Anybody know a little about peadle steel?

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pisces7378

pisces7378

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Hey guys...

I wanted to ask a question that you might know the answer to. It is about pedal steel. I would actually rather have a pedal steel rig than a dobro. I know that a dobro is no way a substitution for pedal steel but it is a $400 vs. $3,000 argument, I have been leaning towards a dobro.

Anyway, my question is about how to play a pedal steel. I know that it isn't easy AT ALL!!! There are a lot more strings than on the guitar, you have to have a good grasp of where the notes are on the "neck" and what key the song you are playing is in etc etc... But with regards to just basic playing of the pedal steel, how is the thing tuned?
Is it tuned just like a normal guitar?
I am sure there is 100 ways to actually tune it but there has to be some kind of "standard pedal steel tuning."
What do the pedals do? I have heard that there are some pedal steel riggs that make you use your feet for pedals and to raise your knees to press levers up and down. What is this doing? Are the pedals just like big huge wammy bars? If so, how do you keep the damn thing in tune with whammying around all day?

Any brief description of the working of a pedal steel rig would be INCREDIBLY appreciated.

Thanks!

Mike
 
I play an Emmons SD-10 LeGrande III. This is a single neck steel with 10 strings. It has 3 pedals and 5 knee levers. The purpose of the knee levers and the pedals are to raise and lower notes. The strings are raised and lowered with the changer. If your are sitting behind the guitar in the playing position, the changer is located on the right side. The pedals and levers are connected to the changer by rods. Each pedal or lever can have one or more rods that pull the changer. The strings are numbered high to low 1 thru 10. On a E9th neck it would be like this:

1 - F#
2 - Eb
3 - G#
4 - E
5 - B
6 - G#
7 - F#
8 - E
9 - D
10 - B

Pedal 1 raises 5 & 10 a whole step
Pedal 2 raises 3 & 6 a 1/2 step
Pedal 3 raises 4 & 5 a whole step
Left knee left raises 4 & 8 a 1/2 step
Left knee right lowers 4 & 8 a 1/2 step
Left Knee vertical lowers 5 & 10 a 1/2 step
Right knee left raises 1 a whole step and lowers 6 a whole step
Right knee right lowers 2 a 1/2 step

This is how I have my guitar set up. One of the problems with pedal steels is that different players set them up differently. Pressing different combinations of pedals and levers yield different chords. You play with thumb and fingerpicks on your right hand. The left hand holds a steel which is a 3/4 to 1" diameter chrome plated steel bar with one end rounded like a bullet nose. There are no raised frets on a steel guitar only fret markers. You use the steel bar to play much as you would use a bottleneck slide on a six string guitar.

I personally think its crazy to try and learn the steel guitar without first knowing how to play a six string, but people do it all the time.

This is a very over simplified introduction to the pedal steel. For more information visit the following sites:

The Steel Guitar Forum www.steelguitarforum.com
Carter Steel Guitars www.steelguitar.com
Steel Guitar Nashville www.steelguitar.net
Scotty's Music www.scottysmusic.com


I hope this helps. When I get a few minutes, I will snap some digital phots of my guitars and post them to this thread
 
Top View:
top.jpg

Back View:
back.jpg

Tuning Keys:
keys.jpg

Changer & Pickup:
changer.jpg

Left Knee Levers:
kneeleft.jpg

Right Knee Levers:
kneeright.jpg

Underside View Of Changer:
changerunder.jpg

Top View Of Changer:
changertop.jpg

End View Of Changer:
changerend.jpg
 
Do you have any recommendations to get pedal steel style licks and slides from a standard six-string?
 
Do you have any advice on what is a reputable brand of pedal steels. You know like Gibson/Fender are pretty solid well known guitar manufacturers. Who are the big fish when it comes to Pedal steel?

Also.... why do some have two necks?

Also.... Is the moral to the story that you pretty much are limited to whatever the pedal steel is tuned to? What I mean is... can the same pedal steel easily play in the key of G and then just play in the key of c without havi8ng to re-tune the whole thing?

Thanks for your help man!
 
Chrisjob,

I'm by no means an expert (guitar is not even my main axe) - but to get the most "realistic" steel licks from an electric guitar requires a combination of note bends and volume swells (many guitar players use the little finger of the pick'n hand to work the volume knob - and many use a volume pedal).

The main thing about steel - involves the way they bend notes. As an example you may play a triad chord but only bend one note. Or you may bend the G string up, and then grab the D string and bend it on the way down.

As a drummer, I've worked in a few country groups and I've seen some very good pickers get pretty convincing sounds out of mostly Tele's (of course) or Strat's - but I've also hard some good country counds coming out of a Les Paul.
 
My favorite steel is the Emmons. And I want to stress that is just my opinion. I own one of thier newer guitars as well as a '69 model. Today I am not aware of any bad steel manufacturers. If you go to the steel guitar forum, there is a link page. There you will find a "Steel Guitar Manufacturers" page. There are links to all the manufacturers that have web sites.

The double neck guitars are called D-10s. A D-10 has one neck tuned to E9 and the other tuned to C6. The C6 neck is used mostly for swing and jazz. Usually a single neck guitar is tuned to E9.

The beauty of playing with a bar is that you can play equally as well in any key without any re-tuning.

The carter site has a lot of information and they build an excellent steel as well. Check them out.
 
I've gotten some cool pedal steel type sounds by putting the amp a few feet away from the guitar player and micing the electric guitar. You get a lot of nice string noise and the amp bleeds into the mic for a very roomy sound.

We used an open tuned Tele through a Fender tube amp with a touch of distortion.
 
I play a Carter D-10, does a nice job. I agree Emmons is probably the top brand name out there.

I used to play a lot of steel licks on 6 string, but decided to try the real thing. I started about 3 years ago, and am totally hooked. I found out guitars can't really do pedal steel licks, if you really compare the two :)

I wanted to mention, if you think you want to play steel, but don't want to spend a fortune to find out it isn't for you, Carter makes a real decent starter model, the Carter Starter. I think they sell for about $699 or thereabouts - They are single neck E9 tuning, with 3 pedals and 4 knee levers. About all the steel anyone could stand for a long time. Great tone also.

At least that would let you see if it's something you want to pursue more seriously without breaking the bank.
Other options are used guitars. I've seen many good pro guitars used for $600 or less ( look for MSA, GFI or Shobud and a few others)

my $.02 - It does take somewhat of a committment to learning it. It is overwhelming and frustrating at first.
 
I got a demonstration of a Triton keyboard a while back at Guitar Center. The player did some very cool pedal steel licks with it. I guess the real trick to this is not just having a good pedal steel patch, but also playing the instrument like a pedal steel.

I'll second the Carter Starter recommendation. Carter has done great things in the pedal steel community. They make an excellent instrument and their web site and support of the steel guitar is second to none.

Roadkill, I have heard a few tele players that emulate pedal steel very well. Smooth bends and good volume pedal work (or the little finger on the volume control method that mikeh mentioned) help alot.
 
What about tunings for six string that might emulate pedal steel like slides?
 
Chrisjob said:
What about tunings for six string that might emulate pedal steel like slides?
Click to expand...

I tune to an open E9th and got some basic good sounds.. I use a swell setting on my effects that acted like a volume pedal..
 
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