Cannabalizing Pedal Steels

[Tom Keller]

I find it hideous that I am seeing so many obviously cannibalized double neck guitars for sale. Why chop up a good instrument for a quick sale? I don't get it? Are sellers that hard up for some quick cash?

[Donny Hinson]

Well, some will do it for the quicker sale (singles sell faster, and for less than doubles). And at times, it's also a way to make more money, as the extra parts can sometimes net more than (the few hundred dollar) difference between a single and a double. This is especially true for the brands that are no longer produced. And then, there's the guy who just wants his favorite guitar to be lighter.

[Ian Rae]

I'm one of those who thinks that musical instruments are kind of sacred and shouldn't be desecrated, but there are others who are unsentimental and just see them as stuff (and I guess have the same attitude to cars, animals, women...)

[john widgren]

I cannabis-ize mine.

[forrest klott]

John...dude...

Skeeter

[Johnie King]

Loyd Green had his back neck removed. He also created the most ergonomically playing steel ever made he designed the knee leaver configuration.
I have no problem removing necks from any vintage steel at the customers request an the parts from these steels I convert are needed for repairs it’s a win win situation!!
If your not a c6th player I’ll gladly convert your steel.

[Gary Watkins]

I cannabis-ize mine.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Johnie King]

If someone one would like too lighten there double ten by removing a neck you use for a pad Pm me. I go the extra mile on conversions
Also I build the pads in the configuration you want thickness, one piece two piece, soft, firm flat.
Also I close the c6h window.
Make a maple plug and sand an glue in changer hole.
I use the neck holes for holding new pad to back deck.




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[Gary Spaeth]

ya but c6 is such a great tuning!! just play it.

[Johnie King]

Johnie’s steel conversions an repairs Nashville Tn

[Jerry Overstreet]

I'm one of those who thinks that musical instruments are kind of sacred and shouldn't be desecrated, but there are others who are unsentimental and just see them as stuff (and I guess have the same attitude to cars, animals, women...)

Instruments and cars are just inanimate objects unlike living creatures such as animals and women, so that's not a good comparison. While I feel some instruments should be left intact, it's not my call unless they belong to me.

If one wants to prevent the dis-assembly, parting out of instruments they should start buying them up themselves...then instead of being called a butcher, they can call you a hoarder

I guess a poll would tell the story, but it does seem there are fewer and fewer players of D10 pedal steel guitars. I hate to see players abandon the C neck. It may be partly due to weight, but mostly due to lack of use in new music. I see posts by players who say they never have occasion to play the back neck on their gigs and shows.

Personally, with all due respect, I consider a single 10 pedal steel only half a guitar. I gotta have a D10 or a 12 or 14 universal single.

I think we need a boost in swing, big band, jazz etc. by the steel guitar where the C neck has a lot of tradition.

Remember the conventions where players would just smoke on the C neck?

Looks like Paul Franklin is keeping interest with his instruction that covers a lot of C6 stuff. That's good.

[Johnie King]

I love C6th actually if I listen too pros play the C6 is my Favorite neck.

[Jack Goodson]

i agree with johnnie, if i buy a guitar with my own money i feel like i would have the right to do it without asking anyones opinion. of course i would never do an injustice and totally destroy a guitar. i had a lacquer pp that i took the c6th neck off and put it back on three times during a period of about 10 years because of back problems, at that time i was playing 3 to 4 nights a week and a day job 6 days a week. you just have to do what you have to do....thanks jack

[Ian Rae]

Jerry, I admit I was being a little facetious!
If people like Johnnie are providing a valuable service and recycling the extra parts, then good luck to them. What so many find sad is the deliberate dismemberment of an instrument just because the parts will fetch more money than the whole. I wonder if the same thing happens with cars. I accept it's not usual with dogs or wives.

[Brooks Montgomery]

Defintely not dogs.
I’ve done it with wives, but it always cost me a house.

[Johnie King]

Johnie’s chopping services for all your pedal steel guitar repair’s an conversions

[Richard Sinkler]

I love C6th actually if I listen too pros play the C6 is my Favorite neck.

While I agree, we must realize that many don't think so. I used to play maybe 1/3 of a gig on C6 in the 70's and 80's, in the 2000's when I was doing more modern country gigs, I rarely played it at all. The band I am in now, I use it on one song, and I could fake that on E9 if I wanted.

[Paddy Long]

a big Bravo to Paul Franklin for his promotion of the C6th tuning and it's use in modern music ... he is providing a huge amount of C6th instruction and insight on his "Method" online - and personally I think thats a huge step forward in the future direction of the instrument!

Just love the C6th tuning and it is quite a bit easier to find your way around than E9th can be. So STOP BUTCHERING D10's :-} !!!

[Dave Hopping]

Got a couple of D-10s and every few years I think about having them converted to SD-10s......Then I put off thinking about it for another few years.

[K Maul]

I admit that I’ve done it a couple times but one was a Crossover that was pretty messed up already and the other was a Miller that was heavy as a battleship and very clunky mechanically. They benefited from the conversion and so did the novice steel players that got them. I am very glad to see Paul Franklin blowing away the cliché that C6 is an antiquated or no longer useful tuning as he’s using it in modern music. That being said a double neck is a pretty unwieldy beast and very difficult to travel with in an airplane. A single neck is more practical but a double neck is a beautiful thing to have in front of you.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Dave, those are a couple of great looking old girls there. They look in super condition.

Neat baseboard accessory too...

[Donny Hinson]

Neat baseboard accessory too...

I believe they call that a "hillbilly doorstop".

[Rich Peterson]

If I had a D-10 and made no use of the C6 neck, I would set it up with an alternative. Sacred steel, D9, or E9 with different copedent. If it were just the issue of weight, swap instruments with someone who wants the extra neck.

[Jack Stanton]

Johnnie,
You are absolutely right, it's your guitar and you can do as you please, but bear in mind that when Lloyd removed his back neck anyone could easily call Sho-Bud and order a new double neck. Those days are gone for most classic steels. There are only so many D-10 ShoBuds, Emmons, MCI's, etc, and now there's less.
I was actually scrambling trying to put the funds together when you had that blue MCI listed... I get it- you want/ need the dough, and you're entitled to it. I am as capitalistic as they come. Still, it makes me a little sad.
As far as the SD-10 being the most ergonomic guitar ever made, you could certainly make that argument, but my first professional guitar was a new LDG, and after playing it 6 nights a week ( more importantly, carrying it 6 nights a week) for about a year it quickly became obvious to me ( and this was 40 years ago when I was certainly young enough to lug it around) that if I was going to carry around the extra weight I was going to either get a double neck or go back to a single neck, but hey, that's just me. As John Lennon said, "whatever gets you through the night"...

[Per Berner]

There are only so many D-10 ShoBuds, Emmons, MCI's, etc, and now there's less.

Let's face it – pedal steelers are a dying breed, sadly but also literally. As their elderly owners kick the bucket in droves over the coming decades, the market will be flooded with classic D10s... Some even own dozens of them! So, one or two losing the C6 neck should not be a biggie.

While I agree it would be very wrong to butcher a truly rare instrument of historic value (then, you're not the owner, just a temporary custodian), I also reserve the right to do whatever I want to any object that I've paid for in full.