What's the best seat for pedal steel?

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 28 Sep 2003 6:11 pm

I've never seen the need for a power strip in a pak-a-seat.

I was told by a seat builder that side pocket styles were for "bedroom pickers"

I resemble that remark!!!

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 28 Sep 2003 6:52 pm

Walker Steel Seats!

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Rick McDuffie
Marlen SD-10, Sho-Bud Professional S-10, Paul Reed Smith McCarty, Hofner New President, Fernandes LE2G
Rick's Music Photo Gallery
www.tarheelmusic.com

Ken Williams · Post by **Ken Williams** » 28 Sep 2003 7:16 pm

I have a Steeler's choice sidekick and an old 74 Sho-bud seat. There are features that I like about each one. I like the being able to get into the Steeler's side compartment without having to get up. I think I prefer the vinyl cover on the Sho-bud compared to the velvet like material on the Steeler's Choice. Sometimes when I'm playing, I may want to shift positions to the left or right. Generally shift a little to my right on C6. If I'm wearing corduroy or certain types of jeans, I feel like I'm slightly handcuffed or in this case I guess it would be buttcuffed. Also the old Sho-Bud surface area in larger, which fits me better so I don't have any Dunlap. This is, my rear done lapped over the edge of the seat.

Ken

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 28 Sep 2003 7:54 pm

The Steelers Choice by Ken Rollans is a great seat. If storage space is not as issue I would concur that the bench type seat that Carter Guitars sells is a very good choice. I am a dealer for Elite Seats built by Dan Sliter. Both Steelers Choice and Elite are built in Arkansas by the way and both builders are very good friends of mine. The Elite with the back rest is in my opinion a very professional quality seat. I have sold a pretty large number of them and had one person to say it was not comfortable to him and I had him return it for a refund. I have had a long list of customers email me back to thank me for the great deal and they were very happy. So, it's the same old question, "which is best"? I don't think there is a best. I can get the Elite in any height that is desired. If you had an adjustable height seat, you would set it to what felt right and then forget about the adjustment feature and it would add several dollars to the cost of building the product. I use the Elite that is an inch taller than his standard height and I could not ask for anything better for me. I love the Elite seat. Email me if you would like a great deal on a great seat.(Email photos available)
If Ken would set me up a dealership on Steelers Choice, I would be offering my customers their choice between two great seats.

Jerry[This message was edited by Jerry Roller on 28 September 2003 at 08:56 PM.][This message was edited by Jerry Roller on 28 September 2003 at 09:00 PM.]

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 28 Sep 2003 8:21 pm

Okay, guys, thanks for all the help. I thought this would be a pretty trivial thread, but it looks like it helped air some issues about seats. As a temporary measure I took an adjustable secretary chair to my last gig. It turned out to be hell. The stage was a polished hardwood floor, and the seat kept rolling back everytime I hit a pedal.

As a reward for all your help, I'll tell you a real country tale about seats from back home in Mississippi. My Dad grew up in a little crossroads town in the Northeast corner of Mississippi, called Kossuth. It's about 5 miles outside of Corinth, and when you're 5 miles out of Corinth you are away back out in the country. My Grandparents ran a little general store at the crossroads that sold everything from horse collars to groceries. Next to the store was a gas station. There were always a couple of ole boys playing checkers in front of the station, and they sat on empty nail kegs from my Grandad's store.

My Dad retired back to Kossuth and the house he was born in. When he got too ill to keep it up it was sold, and I had the sad task of selling off the contents. One of the ole boys who frequented the store came by and bought one of the old benches that sat around the big pot-belly stove that sat in the middle of the store and heated it. As he was leaving, he told me this tale.

One time two or three ole boys from Kossuth decided to see New York City. So they drove up there. But somewhere in Manhattan they got into a big car wreck, and were killed along with the people in the other car.

A reporter went to the hospital where they took the bodies. He asked the emergency room doc who the people were and where they were from. "Oh," he said, "It was a real mess. The people in one car, we couldn't tell anything about them. But the ones in the other car were from Kossuth, Mississippi."

