Some of my herd put out to grass

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 3 Apr 2017 7:12 am

One more to be added after these - my Infinity SD10.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 3 Apr 2017 8:52 am

That's quite a stable of thoroughbreds out grazing Ken

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 3 Apr 2017 9:09 am

Jeff Garden wrote:That's quite a stable of thoroughbreds out grazing Ken

Nice one Jeff

David Mitchell · Post by **David Mitchell** » 3 Apr 2017 1:03 pm

You have some awesome instruments there Ken! Very nice! Who needs a bunch of useless home furniture. I prefer to decorate my house with musical instruments. Of course I don't have a wife. Why leave them in cases with all that beauty? Ha! When you're ready to play just pick one and go!

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 5 Apr 2017 7:41 am

One more addition - my 1980's push pull. Just my SD10 Infinity to come.

Jeff Garden · Post by **Jeff Garden** » 5 Apr 2017 8:56 am

I not only appreciate looking at your steels, Ken, it's great to have a reminder of what grass looks like! Here's the view of Springtime in New Hampshire today:

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 5 Apr 2017 9:04 am

We are yet to fully hit spring Jeff. Having said that, we are experiencing some very nice sunny days at the moment, albeit with a chilly wind. My wife would love a snowy landscape like yours. The only snow that we had this winter didn't amount to much as I am right on the warmer south coast of the UK. Further north in Scotland is more likely to look like your countryside.

David Weisenthal · Post by **David Weisenthal** » 5 Apr 2017 12:22 pm

Ken, you must have back like steel to move those around so! Great looking group for sure.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 5 Apr 2017 1:32 pm

I like the blue Zum. If I ever buy another steel, it will be a Blue Darlin'.

Damir Besic · Post by **Damir Besic** » 5 Apr 2017 7:37 pm

whaaaat, no ZB's ???

Charley Hill · Post by **Charley Hill** » 5 Apr 2017 7:44 pm

How many of those belong to Malcom?

Nice Shed full of Axes!

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 6 Apr 2017 5:02 am

Damir Besic wrote:whaaaat, no ZB's ???

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 6 Apr 2017 5:06 am

Charley Hill wrote:How many of those belong to Malcom?

Nice Shed full of Axes!

They are constructed from the wrong material for McMiser. He isn't into wooden bodied guitars, preferring man-made materials for the body cabinet. I love the look and tone of real wood, but don't mind mica over hard rock maple.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 6 Apr 2017 7:01 am

Ken, it's obvious, OBVIOUS, that your collection is sorely incomplete. You need a pair of MSAs in there. An old lacquer classic or vintage XL, and a new legend.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 6 Apr 2017 7:24 am

Mike Perlowin wrote:Ken, it's obvious, OBVIOUS, that your collection is sorely incomplete. You need a pair of MSAs in there. An old lacquer classic or vintage XL, and a new legend.

Mike
Back in the 70's, Maurice Anderson used to tell me that I needed an SS MSA. I sold a couple of them for him, and have to say that I did come close to buying a beautiful blue lacquer XL. What stopped me was that it was ludicrously heavy, and I was obviously a lot younger back then. I did form the opinion at the time that the MSA was the best engineered pedal steel that I had ever come across. I still reckon that is currently the case with the exception of Frank Carter's Infinity. I haven't closed the door to buying an MSA, but it would have to be totally irresistible to my taste buds.

Larry Baker · Post by **Larry Baker** » 6 Apr 2017 2:54 pm

A Mullen would look good with that herd. All of the ones you have pictured are awesome.

Will Houston · Post by **Will Houston** » 6 Apr 2017 3:16 pm

Beautiful, happy grass fed steels.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 6 Apr 2017 4:39 pm

Ken Byng wrote: Back in the 70's, Maurice Anderson used to tell me that I needed an SS MSA. I sold a couple of them for him, and have to say that I did come close to buying a beautiful blue lacquer XL. What stopped me was that it was ludicrously heavy, and I was obviously a lot younger back then. I did form the opinion at the time that the MSA was the best engineered pedal steel that I had ever come across. I still reckon that is currently the case with the exception of Frank Carter's Infinity. I haven't closed the door to buying an MSA, but it would have to be totally irresistible to my taste buds.

Ken, That was then, this is now. The new MSAs are among the lightest guitars on the market. And they are even better engineered than the old ones.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 7 Apr 2017 3:41 am

Mike
I go to the Dallas steel guitar show most years, and have seen the superb quality of MSA each year. In particular I love those guitars where the cabinet has been constructed by my friend, master luthier and all round genius Mark Giles. The attention to detail of the modern MSA construction is extremely formidable.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 7 Apr 2017 8:02 am

Jen, After you get your new MSA, you also need a Mullen, a Fessy, a Ritt, a Rains, a Williams, a Schild, a Jackson and a Justice.

And a Sho-Bud Maverick. No collection is complete without one.

Are there any ABM Rodeos still floating around?

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 7 Apr 2017 8:20 am

I had a Mullen Mike. Way too bright sounding for my taste. I quickly offloaded that one.

I think the Ritt is up there among the best sounding modern guitar.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 8 Apr 2017 9:37 am

Ken Byng wrote:I had a Mullen Mike. Way too bright sounding for my taste.

Can that be corrected, either with a different pichup or different amp settings, or the use of a graphic EQ unit?

Dale McPherson · Post by **Dale McPherson** » 9 Apr 2017 10:00 am

Ken, that is an awesome collection of fine guitars. I am curious as to which guitar you would choose if you could only keep one? Not for the highest dollar value but the one you would choose to continue to use. Just curious.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 9 Apr 2017 10:40 am

Dale McPherson wrote:Ken, that is an awesome collection of fine guitars. I am curious as to which guitar you would choose if you could only keep one? Not for the highest dollar value but the one you would choose to continue to use. Just curious.

That's a very good question Dale. To be honest, the one guitar that I feel the closest affinity with is the amber colour Show Pro. I like everything about it, the tone, smoothness of action, playability, recordability and its looks. I would have no qualms in using any of my steels on a gig as they are all good performers, but if my house was on fire and I had to grab one of the herd, my amber Show Pro would be the one.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 9 Apr 2017 10:45 am

As an interim stopgap until I can take a photo of this guitar out to grass, here is a shot of my Infinity SD10 taken by its previous owner Ted Nesbitt from Northern Ireland. Great guitar mechanically, finished to the highest level and equipped with a Telonics 409 pickup.