Amazing. That's all I can say. This guitar has everything that a beginner or part time pedal player would need and it sounds as good as the more expensive ones. The pickup is great and the tuners, well, let me just say that I've tuned it ONCE in the year or so that I've had it. Literally once. Customer service at Carter is incredible too, should you ever need anything. Completely amazing in every way, you won't be disappointed.

Carter fails to tell you that if you are over 5' tall this machine will not work for you. I'm 6'4" and had to order (no easy task) an extention kit just so my legs would fit under it. It's fun to play but WAY, WAY over priced! DO NOT (if you decide to buy one)under any circumstances attempt to watch the DVD that comes with it! It is BY FAR the poorest "production" I have ever seen! The content is okay, but I think they hired a couple of untrained chimps to operate the camera and add "special effects"!

I got this item a couple of days ago, set it up and started learning. The video was helpful and you can tell the folks at Carter love this instrument with a passion and want everyone that wants to learn how to play it, to be able to afford one. No it does not have one fancy thing on it. To make a pedal steel at this price corners must be cut. The question is did Carter cut all the right corners? Absolutely, with one exception. The pedals aren't rounded but you can move between them with relative ease and their good enough to learn with. The tuners aren't the top of the line but they do the job well. The volume pedal is very basic and I'm sure I will soon be buying a better one but it will carry me through the learning stage. The legs are "one size fits all" but I've managed to adjust because I really want to learn ho to play this instrument. The locking mechanism for the pedal bar is rudimentary but it holds very well. The pick up is probably not the best in the world but I've already done some basic recordings with this steel just to see how well it records and it sounds fantastic, beyond my expectations and with a very sweet tone. What it comes down to is Carter has managed to take an instrument that normally sells for almost 3 times as much by cutting all the right corners so us mire mortals can learn and record. Only one cut, in my opinion was a bad one: the pedal tuning rod ends in the changer are plastic, stiff and felt as though they might break easily. These should have been made of metal but a little machine oil loosened them up so now they turn with ease. The important thing is: IT STAYS IN TUNE FOR AS LONG AS YOU USE IT! and when you come right down to it any experienced steel player will tell you that's what counts. You want fancy? Go dish out a couple of grand. If what you want is to learn to play a pedal steel this is your best start.

I've been a musician for more than 40 years but never played pedal steel before. I just bought a Carter Starter and was very pleased. It sounds good, plays good, has 4 knee levers, no student line steel has that. If you're a pro, I'm sure you would want much better, but those cost thousands. I can already play this one a little and will have to get much better before I will need another one, if ever. If your a beginner, this IS the one for you, and me.

For years I have adored the pedal steel guitar sound. My first fascination with it came way back when the James Gang used it on the Thirds album. I've always thought it would sound good in my own music. So, at last, having never even touched one before, I ordered this one and it came today. I was a little afraid that it might be a difficult instrument to learn. (I already abandoned the banjo.) I'm VERY excited about this deal! The thing sounds really nice and the video got me up and playing in no time. I think the video is well done! After watching the tuning tutorial I had a clear understanding of how the guitar works and based on that - figuring out chord progressions was a breeze! I'm thoroughly enjoying it and I highly recommend this product!!! My 5.0 rating is based on the price. For the money it's wonderful! (Compare it to other pedal steels...it's a bargain!) It's so much fun! Buy it!