"Well, how did you know that?" asked the reporter.

"Oh, it was easy," said the doc. "They were the ones with nail keg prints on their butts."

Nick Reed · Post by **Nick Reed** » 28 Sep 2003 9:48 pm

My wife bought me a CUSH-CASE packaseat from Bobbe Seymour about 8 years ago for my birthday. It's held up pretty well and still goes out with me every weekend to gig. However, my big FAT ASS has about wore out the foam padding in the cushion. It now has an indented imprint where I've set on it! Nick

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 29 Sep 2003 1:37 am

Someone posed the question about a tray to hold 'stomp boxes' over on Wayne Brown's thread - I don't want hi-jack Wayne's 'topic', so I'll reply here.

The Steeler's Choice seat has the side-pocket on the left, and the lid opens away from you. This is great design - I leave mine open and it creates a sort of tray on which I put my coffee cup (in rehearsal only

) and/or my current reading material (for when the show has too much dialogue!)

Being on the player's left allows him to root around in the compartments without taking his (or her) picks off, but it now occurs to me that the open lid could accommodate two or three 'Boss'-type effects-units, and they'd be easily accessible for making adjustments. Not for me - I use a Profex - but it's a thought.

Jim Cohen gets MY vote. Not only is he a terrific player who uses a Steeler's Choice seat, but I see from yet another 'thread' that he has a '57 Morris Minor!!!! When we watch old British movies from my extensive collection, Susie always has to put up with me exclaiming 'Morris Minor!' whenever one appears anywhere in the scene....

Pretty, pretty cars - especially with that split-windscreen - but I bet a Nashville 1000 would only just go in the boot!

RR

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Sep 2003 6:29 am

I surely don't see the need for adjustable height on a seat. Unless, you are letting someone else use it. Just order it the height you want and then that's it! The reason for a steel seat is that it is always "constant". Once you place your butt on it, your approach to the strings and pedals is always the same and it greatly assists your playing.
Erv
P.S. If you're not sure about the height, order the legs a little longer, you can always cut them off.[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 29 September 2003 at 07:31 AM.]

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 29 Sep 2003 6:51 am

I've grown to like a drum throne. I like sitting higher than a regular steel seat, plus I can spin around when I make an adjustment. Or, just spin around for fun

Jan Dunn · Post by **Jan Dunn** » 29 Sep 2003 8:56 am

Adjustable legs have been a real help to me as I have my seat much higher for PSG than I do for my lapsteel-I'm sure I'm the odd guy in this respect. However, for folks that do need adjutable legs, there was a terrific seat made by Britt Davis of Elizabeth, CO. The legs are 4 individual poles with threaded holes about every 1/2 inch or so along the length of the leg. A thumbwheel screw goes through the mounting bracket of each leg and screws into the hole in the leg. The holes are numbered so you don't get one leg shorter than the other three. The legs receded into the seat when you make the seat lower. I never understood why no one else picked up on this idea. I assumed no one else needed adjustable legs. Here's a dopey diagram of how it works if you want to try your own.

| Bracket |
| |
| | | | |
| | ======| <=Locking Screw
|--| |--| |
| Leg |
| |

Leonardo DaVinci neededn't worry about me putting him out of business real soon,huh?

Jan Dunn · Post by **Jan Dunn** » 29 Sep 2003 8:59 am

well my diagram got screwed up when I pressed the submit button. It looked like a box (the mounting bracket) with a pole going inside the box (the leg) witht a screw going through the bracket and into the leg. It looked a whole lot better in notepad...geez.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 29 Sep 2003 10:15 am

You need to use "tab" codes to keep the spacing, like this: <pre>| Bracket |
| |
| | | | |
| | ======| <=Locking Screw
|--| |--| |
| Leg |
| |</pre>

Jan Dunn · Post by **Jan Dunn** » 29 Sep 2003 2:43 pm

Can you believe I draw better than I play ????