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Topic: Sounds not like a pedal steel |
William Hand
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2019 11:52 am |
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| Why does my pedal steel not sound like a pedal steel when played ? |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2019 12:42 pm
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What does it sound like?
Not a banjo, I hope! 
Erv |
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William Hand
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2019 6:26 pm
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| Sounds like electric guitar with a slide |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 22 Aug 2019 6:46 pm
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| William Hand wrote: |
| Sounds like electric guitar with a slide |
that's what it is |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 22 Aug 2019 10:53 pm
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William, you’re going to have to provide some information to get a useful response. Have you been playing 6 days, 6 months, or 60 years?
Does your steel sound like a slide guitar cuz you’re playing cranked into a Marshall stack?
Has anybody given you any tips on how to set things up?
People here are generally pretty helpful, but that question is very much delivered in a vacuum.
And posting in “Pedal Steel†is going to get a lot more looks and responses than in the feedback section. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 23 Aug 2019 12:57 am
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Ken's answer is excellently framed. I wish I'd written it. Take note of it all.
I would add, how many videos have you watched, not just great players playing, but good teachers teaching?
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2019 6:56 am
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I think you need to develop the proper technique. 
Erv |
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Rich Peterson
From:
Moorhead, MN
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Posted 23 Aug 2019 12:12 pm
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| Perhaps a combination of too light a bar and too little pressure on it? |
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Greg Lambert
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2019 12:20 pm
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The very same thing I asked 40 years ago. After years of trial and error I finally developed the skills for the tone I wanted. I wish this site was available back then. It sure would have prevented a lot of headaches.  |
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Michael Sawyer
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2019 8:43 pm
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Sometimes I switch my DeVille to the dirt channel and try to sound like somebody playing slide on a Tele.
Some songs my band plays requires it.
I wonder how your amp is set. |
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Bobby Nelson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 24 Aug 2019 2:44 am
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| You need to have your amp set so it is clean and crisp, and not a lot of the overdriven tones that are more desirable with electric guitar. After that, without knowing where you are as a player, you may want to be thinking more like a pedal steel player, than a guitar player in the licks and chords you choose to play. |
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Johan Jansen
From:
Europe
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Posted 24 Aug 2019 4:07 am
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| When I play the fiddle I have the same problem... practise practise practise.. |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 24 Aug 2019 4:42 am
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| Where in Illinois are you? I may be able to get you on track |
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Bryan Crowley
From:
Crescent, Oklahoma
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Posted 25 Aug 2019 7:48 pm Doesn't sound right
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Hi William. You might try adding reverb and or delay to your amp when you play.
Without them it does sound like an electric guitar with a slide. Best of luck ! |
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Dan Beller-McKenna
From:
Durham, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2019 7:19 am
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Without more info, I'm stabbing in the dark here, but that's never stopped me from offering opinions/advice before (just ask the students in my classes!)
If you sound like an electric guitar with a slide, I am going to go out on a limb and imagine that you are sliding the bar on the strings a lot and, perhaps, playing a lot of single notes. Try playing without ever sliding the bar from one fret to another while the strings are sounding. To get the "sliding" effect, bend the strings with the pedals and knee levers instead.
Or,
If this is utterly irrelevant to your situation, please ignore. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2019 7:29 am
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| When I play it sounds like a cat fight at 3 in the morning. |
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Mike Bacciarini
From:
Arizona
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Posted 27 Aug 2019 8:41 am
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William, I think Dan's comments may be to the point. There are times when sliding the bar is called for, but much of the psg sound is found while the bar is held perfectly still. Then some vibrato may be added to the bar as the as the note/chord is sustaining.
So that was you outside last night Fred?
_________________
MCI Arlington S-10 3+5, George L E-66, BJS & Emmons bars, Fender Princeton 65W, Fender Satellite SFX, custom FX rack, 1983 Dobro 60D, SX-8 lap steel, Martin D16GT, Ibanez AS73, 1978 Rickenbacker 4000 custom. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2019 9:29 am
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| Buskin’ on the beach, Mike. |
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