***Feedback from Dallas 2020****

[Ken Byng]

I've had a number of text messages from various attendees of this year's Steel Guitar Jamboree in Irving, Texas. Without doubt, the coronavirus has hit the show, with some performers not arriving. Lloyd has arrived, plus Sarah Jory, so at least some of the headliners are there. Not sure how many attendees are getting to the show just yet, but these three happy souls have arrived. From left to right - Ivor Greenwood, Ted Nesbitt and Manfred Schall. One of the three guys is going to take home the superb MSA Legend Signature 9 + 8 pictured below. Body courtesy of Mark Giles. In the immortal words of Frank Carson - It's a cracker! .

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Has the "Driver" ever returned from Dallas without an M.S.A. ?

[Danny Mitchell]

Pardon my ignorance, Ken, but looking at the eight levers in your picture....would this require changing the left leg to a more central position, and are these for use on the back neck?
Good to put a face to the legendary Ivor the driver, he seems to be the ultimate collector.
Thanks for the interesting post.

[Ken Byng]

Has the "Driver" ever returned from Dallas without an M.S.A. ?

I don't know Billy - I have often joked that MSA put a telescope on the roof of the Sheraton so that they can see him coming. However, Manfred is a collector too, on a much larger scale. He has a whole herd of Franklins (around 8 I think), plus Emmons, Show Pro and other top manufactured steels. I forget how many Manfred has in total but it's an extremely large collection. He rarely sells any of his guitars, each of which is in absolute mint condition including their cases. I haven't disclosed who the owner of the MSA is. That will leak out at some point.

Danny - re the 3 central levers, yes they would be attached to the C6 neck. If pedals 4 or 5 start the C6 tuning connectivity, then the player would have to shift position to play the pedals and levers. I have 8 levers attached to my Zum, and it's an easy action to move the left leg over slightly to get in position for the centred levers.

[Danny Mitchell]

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity, Ken. I can't even imagine attempting to cope with that amount of pedals and levers, truly boggling.

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Ken,
I have spoken to Manfred many times at Dallas and also at Nashville and at one time He was quite secretive about His Franklins,He did say He thought He had the highest number of Franklins in captivity outside of Pauls home !! I hope he will sell Me one someday

[Ken Byng]

Ken,
I have spoken to Manfred many times at Dallas and also at Nashville and at one time He was quite secretive about His Franklins,He did say He thought He had the highest number of Franklins in captivity outside of Pauls home !! I hope he will sell Me one someday

I think he offloaded one Franklin in recent years, but Manfred bought all of those guitars as his pension as he thinks that they will appreciate in value. He's probably right. The average that Franklin D10s seem to be selling for is $16,000. Manfred bought his Franklins from Paul Snr direct. To be honest, I prefer my Show Pro to a Franklin any day of the week, but Paul Jnr's association with the brand has made the value shoot through the roof. Considering that Paul Snr is a one man band as far as constructing his guitars, he must be given credit as they are really well put together. However, compare them to an MSA Legend.........well you can't. Same with a Ritt - which is vastly superior from every angle.

[bob adams]

Ha!! Ivor! Ivor! I hope Francis, has a new carpet ordered for the lounge because this one won't match the current colour scheme!

I would have said ... go for an automatic Mr. but I guess it's too late for that!

Good to hear there are some new developments from Johnny Cox and others on the PSG guitar front and interesting changes afoot on Nashville 400s..

Hope you guys can get home now that Mr 'T' has today also banned UK flights entering the US.

But Hehoy! I guess there are worse things than being stuck in Dallas for a month!

Enjoy Tomorrow!

[Ken Byng]

This ol' boy needs to rest his weary feet after eating a fine meal at Cracker Barrel.

[Ken Byng]

Who is that guy with Ivor Greenwood? Lloyd is smiling because Ivor has spent nearly an hour telling him what makes great tone from a steel guitar.