Sierra 12 String D13 Keyless Pedal Steel Guitar



I received my new Sierra Single neck 12 string guitar on 8/4/2023. It's equipped with 8 floor pedals and 7 knee levers and features Johnny Cox's D13 tuning setup. For experimentation I added a seventh knee lever, RKV, that currently raises the 7th string a full tone. You'll hear this change in some of the sound files featured below.

I paid $500 down at time of order, guitar was $12,500. I agreed to pay for one day expedited shipping at cost of $450+ to reduce the number of days that the shipping company had their hands on this guitar and minimize the risk of handling damage. Everything was well packed with extra wood supports added inside the case to brace everything.

Currently I own three pedal steels, this one, an MSA Legend D-10 and an Excel S-12 with an identical D13 setup that this Sierra has. Links to my other current and recent pedal steels:

  • MSA Legend D-10
  • Excel S12 with changeover lever
  • Excel S12 with D13 tuning
    • Like the Excel, this guitar is tiny and light and an ideal travel guitar for those on the road. See some pics below comparing the size of the guitar and case to my other guitars and the Excel case. The mechanics on this guitar are smooth and all stops are positive. Workmanship even in the hidden areas is immaculate. Some specifications:

      1. The scale is 24.5"
      2. Guitar in the case weighs 40.5 pounds, case weighs 9.8 pounds and the guitar weights 30.7 pounds. Shipping weight is 44.6 pounds
      3. Pickup is a SteelTronics Z-Tronics with a resistance of 9.45 kohms
      4. The tool kit is complete and includes spare nylon tuners and one extra pedal rod
      5. All strings offer split tuning which is accessed on the endplate side of the changer
      6. Guitar body measures 28 3/8" long x 8" wide and 25 5/8" from the floor to the bottom of the body
      7. The legs ends are tapered and fit into tapered sockets in the guitar. They lock in solidly and don't work free under use!
      8. The changer nylon tuners have a black spacer between them and the changer finger I'm guessing to reduce tuning friction
      9. The underside of the neck is scalloped leaving the top as free as possible to resonate
      10. Changer is a 4 raise/3 lower changer offering splits on every string and a special pivot design (see Sierra site for explanation)
      11. Micro adjustable bell cranks allow infinite pull ratio tunings
      12. Nut rollers are precisely gauged to prevent string/bar buzz near the nut
      13. Cross shafts use adjustable sliding pivot pins at both ends for easy installation and set-up
      14. Stainless steel pull rods are sheathed in Teflon for noise damping and low friction
      15. The rear legs have spring loaded adjusters and are easy to set while seated at the guitar. They are also marked on the guitar and legs to go specifically on one side or the other so that the leg adjusters end up exactly in the back for easy access while sitting down
      16. Pedal heights are also easily adjusted while seated at the guitar by simply twising the pedal pull rod
      17. Just one of the fine points (there many more), the neck is made of Honduran rosewood
      18. Knee levers, changer and tuner parts have an easy to clean, corrosion resistant, clear anodized finish
      19. The legs are made of flat finished carbon fiber

        20. A lot of questions about string spacing always arise so I measured the following spacings on three of my guitars. Most people are going to be concerned about the spacing of the strings where they are picked by the right hand and you can see that the Sierra has the widest spacing of the three. In my case, after sitting down at a guitar for a few minutes, I really don't much notice the effect of different string spacings.

        The numbers across represent width at nut, spacing at nut, width at changer, spacing at changer

        Excel (12 strings) 3.010", 0.274", 3.640", 0.331"

        Sierra (12 strings) 3.350", 0.305", 3.740", 0.340"

        MSA (D-10) 2.400", 0.267", 3.015", 0.335"


    • I only use a 10 string bar on my 12 string steels. I've yet to find a need to cover all 12 strings at the same time. The 10 string bar is lighter, faster and has less drag and noise.



    • Complete song, "Walk Out Backwards D13":

    Walk Out Backwards

    Rhythm track for "Walk Out Backwards":

    Walk Out Backwards (Track)

    Copedant - subject to change!









    Review Summary

    This Sierra pedal steel is top of the line in every way. The pulls are even throughout their travel and stops are positive giving the player excellent feedback. Pedal actuations are as smooth as a finely adjusted push-pull Emmons guitar making half pedal actuations a breeze. Fit and finish are immaculate and in fact breathtaking. 12,500? worth? For sure! A decent Gibson banjo is $5,500, an average Gibson Les Paul is $3K and they don't have the workmanship, labor content, complexity or near the number of parts that this guitar has. After only a few hours of tuning open strings and pedals and tilting the knee levers to my liking I felt right at home playing it. The sound files above are from my very first two hours of playing time. I opted for a Ztronics pickup that has quite a low impedance much like what was furnished on the old ZB Custom guitars. Highs are silky smooth, mids are warm and lows are pronounced without being boomy.





    There are quite a few pictures below. Click on them to see them full size or at least sized to a browser window. Click on the picture again if needed to zoom in even more!







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