Lap vs pedal steel?
 

Growing up, Paul McCartney and Wings were a big influence on me. This includes the 'country' style songs such as Sally G and Country Dreamer that feature a pedal steel guitar (per recording notes). The lap steel guitar is another familiar sound, such as in 'For You Blue' by The Beatles (as seen as in the recent 'Get Back' documentary.

I would like to have some of this steel guitar sound in my own music (home recording). However, the cost difference between a lap vs pedal steel guitar is quite substantial (around 3 times difference at least) along with the additional space required for a pedal steel guitar. While it's a neat sound it's not one I would use all that often, so I would mentally have a tough time justifying the increased cost, maintenance, and space for a pedal steel.

My understanding is that the main difference between pedal and lap steel is that the pedals allow for bending of the strings. I wonder if any members have experience playing these instruments and could comment on the differences in practice, and if there are any ways to make a lap steel sound like a pedal steel. For the purposes of home recording if I could get into the territory of a pedal steel sound (not perfect replication) then that should be fine. I found this video on YouTube which is pretty interesting:





Some of the sounds I'd be wanting to emulate:

Yes, there are ways to emulate a pedal steel, even with a telecaster :)

As you observe, the advantage of the PS is in modulating pitches - while other pitches remain constant. This creates some nice effects and is of course the signature sound in some forms, such as trad country..

When I was 10 years old, I was totally captivated by the sound of Pete Drake on George's All Things Must Pass (see Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp, et al. https://youtu.be/_l2QrjY22bY )

I played some pedal steel in my 20s - but not the classic country style - learned from the Garcia recordings, the Harvest album (Ben Keith), David Lindley on For Everyman, etc.

I still love the ethereal sound, but no longer play - too many other projects.

I used to play lap steel. You can emulate the sound of a pedal steel guitar. I think your biggest issue may be finding a good instructor near you, unless you are willing to take lessons via zoom. It is not an easy instrument to learn by yourself, so best to find an instructor. You also need to decide if you want a 6-string or an 8-string instrument.

A good resource is the Steel Guitar Forum. Here is the link: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com

Its a fun instrument to learn. Go for it!

I was always under the impression that the violin/fiddle was the hardest instrument to learn how to play! Right up until I sat down at our Steel player’s Sho-Bud and tried my hand at playing the steel! I can’t fathom playing accurately with all the strings, foot pedals and knee levers! My favorite Instrument to listen to, though.

I live in a pretty populated area so probably could find someone. If not, then Zoom is always an option.

After some digging around YouTube, I think a lap steel guitar with benders may fit the bill.

Yeah, thee are two ways to mimic pedal steel with a lap - bending behind the bar, which only allows you to bend sharp, and palm pedals.

https://images.reverb.com/image/uplo...ry7w0jprbg.jpg

The palm pedal and similar bridges allow you to bend downwards with one or more strings while the rest hold pitch. Modern pedal steels allow both up and down bends with pedals and knee levers and that is the sound you hear in your head. I've considered putting on a set of levers but I don't have a guitar I'm ready to carve up.

And yes, it is generally accepted that pedal steels are from another planet entirely. Take a listen to Paul Franklin playing with Vince Gill and the Time Jumpers, and hear him stretching voicings madly at 2:45. The crowd finally gets the point that he is taking forever to resolve his chords and starts laughing. Hilarious!



Bob

When I retired from my day job I ran a small internet side business for building custom 6, 7, and 8 string lap steels for around 5 years. In addition to doing custom builds I also supplied construction information. If you're handy there's a couple of full plans for 6 string laps on the web archive of my old website:

http://web.archive.org/web/201604060...m/pageLap.html

Here's the old video of lap steel construction; I no longer market the construction information. There's a bit of open E lap playing at the end.

https://youtu.be/ZCob4_eZasY

I had initially planned on doing lap steels with a foot operated bending mechanism, but the players who contacted me for custom builds wanted straight 6, 7, or 8 string laps without benders.

If you already play guitar then I would recommend checking out the many Telecasters that are fitted with benders. The regular Parsons/White bender lets you do "B" string bends by putting pressure on the strap end pin and the full double bender does the B string and also bends the G string by putting strap pressure on the upper strap button.

