Any other pedal steel players here

[patrickH-nTX]

Any other pedal steel players here? I play a '95 Mullen D-10 and a Takamine TAN 16C.

[kydave]

I play at the pedal steel, although I'm not a hot player.

It's an instrument I've loved listening to since the late sixties, and started farting around with on the side back in the '80s. Hadn't touched it in several years much, but about a year ago I started playing it and my Strat again in a friend's band (my band is acoustic).

I learned on an ancient cable pull Fender 8 string. I have an MSA Semi-Classic now.



A Child's Cry

A song I wrote & recorded. I'm playing all the guitars, including pedal steel, and singing all the parts.

[Br1ck]

When I started to take blood pressure meds, my hand would go numb in 5 minutes on a six string. I bought a pedal steel because I could work a bar.

Played it a bunch for two years before I realized I would never be any good, and there is no scene here to speak of. But I did buy an EMCI which I really should sell. Too nice to sit in it's case and I don't have room to keep it set up.

But all that right hand work did get me going on the dobro, something I can play.

[H165]

I, like others here, am a novice player with a good guitar - a D-10 MSA in "rosewood". Heckfire; I can barely play the Reso I just made, let alone the aptly described "math problem with four legs".

I have never successfully answered KYDave's question from about 6 years ago:

BTW, how are you are patting your head, rubbing your stomach, while hopping on one foot and humming in perfect pitch at the same time?

I'm a heck of a good listener though.

[syrynx]

I made my living exclusively by playing pedal steel 1979-1983. Then I played pedal steel approximately 50% of the time in a duo with my late wife 1983-86.

My first, second, current, and last pedal steels are Fender 400s (the same 8 string cable model kydave started with). My first is a late model (1973, IIRC) short-scale black-frame sunburst with the Jaguar-style pickup. My second is an early (~1958) long-scale with the polished AlMag frame and Jazzmaster-style pickup.

I did not lack exposure to "modern" PSGs. I taught my wife to play, first on a BMI S10, then on a pair of MSA Classic SS D10s (both of which I re-rodded to move E9 to the near neck, to reduce chronic pain in one of her shoulders). But my pedal steel hero was Sneaky Pete Kleinow. The Fender 400 was good enough for him throughout his career, and it was certainly good enough for me.



I had been playing a triple 8 Fender Stringmaster for three years, and gigging with it for a year, prior to acquiring my first 400. So for me the transition was seamless; I picked up my first 400 on a Thursday, and gigged with it the following day.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by syrynx

But my pedal steel hero was Sneaky Pete Kleinow.

Sneaky Pete's bridge between "Take it Easy" and "Lady of the Well" on Jackson Browne's album "For Everyman" is just one of the most sublime pieces of music ever ...3.10 - 3.40 on this video ... twenty seconds of pure genius.

[syrynx]

Yes! Yes, it is.

And check out most everyone's favorite living steel player, Greg Leisz, copping Kleinow's vibe in this performance by JB after a Late Night with David Letterman show.

[Coastman]

OK - Dumb question (dumb because I think I know the answer):
How hard is it to learn to play one of these "math problems with four legs"? FWIW - I'm pretty good with math - or I used to be before I crossed into "senior moment" land!

I've been contemplating picking up a used pedal steel to try to learn how to play it. Or is this one of those instruments that are best learned at an early age as it takes more years than I have left on this planet to become proficient at it?

[Br1ck]

Very hard, but you could be a natural, so go ahead. The cheapest decent instrument is the Stage One, but really, it is so mechanical, you'll want a pro single neck 3x4 at least. Old ShoBuds are cool, but can have issues. A more modern Carter, BMI, or the like should work.

Keep in mind the need for a Peterson strobe tuner, a very good Goodrich or Hilton volume pedal, and a very clean amplifier, plus a good bar like a JBS.

Then there is space matters. You will never put in enough time on it if you have to set it up when you want to play, so a spare room is ideal.

