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Topic: Good pedal steel for beginner? |
Wes Hall
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 1:19 pm |
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| I currently play lap steel and wanted to find a decent beginner pedal steel to star on. $750-$1500 range. Any suggestions? 8 or 10 String? |
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Rich Gardner
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 1:26 pm
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| I would recommend a Zum Stage One. I have one as an upgrade from Carter Starter. I love it. Great quality for the price. Here's the site: http://www.stageonesteelguitars.com/ |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 2:07 pm
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10. At least three pedals, at least 4 knees¹
There are new guitars in your price range: Stage One, Encore, Justice, Simmons, Mullen Discovery, and some more.
The sale section of the forum Usually has some good used guitars as well.
¹You CAN get a lot of music out of 1 or 2 knee guitars, but they'll frustrate you as soon as you get the hang of it.
EDIT: Of the guitars on the forum now, there's three good axes in your range:
The Nashville LTD, the Marlen (I know what I said about knees, but those things got TONE) and the Dekley. Dekley's kinda heavy, but sounds good and built like a tank.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 2:52 pm
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The idea is to get started! That can be with an S10 with 3+2, or one with 4+5. Though many players today will say you can't do much with only 2 levers, I feel a lot of those players are mostly hooked on the sound of moving changes, and not just playing good music. Keep in mind that most of the great stuff recorded in the "golden age" of pedal steel guitar featured players with only one or two knee levers.
Personally, for beginners, I'd avoid recommending any guitars that are of a pull/release design. While some may sound good and look pretty, the simple fact is none of the top players use them. They all choose, instead, to play a push-pull, or an all pull design. |
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Daniel McKee
From:
Corinth Mississippi
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 3:27 pm
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| If you can find a good s10 or sd-10 with three pedals and atleast four knee levers that would probalbly be best.I started on a pull release and it was great but after a while you start moving up and want those other knee lever functions so usually its best to try to find a guitar with those functions already in place. |
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Steve Blum Jr.
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 3:50 pm
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Hey guys-
I have an issue with an early Carter Starter I hope someone can help me with. With all the strings open and perfectly tuned, I can push pedals 1 and 2, raising my open E chord (3rd, 5th and 6th strings starting from the lowest string) to an A chord.
The problem is that when I do this my 3rd. (E) string goes several cents flat even though it returns when pedals 1 and 2 are released.
Do any of you Carter guys know where the movement is coming from to allow this third string (from the lowest ) to drop in pitch. If someone knows what is moving I can probably keep it from doing so.
What do you think? Is this a losing battle? I can't even lay down a steel track, because I spend all my time trying to compensate for this problem. I have an excellent ear for pitch and this is driving me crazy!
Thanks-
Steve from Oregon |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 4:38 pm
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Steve, see if you can see the 8th string (we count from the outside towards you: the low E is 8, not 3) finger move. I'll make a $3.00 bet that it doesn't.
The phenomenon you describe goes by the name "cabinet drop." It has 2 main causes:
1) check that all screws are snug that hold the guitar together.
2 (probably the real cause) PRESS the pedals to the stops, don't mash them. If you press HARD, the energy you put into the pedals has to go somewhere, and it often tugs on the body.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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LeAlan Carter
From:
Bessemer, Alabama, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 5:00 pm
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Edit:Deleted, Wrong Thread.
Last edited by LeAlan Carter on 15 Apr 2014 5:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 5:32 pm
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I recommend either a Mullen Discovery or a Justice S-10 or a Zum Encore. All of these are relatively inexpensive, but still a couple of steps above a student model, and will serve you for many years.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin |
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Russell Adkins
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 6:36 pm
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| Whats wrong with a pull release ? I have a simmons that's pull release it plays fine to me. |
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Mitch Ellis
From:
Collins, Mississippi USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 7:19 pm
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| Donny Hinson wrote: |
Personally, for beginners, I'd avoid recommending any guitars that are of a pull/release design. |
I agree. (sorry Lane  ) "beginners" being the key word here. I would think that a steel with a pull/release design would be confusing for a beginner to tune and make undercarriage adjustments. But as Lane said, they sound great.
