good lap steels

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Permalink Reply by John Faulkinbury on June 20, 2012 at 10:22am

That's a good question Lin. I would like to hear what other people suggest. I like my Jersey Lightning & Rondo SX 1 and have thought about maybe getting a morrell.....John

Permalink Reply by Frank Merritt on June 20, 2012 at 2:38pm

Every were. Last monday I talked my son into taking me into ihe 'Guiar Center' store in Spokane. I went to trade  couple items and order a Rouge Jersey. My son in roming around th store spied a  'steel' kindof hidden. He knew  I was ordering a stee, so he come over and said he had saw a 'steel' on the floor. Sure enough there was a nice ' Double 8' 'about 50 years old but BEAUTIFUL. the brand name is woren off. Take about 'luck'. Anyhow  I picked it up $600 without batting an eye.Itt is great sounding and I'm having a ball making noise. Yeh who'  Keep Looking, good huntin. Frank Merritt

Permalink Reply by Rick Fitzgerald on June 22, 2012 at 1:32pm

I have had several steels and to me I guess it depends on what is considered pricey.  Like anything else you pretty much get what you pay for.  To me the biggest bang for the buck is Herb Remingtons guitars,  they are a quality build and will last a lifetime and are easy to resell.  I guess the West Coast brand guitars are also well built.  The thing to watch for is quality tuners, pickups, strings, basically the things that comprise the build of the unit.  When we start getting into exotic woods and such we elevate the price of the unit.  I now consider portability of the guitar more today.  I presently own  3 non pedal steels, 2 are Excels-1 being a frypan, the other a D8 console.  The other is a 10 string built by the Jackson C0. and that guitar is awesme.  The tone from that one is incredible.  Fortunately I bought it used.  I could never afford it new.  There are many builders out there and Morrell has been in business a long time so I guess theirs is as good as anyone elses to look at.  Rick

Permalink Reply by Lin Singleton on June 22, 2012 at 3:06pm

Thanks Rick that is very interesting u are right about what makes up a one the  pick up and tuners and the nut on the neck and bridge. Thanks for ur input

Permalink Reply by Kevin Sesma on October 18, 2012 at 11:39am

I've been very fortunate in the sense that my green Magnatone has been all I need for some time now. Yet occasionally people will ask me what I would reccomend, and I just started teaching a guy who needed one. So I recently had to do a lot of research in order to come across like I know what I'm talking about. Bottom line is I would not advise anybody to buy a new or used instrument that has its strings too close together. This is a large issue with me. John Faulkinbury mentions the Rondo SX and they claim to have a pretty wide neck. The also sell for under $200. Sadly, Rondo stopped selling the model I liked which had a P-90 pickup in it. And my student went and bought a 50 year old Magnatone w/ a noisey pickup in it. Oh well, I tried.

Now then, in a perfect world, I might get something like this very expensive beauty....

Permalink Reply by Rockne Riddlebarger on December 20, 2012 at 9:19pm

If you are talking about LAP STEELS, the best bargains are still the older 6 stringers that you can find in smaller music shops, vintage dealers and online. I'm not talking about Fenders or Gibsons or even Ricks but Harmony's, Kays, Oahus, Supros and the like can still be bought for what the new imports go for and have a whole lot more character and sound than any of those new ones. I have and do own all of these brands and they are head and shoulders above most of the new "budget" priced steels, AND they will hold their value for years to come as the imports will not.