I Ain't Ever Satisfied! 5 steels in a year.....

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 18 May 2006 9:21 pm

In the past 11 months I've bought, traded and sold three pedal steels and two lap steels.

Ih June 2004 I bought an MSA Universal, shipped to me by Al Brisco. In September I traded it to get a Sho-Bud Pro 1. I shipped the MSA to California and received the Sho-Bud from Bobbe Seymour. Just last week I traded the Pro 1 for a Carter D-10 in the Las Vegas area. In the meantime, I bought and sold a National Lap and now have a fender Deluxe 8 on the way from Florida. The closest dealer to me is 2,000 miles away. I'm shipping these steels thousands of miles every time!

I'm not a dealer or a collector. What's up here? Any other players constantly trading up and swapping around? I envy those who've had the same steel for years. I can commit to acoustic and electrics in this fashion, but not steels.

Anybody else in this boat?

Henry Nagle · Post by **Henry Nagle** » 18 May 2006 9:58 pm

It comes and it goes. It's a terminal condition.

Duane Reese · Post by **Duane Reese** » 18 May 2006 10:18 pm

Yes Chris, I'm in this boat - welcome aboard.

[This message was edited by Duane Reese on 30 May 2006 at 12:42 PM.]

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 May 2006 2:05 am

NO..
you need to see a Doctor..

If he tells you that you MUST give up the addiction..

Please ship the Carter to me..I will save you from yourself.....

and I won't even charge you !

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TPrior
TPrior Steel Guitar Homesite

Rick Garrett · Post by **Rick Garrett** » 19 May 2006 3:22 am

I had that same problem. Finally I got my MSA super slide and have been totally satisfied with it ever since. There's just something about the sound of it that keeps me hooked. Good luck in your quest.

Rick

Ernie Pollock · Post by **Ernie Pollock** » 19 May 2006 3:43 am

Chris: you need just one more steel, a nice GFI Ultra would end all this crazyness for you!!

Ernie

http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm

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Bill Miller · Post by **Bill Miller** » 19 May 2006 4:47 am

I've only ever had two steels, first the '69 Sho-Bud 'The Professional'. That guitar sounded fine but had no knee levers and upgrading it would have been way expensive. If I lived next door to Ricky Davis or Duane Marrs I'd have done that. So I sold it and bought a used Carter. My relationship with my Carter has been 'on again, off again'. It had an E66 pickup which I hated....raspy and dry sounding..disaster above the 12th fret. I got an 18K Truetone and things improved a lot. But I still had my '91 Session 400 Limited amp and a lot of the time I just wasn't satisfied with my tone. I got the 'mod' for it but still no good. Then I made two moves in quick succession that have made all the difference for me. I got a Black Box and a Nashville 112. What I'm hearing now is what I've been after all along. I'm no longer thinking about trading off my Carter, the sound was in it all along, it just needed to be paired with the right electronics. [This message was edited by Bill Miller on 21 May 2006 at 09:42 AM.][This message was edited by Bill Miller on 21 May 2006 at 09:44 AM.]

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 19 May 2006 5:17 am

I am in the other boat. I find a good guitar and keep it a long time. I played MSA guitars for the first five or six years but I couldn't get them to speak to me. I really tried. In 1980 I bought a ZumSteel that I played EVERY GIG for TWENTY YEARS. I bought an Emmons and really liked the vibe and the tone better than the ZumSteel so I kept the push-pull and sold the Zum. Over the past ten years I've bought a Sho-Bud and a new Fessy. The three I have now are all keepers. I'll probably hang on to them.

So, other than a few guitars that I only kept for a few months and decided they weren't for me, I've had five guitars over THIRTY years. When I find one that speaks to me, it becomes like an appendage. Selling one is like cutting off an arm.

Oh, and by the way, the Fessenden is the one that gets the nod for 90% of the gigs. I love the Emmons and the Bud -- great vibes -- but the Fessy is my best all around guitar.

Different strokes.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
My CD's: 'I've Got Friends in COLD Places' - 'Pedal Steel Guitar'
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S/D-12 6x6, 1984 Sho-Bud S/D-12 7x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 19 May 2006 5:22 am

Buy only, don't sell... Add rooms, get bigger amps (and bigger electric service...) Take over the garage, the attic, the spare bedroom, the dining room, the basement, the front porch... All 5 steels should be set up at the same time... Preferably with 5 separate amps and effects stacks...
Put PA stacks in kitchen for communications with family

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 19 May 2006 5:43 am

There are far worse things to spend money on.

I can't really judge a Steel until I use it for a month or more, and adjust it to me (and me to it).

Any loss in the buying and selling price can be justified as "instrument rental".

