PLEASE HELP. I want to sound like a steel player

Todd Pertll · Post by **Todd Pertll** » 11 Feb 2005 6:56 am

I am somewhat new to pedal steel and want to make sure I learn correctly. So, I would appreciate it if some of the more experienced players on this forum would tell me exactly what a pedal steel sounds like. I don't want to make the same mistakes this Robert Randolph character has made.

So, please let me know exactly what licks are acceptable, what tones are acceptable, and what tunings and pedal configurations are acceptable.

I won't play a note until you guys tell me what to do. Please hurry before my own creativity kicks in and I do something innovative.

thanks,

Todd

Bob Storti · Post by **Bob Storti** » 11 Feb 2005 7:14 am

Well, this should make for a fun weekend on the old Forum!

Bob

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 11 Feb 2005 7:21 am

Very effective summation, Todd. Would that I could be so pithy.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 11 Feb 2005 7:37 am

Just remember 1 simple rule. If Buddy or Lloyd didn't already play it, it's wrong.

------------------
In my life, I have experienced both wealth and poverty, and after carefully comparing the two, I've come to the conclusion that wealth is better.

Joe Naylor · Post by **Joe Naylor** » 11 Feb 2005 7:37 am

You live right in the middle of a bunch of steel players.

Do to the Texas Show in March - first good move.

------------------
Joe Naylor, Avondale, AZ (Phoenix)Desert Rose Guitar, Southwest Steel Guitar Association, Life Member of the Arizona Carport Pickers Association

Keith Cordell · Post by **Keith Cordell** » 11 Feb 2005 7:42 am

Oh lawd...
can't go anywhere but downhill from here...

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 11 Feb 2005 7:44 am

I want to sound like a steel player

Just learn to p*ss and moan a lot and you'll be 2/3 of the way there

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 11 Feb 2005 7:46 am

I suspect this is another one of thse "negitive posts", where some well meaning members will take the time to provide thoughtful answers, only to be told later it was just "Flame Bait".

Eventually sincere requests for help will go unanswered, due to the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" syndrome.

It saddens me to watch this happen to this Forum.

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 11 Feb 2005 7:56 am

A member since 2001 with a total of 128 posts isn't exactly new to the forum.

Terry

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 11 Feb 2005 7:58 am

I detect a slight tone of facetiousness to this question . .

[stepping back out of firing range], Chris

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 11 Feb 2005 8:18 am

Actually, Joey, I find Todd's tongue-in-cheek "request" a quite effective way to comment on the never-ending RR "controversy"!

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 11 Feb 2005 8:29 am

I think one of my legs just got a bit longer from Tod's post. Don't check his profile too closely.

fred

------------------
"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 11 Feb 2005 8:29 am

While I find some of Todd's remarks faintly humorous and even somewhat accurate in some respects, the only possible motive in posting it here must be to start s*&#, and I have no respect for that.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 11 Feb 2005 8:42 am

Jim, IF your assumption is indeed correct then you would be right IMO. I would be considered one of the experienced players and take no offense myself and, like Tony, found it to be rather tongue in cheek. However, I would be the last person to intentionally contribute to any negative content that would cause division among the ranks.

Farris Currie · Post by **Farris Currie** » 11 Feb 2005 8:52 am

haha nothing wrong here,just grab your guns.
farris

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 11 Feb 2005 9:29 am

Larry Bell.........re: your suggestion....

With those basic qualifications that you suggest, he'd be well on his way to becoming a full-fledged truck driver.....the day job, don't you know?

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 11 Feb 2005 9:37 am

Ow.. my leg hurts!!!. Someone must have pulled it REAL hard!!

Todd Pertll · Post by **Todd Pertll** » 11 Feb 2005 9:56 am

Hindsight being 20/20 I shouldn't have started this thread. Not because of my content, but because I may have started that which I hate the most:

A "Robert Randolph: good for steel or bad for steel" thread.

Some people have the view that he is using the instrument incorrectly or not using it to its full potential. I got frustrated reading other forum members' opinions on a different thread and fired off this thread.

Bob, feel free to close this subject if you think it has the potential of turning into another RR discussion. There are already 2 other threads open with similar content.

Todd Pertll

Les Anderson · Post by **Les Anderson** » 11 Feb 2005 9:58 am

The best thing to do to get that piece of board with all the wires on it to sound like a steel guitar is to slide every note change you can possibly slide on.

Once you have learned to make that thing howel like a runover cat, begin to back off one slide at a time. Eventually, you will notice that people are not looking at you with that pained, contorted face expression.

In time, and after eliminating about 50% of your slides, you will begin to notice that you are being ignored as though you weren't even there.

You will then be close to becoming a steel player.

Oh yes, you will also get the feeling that everyone else is playing too loud and is drowning you out.[This message was edited by Les Anderson on 11 February 2005 at 09:59 AM.]

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 11 Feb 2005 10:30 am

Todd;

First and foremost, always remember to utilize a thumbpick and fingerpicks; do not be misled by such "players" as Daniel Lanois, Kim Deschamps et al- irregardless of the fact that they both have appeared on numerous major label recordings and national television appearances.

Recent case in point, Daniel Lanois was recently featured on a prime time coast-to-coast television broadcast (Canada for Asia Tsunami Relief) here in Canada doing a solo piece on his Sho-Bud LDG; too bad he squandered this opportunity to showcase the instrument by not wearing fingerpicks...

oh yeah,

------------------
<size=-1>I always knew that there was something out there that I needed to get to.
And it wasn't where I was at that particular moment."
-Bob Dylan
</size>
[This message was edited by Greg Simmons on 11 February 2005 at 10:31 AM.]

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 11 Feb 2005 10:45 am

Larry, The other 1/3 sound and play like me, then you would have it all. How does the Beast like living in Florida? Joe[This message was edited by Joe Miraglia on 11 February 2005 at 10:48 AM.]

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 11 Feb 2005 11:25 am

There are some of us old-timers, Todd, who have lived through the golden age of steel guitar. The traditional styles and sounds of the instrument are what attracted us and we continue to enjoy that. In another ten or twenty years we'll all be gone and our music will be just nostalgia.

Fast forward to 2022:

Your 2:30 Tuesday first-year student comes in and says, "I heard this old CD by (traditional steel stylist). It was pretty, but I want to make it sound like hyeinas rippin' the ass out of a buffalo". That's progress!

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 11 Feb 2005 3:34 pm

Todd,
I assume your request is sincere.
The best and qickest way is lessons from someone. You are amongst a bunch of steelers, and teachers. The Dallas show in March. Watch listen, and shop around. You will see the equipment, that these folks can use to make those sounds. And you can get plenty of advice from the players on the show.

Reece Anderson is the best teacher and he is right here in the metroplex. He teaches raw beginners, and big name pros. Contact him thru MSA website.

Ron

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 11 Feb 2005 3:39 pm

Mike Archer · Post by **Mike Archer** » 11 Feb 2005 3:47 pm

LARRY BELL YOU CRACK ME UP!!!