How many of you pedal steel players enjoy playing non-pedal?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 26 Jul 2011 9:21 am

I play C6 a lot more than E9, but I haven't really explored the pedals on C6. I seem to be able to do everything I need on C6 without pedals. My belated 2011 New Year's Resolution will be to spend some time working with the pedals on C6.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 26 Jul 2011 9:30 am

Ruth Iseli-Dahler wrote:Bingo, Edward.
Photos?

Sorry. I'm technologically challenged. BTW, in the rain you need to cover your trailer in plastic.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 26 Jul 2011 9:34 am

Dana Blodgett wrote:I voted yes even though I do not have a Non pedal steel guitar yet. Ive played slide on various tunings over the years and probably 17 or 18 yrs. on the pedal steel E9 (Sho-Bud).
I'd like to learn C6 and or C13th eight string. I like B11th tuning also.

You don't really need a non pedal guitar, Dana. I don't know anything about E9 but on my C6 neck I can get B11 by pushing the right pedals. I could have set it up to get C13 if I had wanted. See my next post for the rest of the story.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 26 Jul 2011 9:36 am

Alan Brookes of Procrastinator's Workshop wrote:My belated 2011 New Year's Resolution will be to spend some time working with the pedals on C6.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 26 Jul 2011 9:37 am

Alan Brookes wrote:I play C6 a lot more than E9, but I haven't really explored the pedals on C6. I seem to be able to do everything I need on C6 without pedals. My belated 2011 New Year's Resolution will be to spend some time working with the pedals on C6.

I am doing my pedal and non pedal playing on my C6 pedal steel. The big struggle for me has been figuring out when the pedals really do add something to what I'm doing and when I'm just pushing a pedal because it's there. I think that on the C6 neck, figuring out the judicious use of pedals is going to be the big challenge. Right now I'm pulling my hair out over it.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 26 Jul 2011 9:46 am

Dana Blodgett wrote:I voted yes even though I do not have a Non pedal steel guitar yet...

Keep your feet off the pedals and you already have a non-pedal steel.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 26 Jul 2011 10:12 am

The 2nd and 3rd C6th pedals (P5 & P6 on a D-10) are the main ones. P5 changes the tuning to D9th, and P6 changes it to F9th. Press them both and you have a diminished chord. That's pretty much all you need to know to get started with the pedals.

Often on non-pedal C6th you move the bar down 2 frets to get a 9th chord but you have to avoid the G string. P5 gives you the note you need on the G string for the full 9th chord.

David Ellison · Post by **David Ellison** » 27 Jul 2011 10:28 am

I started out playing E9 pedal steel when I was in my mid-twenties. I was collecting vintage country albums... Buck Owens albums with Tom Brumley and Ralph Mooney, and Jimmy Day with Ray Price, so that's mainly what I learned from.

After a few years of playing in classic/retro country bands, I got interested in players like Speedy West, Bobby Koefer and Herb Remington, so I bought a D8 Stringmaster and played that in bands for a few years. I used a C6 with a 5th on top, and E13.

I laid off playing steel for 10 years, but this year decided to buy a S10 pedal steel and start playing again. The great thing is that along with the typical E9 country licks, I found I can get most of the swing type chord stuff I could do on the Stringmaster. I kind of like the idea of just using one neck and one tuning for everything, and being able to mix it up. I'm not looking to play C6 like Curly Chalker or Buddy Emmons... the E9 should be enough.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 27 Jul 2011 10:41 am

Forum member, Basil Henriques uses an E9 pedal guitar to play great american songbook and hawaiian. Sounds great. It can certainly be done on E9.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 27 Jul 2011 11:12 am

I responded to the poll earlier, and am one of the 72/91 (or 79%) who replied "Yes". I will unlikely ever view myself as 'mainly' a nonpedal player, but it is a nice discipline to play without pedals to work on top-of-the-guitar techniques, and there are some functional differences - string spacing, scale length, typical pickup design, construction differences, and so on. Of course, it is generally easier to haul and set up a console steel, but that doesn't really matter much to me. The ability to stand up at a raised-up console steel is useful, but guys going back as far as Bob White, Don Warden, and more recently, W.C. Edgar have done this with PSG - e.g., - http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=167286

But I don't think the functional differences are necessarily all that large, and there are even pedal steels with wider string spacing, shorter scale length, lower-impedance pickup design (esp. using coil taps) more like an older nonpedal design, and so on.

Even the 'lowly' (that's a joke, son - I think E9 in its modern form was a brilliant stroke) E9 tuning with A+B pedals depressed is, at its core, an A6 tuning and with the E=>Eb lever engaged, a B6 tuning, so anything learned on a typical 6th nonpedal tuning can be generally transferred to most any PSG.

There is no 'bad' knowledge - the more the merrier, to me.

The Steel Guitar Forum

How many of you pedal steel players enjoy playing non-pedal?

How many of you pedal steel players enjoy playing non-pedal?

Re: how many psg players would like to play non pedal steel?

Re: how many psg players would like to play non pedal steel?