There are tons of Youtube videos featuring some great bender-equipped Tele players. If you close your eyes you'd swear you were hearing a pedal steel being played.

Brad Paisley spells it all out for ya:



I know a few great pedal steel players. One of them told me if you choose to play pedal steel you'll end up being more of a mechanic than a musician. ;)

People have already covered palm pedals. I don't think the B Bender has been mentioned specifically (another mechanical device, typically fitted to a Telecaster which involves body routing). The aim of the B Bende was to get some of that moving note sound of a pedal steel into a conventional electric guitar.

I have no experience with those things, but one player I followed in my electric guitar journey was Telecaster master Roy Buchanan. Roy started as a pedal steel player and in his Tele playing he would bend notes with his fretting hand using his experience with the pedal steel to emulate the mechanical vibrato of the that instrument on a conventional Telecaster. Listen to how the pitch changes on those notes on a pedal steel, and then copy -- it's not like the "B B King" blues vibrato style. It takes strong fingers and consideration in your voicings to allow this, but Buchanan's playing shows what he could do. People also do things like behind the nut string bends too.

Anway, as general advice if you want to explore a new instrument and not just hack a bit of that flavor on a regular guitar, is to start with lap steel, even a low priced one, learning to pick and mute, and use the bar, and then move on to pedal steel if you find you really love it.

I came very close to buying that Fender 400 that Elderly had last month - spoke with the folks several times, had it in my cart for a few days...I was 75% in, but nah. I had a 400 in my 20s and learned most everything on it. Later had a sho bud, then a sierra.. Anybody heard of Susan Alcorn? She's playing with everyone on the Free scene - Mary Halverson and all.. https://youtu.be/wcT24TcbBBg

Pedal steel is very complex, maddening, and fun at the same time. Heavy and expensive, they also take coordination. I had an issue with my hands once wher I could not play guitar without them going numb, so I bought a steel and took lessons. Two years later I could kinda sorta play. Found out there were really good players who could gig two or three times a month for about $50. The coordination between the left foot squeezing pedals, the right foot riding the volume, left and right knees moving in both directions at the same time while hitting the strings perfectly while controlling the bar to get perfect pitch, well, it all in the end proved too much for me. No substitute IMHO. Go listen to Hank Williams and see if that lap steel sound will do.

I'm glad I played pedal steel because I learned to use metal picks and can play dobro because of it. Selling all my gear enabled me to buy my 65 Texan.

The cheap student steels are IMHO very unsatisfying. They should be precision machines.

You should check out these ladies out of GA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3idn3XQN_w&t=5s

Larkin Poe

While you can emulate some pedal steel sounds, in my experience you can't fake it. Lap is fun as well, but pedal steel is something truly unique and special.

I highly highly highly recommend Doug @ Stage One Pedal Steel guitars if you want something new.

https://www.stageonesteelguitars.com...l_steel_guitar

He usually has a waitlist, but it is worth it for the combination of affordability and quality that he delivers. Used PS guitars can have a multitude of issues (mechanical, electrical) and it can be hard to find parts.

I too am learning fiddle and pedal steel concurrently (because I enjoy a challenge), and they are both extremely difficult. I was able to generate some basic country pedal steel sounds after a few weeks, but the complexities are endless.

I personally think pedal steel is a magical instrument, and you should definitely consider picking one up. Get a lap as well. But you just can't fake the amount of variation you have with a 3 pedal, 4 knee lever pedal steel because you just don't have enough imputs on a telecaster or lap with the pedaling accessories. There just isn't anything like it.

If you want lessons as well, Paul Franklin's intro to E9 on Music Masters is the best place to start unless you can find someone locally.

That depends on how good of a player you are. I thought the same thing until we had Bob Breidenbach, a St. Lewis Missouri area steel player come up to central Illinois to play with our band for a fairly important Western Swing gig. He co-fronts a band in that area, The Western Satellites, and also plays in other bands. If you close your eyes you can't tell if he's playing lap or pedal steel.

The learning curve for pedal steel is MUCH steeper than lap steel.

I had a hard enough time learning to drive standard shift, so I'm sticking to lap steel.

D.H.