Should you buy a pedal steel guitar

I just try to keep this thread alive because the instrument is about dead and on it's deathbed so to say. Not even used in modern country music anymore. It is daunting but well worth it.
 
Obviously you have heard of Robert Randolph, or the Slide Brothers: Chuck Campbell and his brother Darrick, and Calvin Cooke.



 
There is something very compelling about pedal steel from an expressive nature of the instrument but as has been pointed out throughout this thread, wildly difficult learning curve.

I've been shopping and one item on my list is a lap steel. In looking for reviews on the Recording King with a P-90, came across this Certano Bender mod which seems much more approachable but adds that expressiveness.

Certano Bender installed on a Recording King

 
dogooder said:
I just try to keep this thread alive because the instrument is about dead and on it's deathbed so to say. Not even used in modern country music anymore. It is daunting but well worth it.
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Have they dumped the pedal steels en masse? Can’t be country without them? Can it?
 
rob aylestone said:
Have they dumped the pedal steels en masse? Can’t be country without them? Can it?
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I don't listen to much modern country but I am now living in the south and can't escape it at times. You hardly ever hear a pedal steel guitar. I saw Robert Randolph once, I had to leave about halfway through, it was to fucking loud. He seemed like a one trick pony? I saw Floyd in Carnegie Hall and they used one for some wild stuff. I went to a Steel Players Association Expo in Norfolk Ct. about ten years ago, there were some kick ass players there. I met Stu Shuman there who it turned out lived not far away and we would stay in touch and get together now and then. He passed recently. I got to speak with "Tiny Olsen" when I did sound for Commander Cody for quite awhile. He flipped his guitar over and explained what was going on and gave me a quick run down on how a standard set up was set up and was played. Then somehow we got on the subject of trains and went on about that for awhile. I have made parts for guys who sent me parts to copy like pedals and bell cranks etc
 
rob aylestone said:
There's a Fender 800 - the same as my 400, but a twin version - for different tunings - BUT - one is hard enough I think. I could fit extra pedals to mine - I think 8 is the maximum, but as it is it is so hard to play. The ebay prices for any make are eye watering, unless they have poor tuning, and that can be fixed.
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I picked up that Deckley for a grand. Deal of the year.
 
I got mostly positive comments on the video, but the real experts to me to task. Oddly, a few told me inventing my own copedent was just stupid. It would have been but i googled a lot and found that this model i have, a fender 400, has less strings than the modern ones, and the ‘great players’ used the one i picked. Essentially, copedants are charts of what notes the strings get tuned to, and what each pedal and knee lever does when engaged, which might raise or lower a string from what it is open. So three strings might be C, E and G, and pressing pedal one raises the E and G to F and A changing a C chord to F. Another player might map those two moving strings to separate pedals, so stamping on both makes the F, but just one gives a sus4 C chord. This is why the one pedal player in my region i found couldn't really help me, he had a ten string one, with his string layout and pedals totally different. I got some general tips but that was all.

If you google my one you'll see huge numbers of suggested settings for a fender 400 C6 copedent. You try and see if you get it? I cannot even find the one i used now! It means i cant play others, they cant play mine!
 
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