Peavey Steels

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 13 Sep 2003 5:51 am

Just a thought. Peavey builds many models of guitars. Why is it that they have not built a steel?

Tom Campbell · Post by **Tom Campbell** » 13 Sep 2003 6:26 am

Funny, I was just thinking about that the other day. How about Peavey picking up the Marlen or Sierra line? They definitely have the resources and marketing skills to make it a successful venture. On the other hand, the steel community may be too small in terms of profit potential and return on investment. Peavey is a successful company because they pay close attention to good business practices.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 13 Sep 2003 8:48 am

I think that's a great idea. Here you have a good product line with a solid reputation and an inventory of parts just sitting there waiting to be bought up. Couple it to a leading name like Peavey, which already has worldwide distribution, and you might have the first true mass-market pedal steel.

------------------
<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 13 Sep 2003 9:52 am

Oh, not the first. Forget I said that. There was Fender, of course...

Jack Francis · Post by **Jack Francis** » 13 Sep 2003 10:20 am

I think that Peavey would have a good shot
at the venture, the way you guys described it. They certainly have the respect of this community.

Martin Abend · Post by **Martin Abend** » 13 Sep 2003 2:56 pm

Hopefully they will not be designed by the same dude that creates the appearance of their amps

------------------
martin abend Pedal-Steel in Germany
s-10 sierra crown gearless 3 x4 | Regal RD45 | fender hotrod deluxe

Dyke Corson · Post by **Dyke Corson** » 13 Sep 2003 3:46 pm

I still have an old blue Peavey price list somewhere I got at a NAMM show back in the late 70's that lists MSA guitars being distributed by Peavey, I don't know if this ever really happend, but it's proof they were serious about looking into it at that time...

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 13 Sep 2003 4:18 pm

MSA distributed by Peavey?
That's the first I've heard of that!

This place is a never-ending source of information.

Sierra distributed by Peavey sounds like a winner. Sie-vey or Pea-erra?

Tom Jordan · Post by **Tom Jordan** » 13 Sep 2003 4:28 pm

I would be interested. Peavey is one company the has the resourses and still seems to be really interested in what the customer wants. They really don't need to sell guitars at all but I'm glad they do. My T-60 and Preditor have been my favorit gig guitars. Ya, I got a real Tele and -335 but these guitars put me in business when I couldn't afford the others. Good sound, quality and a "blue collar" price. If they could do this with a "workin' man's" PSG I'm sure they would sell well.

Does Mike Brown look in this section?

Tom Jordan

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 13 Sep 2003 6:01 pm

They really don't need to sell guitars at all...

Looking at what goes into a guitar, and what goes into and amp, and considering that shipping charges are based on weight, I'd venture to say that the profit per unit is much higher on electric guitars than it is on amps. [This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 13 September 2003 at 07:03 PM.]

Bill Fulbright · Post by **Bill Fulbright** » 14 Sep 2003 3:04 am

I post regularly on the Peavey Steel Guitar Amps section in the Amp Forum.

I will send him a link to this thread. Mike is a terrific guy and lurks on this forum as well.

------------------
Bill Fulbright
Mullen D-10 8x7; Gibson ES-165; Yamaha SY-77; Peavey Vegas 400;
ICQ# 2251620 My Music Site

Chuck McGill · Post by **Chuck McGill** » 14 Sep 2003 7:26 am

I just wish Paul Robinson was still with us
to hear this post. God bless him.

Emmett Roch · Post by **Emmett Roch** » 14 Sep 2003 9:58 am

I asked Hartley Peavey about this 10 years ago, and he replied that, while he felt like they could certainly build a good one, there just wasn't a big enough market to justify the tooling-up expenses.

------------------
___________________
GFI S-12 extended E9

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 14 Sep 2003 10:37 am

Mind you, that 10 years ago there might have been a market....

EJL

Emmett Roch · Post by **Emmett Roch** » 14 Sep 2003 10:47 am

Maybe the market would look better to them now, they could probably sell more pedal steels now than they could have 10 years ago.