I recommend Steel Guitars of North County as a good dealer.

[blue]

Originally Posted by Coastman

OK - Dumb question (dumb because I think I know the answer):
How hard is it to learn to play one of these "math problems with four legs"? FWIW - I'm pretty good with math - or I used to be before I crossed into "senior moment" land!

I've been contemplating picking up a used pedal steel to try to learn how to play it. Or is this one of those instruments that are best learned at an early age as it takes more years than I have left on this planet to become proficient at it?

Might as well start with an inexpensive Lap Steel. Not even close really, but it'll help you find out if you really have an interest. Much easier, but it satisfies my needs for steel playing. Tons of fun.

[syrynx]

Originally Posted by Coastman

How hard is it to learn to play one of these "math problems with four legs"?

How high is up? How long is a piece of string?

Originally Posted by Coastman

I've been contemplating picking up a used pedal steel to try to learn how to play it. Or is this one of those instruments that are best learned at an early age as it takes more years than I have left on this planet to become proficient at it?

Mike, there are just a huge number of variables that would need to be addressed before any definitive answer would be possible. But I'll take a crack at a few of them, in the hope that doing so might help you make a better-informed decision about acquiring a pedal steel:

Sure, the earlier one starts, the better. But the pedal steel, IMO, is best tackled after one is already a musician, with a good grasp of harmony and intervals. A very few players have managed this in their teens (Buddy Emmons and Sarah Jory spring to mind), but the pedal steel has probably been a second, third or fourth instrument for the vast majority of players. So try not to let yourself become too discouraged that you didn't start sooner. FWIW, I was 34 when I got my first PSG.

Proficiency is kinda hard to pin down, innit? A lot of pedal steel players have written, shall we say, less than respectfully about five time Grammy award winning producer Daniel Lanois's pedal steel playing. He only hooks up and uses two pedals (and no knee levers) on his vintage Sho-Buds, and some of his detractors have commented that almost any pedal steel player reaches Lanois's level of technical competence on the instrument within a month or two.



On the other hand, I'm not sure there's another musician on the planet, no matter how accomplished, who could duplicate Susan Alcorn's interpretation of Astor Piazzolla's "Inverno Porteño" on pedal steel.



Ya gotta pick your battles, and decide for yourself what level of achievement you would find satisfying and rewarding. A lot depends upon context. It's a whole lot easier to supply pads, fills, and solos in a band (or even a duo) context than it is to play naked solo pedal steel instrumentals.

Obtaining a suitable instrument for you is a huge problem. Even used pedal steels demand a considerable investment, and the least expensive used ones (Sho-Bud Maverick, Carter Starter, MSA Red Baron, Little Buddy) have limitations and/or flaws which may be difficult or expensive to overcome. And the Catch-22 is that you can't assess your prospects for achieving your goals on the instrument until you've spent a fair amount of time with one under your own hands and feet.

Most pedal steel players insist that one needs at least ten strings, three pedals and four knee levers. But even the much-maligned Maverick might make magnificent music, with the right person playing it. Here's Bobby Lee (founder/operator of the Steel Guitar Forum) playing a modified Maverick with only two pedals and one knee lever. (Music starts @~2:00.)



In recent years, several pedal steel manufacturers have introduced six string PSGs, with the objective of lowering the price barrier. As you might expect, many PSG players dismiss them as "not a real pedal steel." Here are some examples which might help you decide whether such an instrument would be adequate for you. Here's Zane King with a six string, four pedal Jackson.



Robert Randolph, playing very different music on the same model Jackson.



Here are brothers Jeb and William Baldwin showing some of the potential of a Hudson six string with only two pedals and one knee lever.



Bill Hatcher, whose six stringer was a collaborative effort between himself and Jim Flynn of Lone Star Guitars.



Mike, I hope this helps at least a little in figuring out whether a pedal steel might work for your.