really happy with mine too. I tried one at St Louis last year and was completely grabbed, decided I had to have one.

Glad others are discovering this beauty.

As per earlier posts, I'm lined up behind bOb and other Sierraheads to rant about the wonderful qualities of this fine axe ...Bluezmo's post really rang a bell with me though- I bought one of the first PRS 10 tops and was transported to guitar heaven. That's Exactly how I felt when I got my Sierra Laptop. This is a quality guitar for the ages. I won't be surprised in the least if these babies are the "pre-war Ricks" of the 22nd century. Of course by then I'll be too far gone to keep my grandchildren from selling it on EBAY...

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Mark van Allen-"Blueground Undergrass" Pedal, Non-Pedal, Lap, and Dobro