Buying a Pedal Steel Guitar -- Part I

In this post I cover the basics of what to consider when buying a pedal steel guitar. For more detailed information on considerations follow this link to Part II Buying A Pedal Steel Guitar -- Part II





What you buy is going to be determined by many factors.

1. How serious you are about this instrument. You can spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars on a guitar. If you are unsure how committed you will be or do not know if you are going to like it or not, then spending a lot of money is probably not what you want to do.

2. What genre of music do you want to play. Country and Western Swing? Jazz? Multiple genre? I would break jazz out separately as many of the jazz guitarists are leaning toward 12 string guitars with the Universal tuning. The universal tuning popularized by Jeff Newman is the Bb6/Eb9. Whereas, most everyone else uses the old standard double neck 10 string with E9 and C6 tunings. Remember there is a connection between the E9 neck and the C6 neck. Add four frets on the C6 neck and you have the same chord on the E9 neck. So it is possible to have the best of both worlds with the chromatics of the E9 neck and the booming bass of the C6 neck. IMHO unless you are very sure about the Universal tuning I would avoid this tuning. Further, I have been learning for 3 years now and have only touched the C6 neck a couple of times. Competency on the E9 neck is needed before going on to the C6 neck. For this reason, I would advise anyone to get a single neck E9 with 4 pedals and 5 levers. If you think this is limiting, go and listen to LLoyd Green. He plays a single neck with 3 pedals. Lloyd is one of the finest guitar players around (just my opinion).

3. New or used. If you are on a limited budget used guitars is the way to go. You can get a good guitar at a reasonable price. Some of the manufacturers take trade ins and may have used guitars for sale on their sites. While buying a guitar on the internet is not advised, there are some very good and reputable dealers. One such person is Bobby Seymour http://steelguitar.net/ where he usually has a large selection of guitars to choose from. Do not worry about the copedant, for it can be changed to suit your needs. If you want to go new then you have some decisions to make. First how deep are your pockets? For example you can get a GFI student model Single neck 3 pedals 2 levers (S10 3/2) for under $1500. If you want more pedals and levers that will cost more. You need a case, volume pedal, cables, amplifier, picks and tone bar. You will need a maintenance kit and strings. You will probably want a tuner as well. If your willing to spend the money you can get a good guitar for between $3,000 and $5,000. You get to select your colors, finish and so on. Add features and the cost goes up. I would only suggest this route if you are seriously passionate about this instrument. Bottom line is you get what you pay for.

4. New guitar considerations. Single or double neck? If you are going to get a new guitar you probably are as crazy as me, so I would get the double neck E9/C6 unless you are going with the S12 with universal tuning. Just like playing well where attention to all the little details is important, the same is true when ordering your guitar. Laminate vs lacquer. IMHO lacquer is the better way to go. I think tone is better in a lacquer guitar. My reasoning is with a formica guitar, you are gluing formica onto a wood body. Does it not stand to reason that the glue and formica would dampen the sound/tone of the guitar? Perhaps not at all. Perhaps a little. Yet every little bit will help.  Personally I like the look of lacquered guitars showing the grain of the wood. Most guitars are made with aluminum necks. Again IMHO I think a wood neck enhances the tone of the guitar. My first guitar  is a Carter laminated with aluminum neck. As always, check out the manufacturer, warranty and service. Take the time to go to the shows and listen to the guitars. Check out Steel Guitar Forum for a listing of manufacturers. http://www.steelguitarforum.com

In the end, whether you buy new or used it all your preferences. You can search out a thousand steel players and you will get 1000 different opinions. In my opinion the considerations are money available, genre of music, and ultimately what you like. The sound coming out of a pedal steel guitar is 90% determined by the player and his/her skill.

In my next post, I am going to take a break from the journey and focus on my studio. As I am writing this post, I look around my studio and am not happy with the arrangement and use of space. I need to make some changes!