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Author Topic:  Who's manufactured the most?
Doug Jones


From:
Oregon & Florida
Post  Posted 24 Jun 2021 8:57 pm    
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Any idea(s) which manufacturer has built the most pedal steels?

I've seen serial # lists for Emmons and Sho~Buds. It seems there was a whole slew of MSAs built in the late 70's and early 80's. Fender had to have built a bunch, too.
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Cody Stewart

 

From:
Traverse City Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jun 2021 4:26 am    
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I'm fairly certain there are more Sho~Bud's around than anything else, but don't take it to the bank.
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 25 Jun 2021 4:58 am    
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There have been forum threads about this before. What I remember there wasn't any definite agreement on which brand.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 25 Jun 2021 5:17 am    
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Many builders have been tight-lipped about actual production numbers, but you can probably count on both hands the number of companies that have built over 1,000 guitars. MSA was the largest-volume builder, having built between 10,000 and 20,000 pedal steels. A few other companies, like Fender, Emmons, and Sho~Bud built over 5,000 steels, and third runner-ups would be companies like Mullen, Carter, and Multi-Kord, having have built a few thousand.
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 25 Jun 2021 9:53 am    
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Donny Hinson wrote:
... A few other companies, like Fender, Emmons, and Sho~Bud built over 5,000 steels...

MSA may still be the king, but I think it's safe to say that Sho-Bud built significantly more than 5000 guitars based on the published serial# list and other anecdotal info hereabouts. Per Gene Haugh's list there were over 15k just between '71-'82, not including '50s/'60s guitars or the guitars they built for Fender in the late '70s.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 25 Jun 2021 12:33 pm    
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I'm fine with that, Ian! So, let's just say that Sho~Bud and MSA each built around 20,000. I also wasn't counting the "Fender/Sho~Buds" as either Fenders or Sho~Buds, since they're kind of a hybrid of the two.
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Jack Wilson

 

From:
Marshfield, MO
Post  Posted 25 Jun 2021 1:03 pm     numbers
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GFI is over 3,000. Their serial numbers are the number produced.
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