This week I will have been at the pedal steel for 2 years. I started learning the evening my Stage One Zumsteel arrived at my doorstep and plugged it into my Laney 50 watt solid state amp. I am now using a 100 watt Fender Mustang modeling amp and it sounds pretty good. With a little tweaking, comparable to the re-issue Fenders to my ears, but not comparable to my old '73 Silver Face Twin, or the other old Fenders. Not at all. But it doesn't matter for now. Someday I'll get a real '68 Twin or check out one of those new Standels, or get one of each!
Either way, I think I'll still be playing my Stage One.
There are lots of steels that look prettier, have sweet chrome end-plates, nice inlay work, exquisite looking changers and tuning heads. To me, nothing beats the look of the old Sho-Buds, ZB's and Clarks. But playing wise, staying in tune wise, functionality wise, I don't have any reason to go that way except to look prettier or get more levers and pedals. I am stuck with the 3 x 4 here, but bar slants provides a lot more flexibility in that area and plenty of range for what I want to do, which is old honky tonk music. I don't care if a never get past VFW hall shows or shotgun beer joints and you can do a lot with slants. Plus, you get a little different sound that way.
Learning this thing, I have not been very easy on the Stage One. Working up my pedal technique, I was really stomping those suckers sometimes, trying out stuff, experimenting with quick bounces as well as slow release and half pedaling. To some degree I did the same thing with the levers. I am not very hard on pedals or levers anymore, but still, the steel held up fine after those earlier months, and except for tuning them, the pedals and knees are as solid as the day I got them. They stop on the dime.
Tuning has been stable, too. I recently switched from GHS Nickel strings to try out some Cobra Coils a fellow member sent, and boy I like those Cobras, but it did mess with my tuning stability for a couple weeks until I took the proper time to sort it out. Apparently, changing your string gauge a little will necessitate a little adjustment there. But no biggie. Tuning is stable again, and another plus is I have not had to spend very much time tuning my knees or pedals over the last couple years, either. Just a little here and there.
The pickup. I was not a fan of humbuckers on 6 string electrics. If I had them on a guitar, they were very low output. But I have gotten over that bias on the steel. These humbuckers are pretty good. Doug let me know he doesn't produce them, but a well-respected name builder does. They respond really well all over the range and I can go up really high on the fret board and have reasonably good sustain there. One thing is- they can be little thin on the higher strings. Part of that may be technique, Lord knows the steel sounds much better as I improve, but after a point I realize there is an inherent limitation there. My picking hand can only do so much, so I adjust the amp and add a little Eq there so as not to whack out the great low end growl and sweet mid-range I have going. The real trick has been using a buffer at the pickup. That takes care of that pretty well. The little bit of thinness is also something that I like and use sometimes. But I mostly keep the buffer going. I just work with what I got and don't worry too much about it.
I love this steel. If I ever get a Jones to expand a little, or get something prettier, I might get something, but I doubt I will ever sell this steel. The light weight makes it ideal for hauling around and I don't worry about dings or scratches or anything like that. I'm not trashing it, but I treat it like a great working tool, not a collector piece. I keep that undercarriage cherry, though. I've kept it as dust free and animal dander-free as possible with 2 dogs and a cat. I've only lubed it once with some Teflon stuff when I felt a little clicking on one of the knees, and the clicking went away. That was over a year ago.
I want to thank you Doug and Bruce for building and designing a fantastic steel. And I want to thank all the forum members who nudged me in the Stage One's direction. I've spent my time learning instead of tinkering the last couple years, and boy, isn't it fun.
much appreciated,
Dan
and so was your use of harmonizing "swoops"
