Pedal vs Non-Pedal

[Charles French]

I was talking to a friend of mine who plays pedal steel. He told me an amusing story the other day. We were talking about Tom Morrell. He said, "yea, I called that cat when I was in Texas last year and told him I was a pedal steel player and was looking for work". And Tom says, "pedal steel player huh? I don't know anyone looking for a pedal steel player offhand, but I can tell you that every since I got rid of those pedals, I got more work than I can do".

Now I love a steel guitar, dobro or as far as that goes, anything involving sliding. This got me to thinking about how steel players viewed Pedal vs Non-Pedal. My friend plays pedal steel. For some reason he isn't interested in non-pedal. I would assume musical taste enters here.

[Randy Reeves]

I have played lap steel much longer than pedal steel. each have there own qualities, so in my mind they are both necessary. I gig with my lap, but hopefully will be comfortable enough to start hauling the pedal around.