My buddy has the G&L version of that, which I think cost about the same or a bit more. The cool thing about it is, it has a humbucker, with which you can dial in a nice jazz tone. Or, it can just sound like a Tele.
G&L has a very good rep. Here’s one with a neck humbucker.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ASATCLBSTBRB--g-and-l-tribute-asat-classic-bluesboy-semi-hollow-electric-guitar-redburst
I have the solid body Bluesboy and can attest that it is fantastic. The bridge MFD pickup sounds like a hot Tele, the bridge Seth Lover is dark and creamy, and the middle selection is its own hard to describe thing that is the best of both worlds. Powerful and deep, but in an airy, sort of woody way, if that makes any goddamned sense.
I got this one, for almost $100 less
Very cool! How are you liking it? I’m trying to keep my GAS under control over here… 
Just wanted to show off my new baby, which I’ve been saving my pennies for, basically the entire pandemic. It’s a JS140M Ibanez and it’s SO pretty! And it sounds good, which is the point of spending the extra dough on something special like this. Now to learn how to keep a Floyd Rose in tune…! https://www.instagram.com/p/CUMZTK9ryo2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Like it. I’m not a great player (yet, I use the word “yet”) but here is some random noodling. It has a nice tone, halway between a full electric and an acoustic, which is what I wanted
Now I have buyer’s remorse. I was thinking about getting a blue guitar, yours really is pretty.I have been debating about getting my headstock painted black, with a red swoosh under the logo, to match the bit of red in the sunburst. What do you think?
Ooooh, that would look very cool!
This Ibnez is far-and-away the prettiest guitar I have. My Squier Jazz bass is a lovely candy apple red and my Squier Strat has a classic woodgrain sunburst, but neither is super special looking. I do really like the way they all play, however, and everything has a tone I appreciate.
The last guitar I really want to add to my collection would be a hollow-body. That Starcaster looks like it would be in the conversation!
It’s an odd offshoot of guitars, but I’m thinking about buying a new pedal steel. Unlike a normal electric, these things never come cheap. 1K is about the floor for a student model. I went with a Sho-Bud Maverick for my first one, despite all advice saying it was too limited to get you very far. I really do enjoy the sound of it, but yeah, its capabilities aren’t vast (limited copedents, only one knee lever). So, I’m shopping for a pedal steel that can do more, hopefully a lot more.
I still haven’t decided whether I’m going to go with a double necked guitar or a 12 string universal. I’m thinking the latter at the moment, because it just seems like less mental work to keep track of what you’re doing with one neck instead of using two necks. Lord, this instrument so much more difficult than a regular guitar, but somehow rewarding in proportion to the extra difficulty. This is the one I’m eying now. It’s inexpensive-ish, and the manufacturer is local to myself, and there’s no reason to think they won’t be around to manufacture spare parts. So unless I get some sort of reason not to purchase it, this is probably what I’m going for.
Gosh, I love the sound of a pedal steel, so ethereal. But I look at one and this is what I see:
Just a little intimidating. I’d be completely at sea. If you pull the pin, let us know what it’s like when you’ve settled in!
It’s a lot easier to pick up w no experience than a guitar.
I agree! I will stick to my lifelong attempt at getting OK’ish at my 4 and 6 string instruments.
Hehehe, are you meaning working on it or playing it? Really, working on my Maverick hasn’t been too bad, but it is pretty much unbelievably reliable and dead simple. I’ve replaced a few pedal rods because the adjusters on the originals had become frozen. Everything else has been pretty reliable, the changer hasn’t needed any work, at least. Wiring? The only wires are leads going from the pickup straight to the jack. No pots or caps to die. I’m pretty sure this guitar sounds exactly like it did the day it rolled out of the workshop.
Playing it? It’s sometimes a weird thing to wrap your brain around. This is made a little easier by the Maverick only having three pedals, one knee lever and only one possible copedent. So, there are limited possibilities. Push A+B pedals, you get the IV chord on these 6 strings, push B+C or just A and you get a relative minor on a different set of strings. You can play a major scale* while leaving the bar in one place and just moving the pedals, though. The weird part is remembering what fret you need the bar at to get exactly the chord you want. I’m far from a master of it, but I can generally keep up with a song after I’ve figured out where I’m going.
But that’s just an E9 steel with limited changes available. I’m a little terrified myself of the 12 string universal with 7 pedals and 4 knee levers. It’ll be a bit like starting all over again. There’s a couple of others I’m looking at, but that one seems the most cost efficient path to a truly capable pedal steel. I’ve sent off an email to the seller. Who knows, maybe they’ll talk me into this double 10 string, 8 pedal 5 knee lever Emmons (hey, it’s only umm, around twice the price of the MSA). I’m pretty sure I’ll just go with whatever copedent is set on the new guitar, whichever one I do take the plunge on. I’m sure I’ll be reading for a few days before I can really start working with it.