------------------
___________________
GFI S-12 extended E9

[This message was edited by Emmett Roch on 14 September 2003 at 11:56 AM.]

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 14 Sep 2003 11:02 am

This is a great idea! Then two years after introducing the Peavey steel guitar someone comes out with a MOD because the Peavey steels are all mid range sounding and don't have any dynamic range. A year after that Peavey admits their mistake by
incorporating the guitar Mod right at the factory. The guitars still look and sound mediocre but not as bad as the original design. I can see it all now.

Tom Campbell · Post by **Tom Campbell** » 14 Sep 2003 12:23 pm

The idea is to acquire an existing brand, such as Sierra, that offers a number of models and has the existing tooling, parts inventory and a respected reputation . Hate to mention it, but off shore fabrication should not be ignored...this is a business venture requiring a positive bottom line, not some romantic notion. I can't speak for Peavey, but I am quite sure Peavey is interested in profit not fantasy.

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 14 Sep 2003 12:24 pm

Chuck writes..

Chuck McGill
Member
From: Jackson Tn.
posted 14 September 2003 08:26 AM profile edit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just wish Paul Robinson was still with us
to hear this post. God bless him.

You and me both Chuck.Paul was a good friend
of mine. God Bless his kind soul.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 14 Sep 2003 12:53 pm

With the increasing number of high-end, handcrafted solidbody guitars and boutique amplifiers around, it appears to me as though many aging boomers have the money to indulge in purchasing expensive instruments. Does anyone actually know if pedal steel guitar sales are expanding, contracting or maintaining compared to 10, 20, 30 years ago?

John Fabian · Post by **John Fabian** » 15 Sep 2003 9:36 am

David Mason wrote:

Does anyone actually know if pedal steel guitar sales are expanding, contracting or maintaining compared to 10, 20, 30 years ago?

The answer to the part your question for 10 years ago is NO, no one knows, because you used the word "actually" to qualify the question. Since production figures are not reported to a single industry entity or given out by the manufacturers, actual numbers would be hard to come by.

Market analysis is, at best, an inexact science (more of an art IMHO).

You could, however, make the following statements with a very high degree of certainty:
1. The steel guitar market today is smaller than it was 30 years ago.
2. The steel guitar market today is smaller than it was 20 years ago

I would say that there are several manufacturers and dealers (in addition to ourselves) who have a fairly good, realistic handle on the steel guitar market's size and fluctuations.

John Fabian[This message was edited by John Fabian on 15 September 2003 at 11:51 AM.][This message was edited by John Fabian on 18 September 2003 at 10:34 AM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 15 Sep 2003 9:56 am

other than ourselves

John, I'm betting you meant to say "in addition to ourselves", right?

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 15 Sep 2003 12:52 pm

Ok, now for the question that I've not yet seen asked nor answered in my short time as a forum member, but one I've been wondering about for many years and have no idea....

How many steel guitars are there in the whole world? How many have ever been built?

Anyone care to take a guess?

GARYPHILLIPS · Post by **GARYPHILLIPS** » 15 Sep 2003 6:25 pm

Hey I ask Buddy Emmons, about 8 years if he and Peavey has going to get together and build steel guitar, and I told him they could call it Pee-Bud

STEELIN FOR JESUS.[This message was edited by GARYPHILLIPS on 15 September 2003 at 07:27 PM.]

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 15 Sep 2003 7:31 pm

Bad idea, Peavey tried it once and lost a lot of money! I have the details but can't post them here. Intresting story too!

Nicholas Dedring · Post by **Nicholas Dedring** » 16 Sep 2003 8:18 am

It seems like it would be really hard to mass produce a steel guitar... Fender stopped making pedal steels for just that reason, didn't they? (i.e. the PS210 had just too many options for an assembly line to deal with efficiently, according to an old thread on the subject, right?)

Peavey is not really a boutique manufacturer... which is great on a price point comparison, but it would seem like their business model isn't really well tailored to a virtual custom-build operation like making psg's. Just a thought...