Williams U12

[Gary James Peters]

Yes Chris, I'm going into the heart of the Coronavirus in Italy on Friday (great timing!!) for about 7-8 weeks. So, late April would be good for a meetup. BUT, you're probably right, if you like what you've got and it does what you want/need, why change? I stuck with my Emmons Black Rock, which was also considered a 'student' model (although it had had extra knee levers added), for over 30 years, and it wasn't especially pretty aesthetically: but then nor am I, so that kind of worked. Still be great to meet and have a play though.

[Ken Byng]

I played a Williams a while back, and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't have the characteristic 'whiney' decay to the note that a lot of other modern pedal steels exhibit (and I've played a few).
This unpleasant decay drives me nuts, which is why I play ancient steels that don't have that trait

I first detected that sound that Richard describes on a recording by Paul Franklin. I put it down to the use of modern humbucker pickups - mainly Lawrence and George L. Although I like humbuckers, that 'whiney' trait referred to is not audible from single coils, particularly Jerry Wallace's True Tone pickups.

[Gary James Peters]

Maybe what is being described here as 'whiney' is what, in this comment (from the US Steel Forum) about the Alumitone pickup that I have on my Williams, is described as the 'nasal' sound of some humbuckers (as described by Ken too in his post).

"The Alumitone packs lots of punch without that nasally, compressed sound you get out of many humbuckers. The pickup is even across the strings and up and down the neck. Most of the people who have tried it say it has "a lot of air". (It breathes kind of like a single coil.)"


That sounds about right to me. But then I would say that!!