If you’re meaning that it’s easier to pick up pedal steel than it is a Spanish style guitar from no experience; I’m pretty sure I don’t agree in any shape, form or fashion. In addition to increasing the number of strings, you’re now having to coordinate your feet and knees with your hands. On top of that, you’re starting out with finger picking to get a straight minor or major chord, your open major chord is voiced as an inversion, and not every string is going to be for the chord/key you’re supposed to be playing. Even tuning a pedal steel is far more complex than a Spanish style guitar (it’s even dependent on the guitar you’re tuning). It probably took me living with my Maverick for 6 months or so before I stopped looking at my Maverick like @squeegee looks at all pedal steels.
If you’re meaning a lap or console steel without any pedals, I’d say maybe I would agree, but I’d still want to you to explain your reasoning. Because I picked up pedal steel fairly quickly, but I figured a good part of that was because I had already played slide for awhile, and knew a good bit of theory already.
*That is, on a regular E9 pedal steel. You have to move the bar one fret on my Maverick to play a major scale.
Heheh, most of the ethereal part is mostly lots of reverb and the smooth bends. That ties into the other thing I’m looking at getting. The Milkman “The Amp” it’s a 50W hybrid 12ax7 preamp/class D power amp in a pedal. It also has a headphone and balanced out. The reverb and tremolo sound great, and that’s not surprising because it comes from a guy who started specializing in pedal steel amps. Here’s a guy from Premier Guitar playing a ridiculously expensive guitar through one, but they seem to sound great with non-ridiculously expensive guitars as well.
But in the end, I’m really attracted by how nice the reverb and trem sound, and that’s totally topped by the sound of their tube reverb/tremolo unit. I want one of these terribly bad, now. Here’s a long video from NAMM 2020 about it. It’s actually better than a Fender outboard unit.
Wow, that sounds tres cool, Scabpicker. For those watching at home, this is boo-teak stuff: The Amp pedal/amp is $699, the stand-alone reverb is $1099. Which seems totally fair, this looks like good custom stuff from a small maker. Milkman site is here. I’m pretty impressed that The Amp’s simulated (well, non-spring) reverb/trem is so good sounding; I’ve heard a bunch that claimed to be good and just weren’t in person, this might hold up. And I’m sure the stand-alone totally does, it’s the real deal (though I’m a little surprised it’s not set up to run in an effects loop).
Surprisingly this isn’t the first time Milkman has been mentioned on this board.
I just mean to slide around and find good notes. I’ve heard someone do it first attempt. You could slide around on a guitar too I suppose.
I thought it was tuned to a chord. If so it makes it less of a hairy deal, no? The Looney Tunes intro begins on a pedal steel. My only point being using a bar on an open chord and fiddling with it doesn’t require the kind of practice and strengthening a beginner guitarist needs to accomplish.
Hahahaha, and the amp I talk about replacing in that thread is the amp I would be replacing with the Milkman Amp (or just its reverb tank in the case of the standalone unit). That 100W head is nice, part of the reason I’ve held onto it is that it has a reverb tank the size of a Twin’s, and it’s about as nice as the stand-alone reverb in sound quality. But it’s heavy, and it won’t switch channels any more, and I’m just kind of tired of it. It’s actually one of the pieces of equipment I’ll actually sell.
Ahh, ok. Yeah, if you leave the pedals and knee levers out of it, a console or a lap steel would be fairly easy to start on. The bonus of going that route instead of a pedal steel is you’ll probably save a couple of thousand samoleons, since lap and console steels are usually under a grand, and pedal steels usually start around there.
Yes, but it’s tuned to an E9 chord. So, on my Maverick, that’s (low to high) B D E F# G# B E G# D# F#. It’s a pretty dense chord. To pick a straight open E it’s strings 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3* (you would normally pick 5 for a chord, of course). So, it’s going to be more difficult than strumming.
And yeah, the Looney Tunes song starts with a steel. I can’t verify if it’s a pedal steel, because they don’t do any changes. (Checks the internet for any info) Hmm, the guy who had the gig of playing it at the Hollywood Bowl in this forum thread says he did it on a triple neck Fender (no pedals), and had re-tuned his regular E9 tuning and moved the F#s to E so it wouldn’t sound so bad if he hit the wrong string on the first note of the set.
https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum8/HTML/000702.html
He also mentions that Freddie Tavares played the part, who surely did play pedal steel. But the pedals aren’t necessary to play that part.
*Steel guitar strings are numbered from the highest pitch to the lowest.