It all depends on whether you count guitars bought in non-working condition with the intention of working on them at some future date, and lap steels.
I have one pedal steel set up and continually played, and that never gets taken down or moved. It's a Sho-Bud Crossover. But I also have about eight pedal steels either in storage or in a state of rebuilding/repair. In addition to those I have five console non-pedal steels, and a multitude of various lap steels. I should add that some of the lap steels and console steels I built myself.
Location: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
State/Province: Pennsylvania
Country: United States
Postby Dave Mudgett »
Too many. Since this is in the Pedal Steel section, I assume you mean pedal steels. If I was to include nonpedal steels, the answer would be "way too many".
Actually, I have four pedal steels that I use. 2 Zums, a Franklin, and a Sho Bud LDG. I also picked up a pretty cool ca. mid-60s Sho Bud Fingertip that I need to take apart, clean up, and put back together. When classes are done for the semester, I'll see about that one. It'll be days in the trenches when I get on it.
The reason I have 2, as I’ve said before, is that I live on a hillside, and have to climb a flight if stairs to get from my house to the street. I keep one steel in the house for woodshedding, and the other (along with my other gear) in a detached building at the bottom of the hill, so I never have to carry anything up and down the stairs.
Aside from the different colors, and that fact that one pedal bar is carbon fiber and the other is aluminum, and one says M3 and the other says Millennium III, they are identical. I took them both to Jim Palenscar and told him I wanted to be able to sit down at them blindfolded and not be able to tell which one I was playing. Needless to say, he nailed it.
I wouldn’t mind having a 3rd steel, a 12 string version of an Encore or an ETS. I understand that ETS was planning to make a 12 string version when Larry Agin died. Had they done so, I’d probably have bought one.
'95 Black Mica Emmons LeGrande II, '56 Fender 6str. Lap, with the tri-pod legs, tweed case, and my 1st Lap, a Supro, bought by my Mom, brand new in '52 or '53. "Texas Tone That's Bad To The Bone"
Current inventory:
Sho-Bud S-12 3+4 (blue, faded to green) - mint player
Sho-Bud S-12 3+4 (coppery brown) - making final payments
Emmons SD-12 4+4 (red mica) - project guitar on its way
Realistically, I only have enough room for one or two psg's set up at a time, but I would still REALLY like a single-neck Emmons S-12 with Extended E9.
Meanwhile, I'll be learning all about PP's during the Emmons SD-12 restoration and may convert it to a Universal. Needless to say, I will be contacting the Emmons gurus on the Forum with questions and requests for parts.
'70 MSA Classic D-10 8X4(2 added).Got it at Don Edwards Guitar City 1979.Reece verified the S/N for me here and we had a nice E-conversation about it.Gigged it heavily until I got the next one
'80-ish Sho-Bud Super Pro D-10 8X6.Bought privately 1988 from a woman who by coincidence had the lesson before me at Guitar City years before.It's black so it sounds extra good.
'06 Mullen Royal Precision U-12 7X5.Bought new and I picked it up at the factory.My main guitar ever since.
I don't have a lot of room in the mancave anymore,so the older three are put away and I don't get to play them as much as I'd like,but I have this deal with the Mrs. that if it's neatly packed away it isn't a hoard.
I have 6 pedal guitars, and one 10 string lap steel made mainly from parts from a Sho~Bud Pro 111 (tuned to C6). My main guitar that gets played on gigs and recording sessions is my Show Pro, which has taken over from my Emmons push pull as my 'go to' guitar. The Show Pro has beautiful tone, and wonderful pedal and lever action.
My latest acquisition is a Carter D10, with black mica top and grey birdseye mica front and rear. I am in the process of adding 2 additional levers to that guitar. My Mullen has someone elses name on it. He keeps badgering me for it, and it is the only pedal steel that I own that has the Emmons set up. All of the others are set up in Day mode.
My Zum is in bits at the moment, and will undergo a resto job. Mark Giles has been commissioned to build me a new lacquer body for it - dark blue flamed maple with mother of pearl inlays. My Sho~Bud was used by me for some 35 years on the road and in the studio, and I got Bob Adams from Scotland to do a complete restoration on it for me. It was a brown colour and is now sunburst and beautiful.
My Emmons is in mint condition, and plays and sounds wonderful. A nice guitar to have in my studio.
Will I add to the herd? Well, if the right guitar comes along I could well be tempted (if she who must be obeyed doesn't object).
Last edited by Ken Byng on 20 Mar 2017 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E,
Two rosewood Emmons D10's, a '74 and a '75. I thought I was going to sell the '75 when I got the '74, but it's so hard to let it go...and I'm enjoying having a steel set up at home and one that stays in the case for gigs & sessions.
I currently have one steel, but if my guitars and guns are any indication, that will multiply somewhere down the line. I mean, I can get by just fine with a Stage One Zum for a long time,getting pretty good on the slants,and it sounds and plays great, but aside from having the service of a great working tool, I'd love to sit at on old Sho~Bud, or an old Clark. Something about an old workhorse when it's been doctored up and given another chance. Much respect for all you folks who refurbish the old steels.
just considering.
