Pedal Steel Guitar - what do I need to know?

[CassidyGT]

Long time guitarist and bass player here. Was listening to Great Gig in the Sky and that steel guitar sounds amazing.

What do I need to know? What's a good brand? Learning curve? Am I kidding myself?

[wxyz]

Sho-Bud

[Jules]

I think its requires a journey into co-ordination..

You have to mess around with your feet and elbows AND both hands..

Its supposed to be really hard to do!

Good luck!

[musimedia]

haha! Same boat here, I want to learn to play, but they are so damn expensive!

any one with tips on buying a descent pedal stee; at a descent price?

[sleepingtiger]

I made the leap about 4 years ago. Played guitar and other instruments and produced and engineered for years - always fascinated with the steel. It's a lot of fun but other than some right hand stuff it didn't relate to guitar as much as I thought it would - but that's a good thing!

The Pedal Steel forum is a fantastic resource:

The Steel Guitar Forum :: Index

I got a used BMI 3 pedal, 3 lever from a gentleman on the forum for $1000 (there's a classifieds section on the site). It's not particularly ornate and there's no bells and whistles but it plays like a pro steel (I record with it all the time and have played a number of gigs). There are several models of guitars out there in this sort of high end entry level range that make it a bit more affordable to get started. I would be wary of the lower level "starter" guitars though. I borrowed a Carter Starter for a few days before I got the BMI and it was so flimsy and ill-fitting (I'm tall) that it would have been discouraging to try to learn on it.

One cool thing I've found about coming at it as a beginner with a musical history is that people really like me to play on their recordings because I'm a decent musician but a novice steel player so I don't have the technical ability to over play! It's a real advantage at times...

Good luck with it!

[jdsowa]

Dave Gilmour used a twin neck Fender pedal steel, but it was the 6-string variety in open G tuning, not the ten string (in D9 and C6) like you'll usually see. If you want to create that vibe, I'd suggest just getting a lap steel, a volume pedal, and delay. The pedals on a pedal steel really aren't that useful unless you're planning on doing double stops in country music. On DSOTM there are 3 slide tracks going on at the same time. Mostly he's just sliding up a whole step in the pentatonic scale. One note at a time. Pretty simple stuff. Pedal steel would be overkill.

[Benlittlejohn]

I'd recommend against the carter starter. started on one... upgraded to a sierra. couldnt be more happy. I recomend a nice high headroom amp. i found a evans locally for cheap. Local craigslist will usually have stuff. i also recomend a high quality volume pedal (goodrich).

it's alot of work at first but it comes to you.

[CassidyGT]

Thanks guys. I think I'll try a lap steel first to see what it feels like.

[PrettyGone]

Originally Posted by Jules

I think its requires a journey into co-ordination..

You have to mess around with your feet and elbows AND both hands..

Its supposed to be really hard to do!

Good luck!

I think you have to use your knees as well!

I love peddle steel and wish it was used more often outside country. I was just listening to Russian Hill by Jellyfish and the arrangement for flutes and steel near the end is beautiful.

[litepipe]

Those things are heavy!!!!! What a sound tho. I know some steel players that carry around a lap steel here in the city because of weight. Doesn't sound the same... Cool but different. You can def do all the dsotm on lap tho.

[ripgtr]

I think starting with lap steel is a good way to go, especially if you are already a guitar player.
Brad's page is a great start and Also, as mentioned, the steel guitar forum.

I had a Carter Starter. They are ok and you can get them cheap used. I will say that if you get good enough to gig, you would want something better. There are a lot of options for not a lot more but expect to pay probably a grand for a decent used one. Maybe a little less, there are some other starters that you may be able to pick up.

There is a little getting used to using the hands and feet and knees, but most modern setups, all that has been tweeked over the years, and for basic straight ahead stuff, it isn't that hard. Don't let that scare you. the hardest part for me is keeping the bar over the fret, in tune, especially higher up the neck.

[vintagelove]

1) absolutely check out Simmons guitars. He has a 1k model that has a double wide top with armrest (you may think it does not matter..... it does. Tunes great, george l pickups. It is literally 1k underpriced.

2) from a guy who plays many instruments (mainly guitar)...... they are f'n hard, I hope you enjoy work..... i do

[decay-o-caster]

i might be wrong, but i believe gilmour plays lap steel, not pedal steel. lap is a hell of a lot easier to learn!

EDIT:
[emily litella]
never mind
[\emily litella]

[jdsowa]

That's not a terribly helpful post, I'm afraid. You could've taken a few seconds to search the web and gotten a definitive answer instead of running the risk of confusing the OP by simply throwing out careless conjecture. As stated earlier in the thread, it was a double neck Fender pedal steel. If you've ever used a pedal steel before, you know that you don't actually have to use the pedals or knee levels. You can use the slide as you would on a lap steel and the effect is the very same.

[Whitecat]

Yes, Gilmour used a pedal steel to record Dark Side Of The Moon (and things before it), but on all subsequent tours (even the DSOTM tour) - and recordings - he used lap steels... mainly Jedsons but later on Fender and some others.

Being that the pedal steel parts of One Of These Days were apparently played live at the time on a Strat I think it's safe to say that he didn't have much use for the pedals and levers...

[NoPro]

Um try a lap steel first before a Pedal steel . Use a nice delay and reverb , practice learn some tunnings ...also a cool little tube amp. If that don't work out for you buy a pedal steel. Those pedal steels are so cool sounding ...not sure if gilmour used a lap or pedal steel. They are quite different

[RBHan]

I picked up an old mid 50's fender pedal steel a few years back. This one didn't have any pedals or cables - all that was lost. No legs either...so it's really a very heavy lap steel at this point. One thing it does have is a very nice old P-90 style pick-up. Sounds great hasn't gone out of tune in 5 years. I got it for about 150.00 and I see them in various states of repair and dis repair now and then on E bay.

[steelycal]

It's a long road, learning pedal steel guitar, but worth it. Amazing instrument. I've been playing for almost 40 years, and have always played double neck guitars, 10 strings on each neck with 8 pedals and 4 knee levers. Emmons is my choice. It's a push pull as opposed to all pull.

It is expensive to get into, as it takes a minimum of maybe $1,000 to get a decent guitar. A good double neck will usually run over 2 grand. And then you need a volume pedal and chords and other assorted paraphernalia.

As mentioned, the Steel Guitar Forum is a great place to find out a lot. I do a blog at Steel Guitar Insanity that might have some useful information for you.

If you already play guitar, that's a big help. The E9th neck on a steel guitar is similar to a regular guitar neck. The biggest problem you might run into is intonation and playing in tune.

[ivansc]

Originally Posted by decay-o-caster

i might be wrong, but i believe gilmour plays lap steel, not pedal steel. lap is a hell of a lot easier to learn!

EDIT:
[emily litella]
never mind
[\emily litella]

I have fooled around on his guitar and it is indeed a twin 8-neck Fender.
White.
And it has legs.

Honest.

No, really.

And I used to have a Sho-Bud maverick, their student guitar but sold it once I realised I was always going to be rubbish on a pedal steel!

I now have and am slowly coming to to terms with a dobro and am building an eight string lap steel, which I suspect is going to be about my limit.

Have fun whatever you decide to use.