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Topic: Guitarist interested in pedal steel |
Kenneth Mennen
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 17 Oct 2018 11:10 am |
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Hi Rondo,
My two cents: One year ago I was in a very similar position - except I got there after an impulse buy of a Fender 800 off of craigslist. I literally knew NOTHING about PSGs, and wound up getting kind of lucky in that, the Fender was more or less good to go after minor tuning, where it sounded great, and I was hooked! After learning more, I discovered that a Fender 800 was not a modern steel, and had limitations because it had no knee levers, etc.. Don't get me wrong - it still sounded nice. However I knew also that I needed a better guitar, but the choices!?!? After some time I narrowed it down through extensive forum opinion reading, and eventually made some decisions...
1) I wanted a new guitar - I'm in my 50's and could afford it, and I didn't want to deal with any hassles once I made the investment. I just wanted to play!
2) I wanted an SD10. I was lucky in that, I had found a local pro player for a teacher, who was then able to explain some things, and also let me try some different guitars. In fact he loaned me an MSA D10 for awhile, and from there I discovered that I liked the wider body (SD10 over S10), but for sure I didn't like the extra weight of
a D10. I also learned that a single neck E9 was PLENTY enough of a guitar to learn on for a long time.
3) I live in the Wisconsin, so with Williams right next door in Minnesota, I decided to order one - an SD10, 4 pedals, 5 knees, Franklin on pedal 4.
There were certainly other excellent manufacturers - Mullen, MSA, Rittenberry, etc., all of which would have been good choices as well.
So, my advice - buy a newer SD10 - brand new not necessary. If your chops get good enough in a couple years, then maybe think about buying and or trading for something else (a D10? vintage? etc.). Also, find a local teacher if you can. I think I'm learning at least 2x as fast as I was when I was just watching youtube videos. Nothing at all wrong with videos - it's just that for me the personal feedback and direction is better.
One last note about my Williams. It is as pretty as a guitar can be, it sounds great, and it's ~50lbs in the case. Light enough for my bad shoulders to lug in and out of my basement... |
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Rondo Johnson
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 24 Oct 2018 7:22 am
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Thanks so much for all of the feedback everyone. I did finally purchase a steel and am awaiting it's arrival.
I'd like to ask another question. What accessories do you all use and prefer? Thumbpicks, fingerpicks, tonebars, strings, etc.? |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 24 Oct 2018 9:29 pm
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| Rondo Johnson wrote: |
Thanks so much for all of the feedback everyone. I did finally purchase a steel and am awaiting it's arrival.
I'd like to ask another question. What accessories do you all use and prefer? Thumbpicks, fingerpicks, tonebars, strings, etc.? |
There are TONS of accessory recommendations here on the forum. Whole nuther topic for you to do a search on. But since you asked here...
I’ve been using Fred Kelly medium gauge delrin Slick Pick thumbpicks, but I also like his regular medium gauge delrin pick.
I started using Acri stainless steel fingerpicks about a year ago and love them (hated at first...).
I have a 7/8†x 3-1/4†Dunlop bar. Nothing glowing to say about it, but for around $35 it seems to do the job. Many other types and brands and price ranges. There is some science for how to find a length that fits your grip.
You should try at least a few different strings brands. I buy JustStrings in bulk, 12 sets for about 60 bucks. They are fine for me until I find the primo strings for my guitar. I have tried D’Addario NYXL’s, at $20 per set. Probably won’t go there again, but I am going to try Jagwires next.
A comfortable seat is high on the list of accessories. I use an adjustable keyboard player bench. Pro seats like Steeler’s Choice are for when you know your exact optimum seat height, and for when you have the money...
Get a good tuner that clearly displays hertz and cents, or a Peterson HD strobe tuner with pedal steel offsets dialed in.
A nice clean amp would be handy |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 25 Oct 2018 8:01 am Re: Guitarist interested in pedal steel
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| Rondo Johnson wrote: |
My main intimidation is not learning how to play, but my lack of knowledge in dealing with the extra levers, maintenance issues, or difficulty in fixing a potential problem with a more complicated instrument. How common is jumping right in like this, and how over my head might I be if I go this route?
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Take it from me, I think that no matter how good you think you are at other instruments, you will be intimidated when trying to master pedal steel. As long as you get a decent steel guitar, and don't go trying to re-invent the wheel with custom tunings and such, you'll be okay. Most of the problems people have with their guitars are caused by a lack of knowledge about things mechanical, and the never-ending tendency to want to add things, or trying to fix something that isn't broken.
Here's your first "lesson":
No, the pedals aren't all supposed to be the same height. Nor are they all supposed to move the same amount, or operate with the same amount of pressure. That's not the way it operates. Accept, adapt, and move on.
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Ed Boyd
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2018 12:15 pm
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Miscellaneous stuff.
I like Peterson tuners. Just make sure the sweetner settings are set to E9 when tuning the E9 neck and set to C6 when tuning the C6 neck. If you tune the machine tune your guitar with a Peterson and it sounds bad make sure you used the right setting.
I discovered new fingerpicks recently called ProPiks. I've used National NP2s forever on everything... Banjo, steel, dobro, etc... The Pro piks never hurt, never dig into your cuticle areas of the fingers and they work just as good for me as my old Nationals. I still use Nationals for banjo and dobro. I find the Nationals easier to shape with needlenose pilers for those instrument. I can buy the ProPiks already properly angled for how I like to pick steel. The come in choice of angles.
https://www.elderly.com/brands/propik.html?p=2
When I tune the B pedal I press both the A and B pedal down.
When I tune the C pedal I press both the B and C pedal down.
Lessons are great. If you like books the Winnie Winston book is a great read and has a lot of info. Since you play the guitar, Hal Leonard put out a book by Chad Johnson called "Pedal Steel Guitar Chords & Scales". It is an encyclopedia of 1100 chords and 430 scale forms. It is a great resource for when there is something you know you as a guitarist on steel but need a quick reference on how to do it. Since you are a Beginner I would recommend the standard Emmons copedents since that is what is in most the books and videos. The Day system on E9 is cool but that is just another mental step to go through as the A and C pedals are reversed.
_________________
Laquered MSA Classic D10 8+5
Sho-Bud Pro 1
Various Dobro and Banjos
Fender Telecaster Guitars |
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