The British Steelies Society

Hi Folks, Oh Happy Day

Looks like I am getting the chance to retire, still to be confirmed so not counting my chickens just yet, however I'd be getting the grill ready if I wasn't a vege

My promise to myself is that if it works out I'll be treating myself to a new Pedal Steel. So I'm looking for input on people's thoughts about what I should go for. I've been checking out WBS in Germany for the following reasons,

(1) They seem to be good guitars from what I've heard.
(2) I can get a custom made for a reasonable price.
(3) No import duty and high transport costs.
(4) Shorter waiting time.

I've been looking at a U12 with a lacquer finish as a start then adding in some extras such as E lever lock, real stop, perloid binding and mother of pearl inlay.

The total I came to is just a little over £3k, which seems a really good price for what you are getting.

But, I'm open to suggestions of other makes, this is probably restricted as from what I can gather not every builder will do a U12. Also if I was to get any additional levers pedals etc it would make sense to get them on the initial build. Thing is being relatively new to the instrument, I've just about got the hang of what comes "standard" on a U12, any extra levers etc I wouldn't really know what their purpose was so wouldn't know what to order. I know that it can be very personal to a players co-pedent but any advice on this front would be welcome, i.e. other useful changes.

Thanks in advance

Gaun yersel Jif!

My,albeit, uninformed newbie tuppence worth is to go for the best and fully loaded model that your budget will allow. Even though I reckon it would take a lifetime to reach the possibilities of a minimum setup. It would mean that you wouldn't have any downtime in the future if you felt the need to expand.

If you're concentrating your search on this side of the pond have you looked at Sheffield Guitars? Derek Thurlby fairly recently had one made and it's a absolute thing of beauty. A swift search of the forum will let you check it out.

And I repeat, Gaun Yersel!!

ps - i love the sound of your Carter

Cheers Danny.

I'd keep the Carter

Beginning to understand why players end up with a "herd"

Geoff, If you are prepared to wait until the next meeting you can try my Mullen, fantastic guitars, yes I know that it is only an SD10 but it would let you feel the mechanism and see the workmanship, and also it is an inch shorter.

Just a thought

Asleep at the steel

Willie, that'd be great, thanks. I might, (should), have snapped up that Mullen U12 that was on here recently but I was still in limbo with my position at work.

The only thing that concerns me is the import taxes, from memory that could be around 22% ?, which is almost a quarter again on top of the cost. However, it's probably going to be a one time spend, so best get what I really want.

No hurry, if I'm going it won't be until end of March 2016, so plenty of time. I guess though there will be a waiting time for any new PS, so I will probably put a deposit down after I get confirmation of my redundancy.


(PS Just an inch?, that's what the wife said to me last night. Well he's only a little fella I told her )

Thanks Ken. I'm thinking the main thing for me is how it sounds, I've listened to some WBS steels on YouTube but it's difficult to gauge without hearing one in the flesh, the Marc Horn samples on the WBS site sound really good and of course Sara Jory plays one. I was listening to G2 samples from the Mullen site last night and they do sound very sweet however if I could get an equivalent quality sound from a WBS and from what I can tell the WBS build is solid and has a smooth action, the saving on import/vat could get me a lot more guitar.

If I decide on a WBS then I would initially go out to Germany to check them out first and discuss what I wanted etc

The jury is still out. Does anyone have any tips for additional pedals/levers. I've read a lot about the Franklin pedal but don't really understand how and when you would use this.

hi mate WBS are a great guitar for the price
and wolfgang wont sting you he made me a lefty at no extra cost
to get the same thing in the states I would need a big lottery win
WBS all the way for me also sarah jory loves them

Thanks Robbo. I'm swaying towards WBS at the moment, as Ken said getting a bespoke instrument is very attractive and TBH I'm already putting the specs, finish etc together in my head. I've obviously checked out the site and I've heard nothing but good things said about Wolfgang as a person and in the quality of his work.

Looking at buying USA I calculated that the total VAT + Duty comes to 23.6%, then there's the carriage, but TBH I'd probably go over and pick it up. In any case it's a lot to give to the taxman.

Which model do you have?

Geoff, have you considered getting one from USA, a good time is the Dallas show in March, that way you can pick it up there and bring it back as baggage, ( many have done that).Any of the main makes eg Mullen, Williams , Justice etc all do 12's , and would build to your spec.By attending show you could have a great holiday ( Thurs -Sun) , and see some fantastic players and all that is new in steel world.They should come in around that price, and although it saddens me to say it they do hold their price in comparison to non US steels.If you need any advice on Dallas pm me.