The Steel Guitar Forum

Play lap steel and dobro and thinking on a pedal, need to know the best and cheapest way to buy a pedal. I am retired, so money is a big factor. see lots of different brands on web sites and ebay., just don't knowwhich one I need to start with. Pretty sure I can play one

Depending where you are in Mo, a trip to Scotty's Music in St Louis (actually Overland) would be a good start. Scotty's usually has several used steels in stock.

I would avoid e-bay for a pedal steel.

I would do as Jack says or if you are going to buy private make sure you have a friend who is playing steel go with you. You can get one very cheap and then find there is more trouble with it than enough. If you buy private, check on the forum to see if its a good make and what the guys think of it There are a lot of good deals out there

Another good, safe choice is Steel Guitar Nashville. Bobbe makes great deals, will guide you the right direction without "overselling" you, and it's worth the small shipping fee to get a guitar you know will be set up right from the beginning. He also sometimes gives a bunch of his beginner videos with a new guitar - so you get more than your money's worth. Just call there and ask for Bobbe personally, and say you saw his name mentioned on the forum...that's another thing that might help pricing!

Good luck!

Jim

Bobbie's Phone No. Is (615-822-5555) For A Great Deal. SONNY.

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Thanks for the good advice from all
Jim

I'll second the advice regarding Bobbe. I bought my very first steel from him over the phone, sight unseen. He promised me that I'd be happy. I was and still am!

I started on a GFI Ultra and would be hard pressed to recommend otherwise to anyone. I did eventually move to an Emmons PP which I dearly love,(also from Bobbe) but NO REGRETS on the GFI or Bobbe. Service from Steel Guitar Nashville is second to none.

I'm not going to mention the time that I dropped off a bottle of homemade wine at his store and left with a Nashville 112

(I did leave a credit card number too)

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David Collins

Playing pedal steel guitar is not a cheap pursuit. If you economize you will suffer. Its an expensive pursuit. Carter Starter is the way to go for economizing. Al Brisco has them at Steel Guitar Canada.

Jim,
Where in Missouri are you located?

Les, I live in Nixa, real close to springfield. Up in jeff city quite a bit
Jim

I too just moved over to pedal steel from non-pedal. In fact, I just picked up my new-to-me Sho-Bud this past weekend.

I had a thread going with regard to student model pedal steels that turned up a wealth if information. Inturn, I decided to go with a pro model.

Here's a link to that thread...
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/013324.html

BTW: What Kevin said is true. Just getting started into PSG can be a lot more expensive than non-pedal if you're going to go with a pro-rig. However, depending on how in depth you want to get with PSG or if you just want to fool around and learn a couple of tunes on it, will warrant how much investment you need to make.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Mark Trzepacz on 12 September 2006 at 05:59 PM.]</p></FONT>

JIm, try gettin' together w: a steeler or two from round yer neck of the woods in order to familiarize yerself w: a psg along w: some good advice
plenty of steelers from Missouri here : http://www.onlinesteelers.com/

buyin' a used psg from a Fo'bro' beats ebay hands down
or you can call in at Scotty's in St Lou or Bobbe at Steel Guitar Nashburg
Carter, GFI have entry models that are'nt too costly
good luck Jim

Hey jim, I started a couple of years ago on a carter starter playing through fender tube amps. it did me right. I gigged every week from day one for nearly two years and never had a problem. stayed in tune, didnt brake strings, sounded great. very reliable. However, during that whole time I hardly ever used my knee pedals. They were a little rinky dink. As soon as your ready to make that step your probably going to want a pro model. As soon as i switched to a sho-bud i noticed a world of difference. If you get a decent used pro-model and take good care of it you could probably get most of your money back if you give up on it. But, if your dead set on a beginner price,the carter starter is the way to go. just get you a decent volume pedal and your ready to go.