If you buy desirable items at low prices, you might even come out ahead when you sell. I did that with several Teles and Strats back in the 70s. Bought the 10 year old guitars for $125, sold them for $170. (tears)

[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 19 May 2006 at 06:44 AM.]

Paul Wade · Post by **Paul Wade** » 19 May 2006 5:47 am

cris, you must be have a millon dollars put
away to buy all thoes p.s.g's

ray, you crack me up with that one!!!

Farris Currie · Post by **Farris Currie** » 19 May 2006 5:48 am

BOYS This makes me ashamed of myself!!!!!
Last few yrs. nothing seemed right,i just kept searching!!!!
Each time i thought..oh yea this is it,then all at once,search again.

I just bought a 1996 Emmons Legrand2 from TOMMY CASS, and I will have to say,THIS IS THE SWEETEST STEEL i've ever played.

I had a new one built in 95 that was a pc of junk.
Well, at 65 happy BROKE heheheh my search is over!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't buy many steels on SOCIAL SECURITY!!!!
farris

Mike Ester · Post by **Mike Ester** » 19 May 2006 6:00 am

Well, I've only owned 3 steels in 26 years, and Duane Reese now has the Blanton I used for 22 of those years.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 19 May 2006 6:13 am

Please, don't get me started!

Larry Strawn · Post by **Larry Strawn** » 19 May 2006 6:43 am

I don't need another steel!!! [slap, slap] I don't, I don't!!!

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 19 May 2006 6:49 am

Paul,

Believe me, these are all trades with a bit of money on top -that's it!

Willie Crisel · Post by **Willie Crisel** » 19 May 2006 7:17 am

Been playing less than 4 years, i'm on number 16,, i have to say i like my mullen as well as any i have played, also like the fessenden, as well as any of the pushpulls i've had,,come to think of it, i like something about everyone i,ve had,, if i was rich,,i'd just have one of each..

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 19 May 2006 8:26 am

I thought every body did that,I can't remember how many steels I have owned over the last fifteen years.brand new ones and used ones.My 74 MSA D-10 classic I now play has been with me longer than any of them[can't wear her out].I played guitar for almost 40 years,If I had all the guitars I owened over the years I would be a rich man today.I have a photo of myself around 1957 playing a goldtop Les Paul with trapese tail piece,For the next 30 years or so countless Pauls,strates,tele's,Byrdlands,175's,Super-400's,Howard Roberts,Barney Kessel,Country Gentleman,Superaxe,J-45's D-18's,Rickerbacher's These are some of the few I can think of.It was a running joke in the bands I played in[Wonder what Charlie will bring in today]At the time I just thought of them as just another guitar.STUPID,STUPID,STUPID !!!!!!!!!

Gary Steele · Post by **Gary Steele** » 19 May 2006 8:48 am

Be like me i played the same one for 20 YEARS but after that about 7 or 8 years ago, L@@K OUTT.

Ken Williams · Post by **Ken Williams** » 19 May 2006 8:51 am

My first steel in 73 was a Hughey. About 6 months later I ordered an Emmons D10 which arrived about 4 months later in 74. When the Emmons arrived, I sold the Hughey.
Later, in 86, I bought another Emmons D10. These are the 2 steels I have now, the 74 and 86.

Ken [This message was edited by Ken Williams on 19 May 2006 at 09:52 AM.]

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 19 May 2006 9:21 am

Hey Charles,

I did the same thing with electrics over the years as well. Les Paul, SG, 335, Strats and teles..and on and on. But I just astound myself at how I'm switching pedal steels all the time, because they're so heavy and difficult to ship. It's amazing how much trouble you'll go through to ship these things if you have your mind set on changing. A regular guitar is a piece of wood with some strings in a case; a pedal steel is CARGO.

Sonny Priddy · Post by **Sonny Priddy** » 19 May 2006 9:59 am

I'm With Ernie A GFI or A Rittenberry Will Stop All That.It Did For Me. SONNY.

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David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 19 May 2006 12:14 pm

Yeah, I know what you mean.... bought a new MSA in 1970, and a new Carter in 1996

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Dave Wren
'96 Carter S12-E9/B6,7X7; Twin Session 500s; Hilton Pedal; Black Box
www.ameechapman.com

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 19 May 2006 12:22 pm

I played an Emmons for four years, then switched to a GFI Ultra D-10 and I love my D-10. I didn't want to play a student model steel all my life, so in 2004, I bought my GFI Ultra D-10 and it's the best steel I've got. GFIs are great steels. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel, GFI Ultra D-10

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 19 May 2006 12:50 pm

What's up here? . . . I envy those who've had the same steel for years. I can commit to acoustic and electrics in this fashion, but not steels.

Since you ask, "What's up here," what's with your not being able to commit to steels? What do the others have that steel doesn't?