Mitch |
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Russell Adkins
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 7:21 pm
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| Whats so hard about tuning a pull release , nothing that I can see, its very simple. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 7:24 pm
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| Russell Adkins wrote: |
| Whats wrong with a pull release ? I have a simmons that's pull release it plays fine to me. |
Russ, I'm a nobody, so anything I say probably won't carry much credence 'round here. But if you want a really expert opinion, I'd rather you ask all the pros who don't use them exactly why they don't use them.  I own a pull-release Marlen myself, but I've never seen a "top-level" player who plays one.
Last edited by Donny Hinson on 15 Apr 2014 7:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Russell Adkins
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 7:28 pm
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| Donny I am a somebody and I was just asking a question and I will ask. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 7:35 pm
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| And I gave most polite and truthful answer I could. I'm sorry if it wasn't what you expected. Like I said...ask the pros. |
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Russell Adkins
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 7:38 pm
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| Im baffled here Donny , you play a marlen right why wouldn't you recommend it ? Im not trying to be smart here just asking . |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 15 Apr 2014 10:38 pm
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| Donny Hinson wrote: |
Russ, I'm a nobody.... |
No you're not Donny. You might not be a big league session player, but everybody here, including me, has lot of respect for you.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 12:10 am
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The Winston/Keith book and most other beginner's guides show how to tune them. The first guitar I OWNED was a pull-release Marlen (after playing first a borrowed push-pull then a Super-Pro Bud), and Ron Lashley showed me how to tune it in 5 minutes.
And they're pretty straightforward and simple: if someone was faced (admittedly this is an unlikely situation) with the choice between a ZB and a Marlen (of unknown condition, i. e. shipped), I'd say the Marlen would be easier to adjust.
And I'd certainly say that the one on the forum looks good.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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chuck lemasters
From:
Jacksonburg, WV
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 5:54 am
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| I post very little, because I have very little to add, but over the years I have generally been impressed by the plain, good common sense responses from Donny Hinson......my opinion on this topic? Buy a used pro level guitar. Single neck GFI or Carter guitars go for not much more than your upper $ limit and come up for sale on the forum quite often. |
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Don Griffiths
From:
Steelville, MO
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 9:25 am
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| The Jackson Blackjack Custom works great for any player at any level. The Zum Stage Ones, Encores, and Mullen Discoveries are great too, I've heard. I've never played the Zumsteel Stage Ones, Zumsteel Encores, or Mullen Discovery models, but I hear they're awesome! |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 9:31 am
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| Quote: |
| Though many players today will say you can't do much with only 2 levers, I feel a lot of those players are mostly hooked on the sound of moving changes, and not just playing good music. Keep in mind that most of the great stuff recorded in the "golden age" of pedal steel guitar featured players with only one or two knee levers. |
Truth.
Get a solid guitar that you can afford and that will hold it's value. It is important that you get an instrument that truly appeals to you - you're not going to practice an instrument you don't want to touch or look at - and start learning what to do with that. There are years of lessons with no pedals at all, and some of the greatest living players still don't use them. |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 11:40 am
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Get the best guitar you can afford, maybe a little more. I started on a student model Emmons with 3 pedals and 2 knee levers. After a month or two, I realized that I needed a 3/4 setup and stretched up to my ShoBud wood neck Pro I, which I played on for the next 10 years. I took out a loan from my credit union to buy it.
_________________
Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 5:14 pm
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| I started playing on an Emmons SG-three pedals and one knee. Great guitar. It was built in 1974 |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 16 Apr 2014 7:10 pm
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pros get their guitars free or with a huge discount, they also change guitars depending who gives them a better deal, to go and buy a guitar just because some pro is playing it, is crazy...guy can play brand xxx this year, and switch to yyy brand next year, then what? you will sell your xxx because he is not playing it anymore, and that makes it not good enough??? I would go with Encore, super guitar for 15 hundred bucks, and brand new...plays great and sounds great... and as far as Marlen goes, no pros are playing Marlin because Mr. Stadler is not here to make them any more, if he was here, and giving them away for free to big name players, they would probably be out there getting played and promoted..there is no pros today playing Sho~Bud, Anapeg, Emmons push pull, Sierra, Fulawka etc... and that means what? they are not good? give me a break guys...
_________________
https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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