# Pedal Steel Guitar



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

The pedal steel guitar is one of my favourite instruments. Of course, most are familiar with this in country music but rock groups like Pink Floyd have also used them. 

I'm wondering if any of you have a particular liking or loathing of this instrument and if there are perhaps some players here on HC as well.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Steadfastly said:


> The pedal steel guitar is one of my favourite instruments. Of course, most are familiar with this in country music but rock groups like Pink Floyd have also used them.
> 
> I'm wondering if any of you have a particular liking or loathing of this instrument and if there are perhaps some players here on *HC* as well.


HC? Cut and paste ?

That looks to be a lap steel. A pedal steel has multiple foot pedals and knee levers to bend strings to various pitches.

I have a couple of lap steels and and use them to add atmospheric sounds to my recordings. I tend to just play single notes with lots of reverb and delay. For the more traditional lap steel sound, Jerry Byrd is one of the masters:
[video=youtube;6dajjsyR-PU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dajjsyR-PU[/video]


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## J-75 (Jul 29, 2010)

I love steel. Do you listen to Dave Hartley? He's sooo good! I'd give my right arm to be able to play like him, (er, wait a minute, that's not gonna work...)

Pedal takes so much coordination, I'd have to be 14 years old to even attempt to be reasonably competent by the time I was, well, say 40. I like Cindy Cashdollar, especially when she's with Redd Volkaert, but even she admits to being too intimidated to try pedals.

A lot of the great pedal steel players are getting old and fading away, but there are some newcomers to hopefully fill their places. The real problem is that the kind of music that shows off steel playing has disappeared, so all there is to play and hear are the classic oldies.

There are annual steel festivals in Texas (of course) and, believe it or not, Ireland and England.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

bagpipe said:


> HC? Cut and paste ?
> 
> That looks to be a lap steel. A pedal steel has multiple foot pedals and knee levers to bend strings to various pitches.
> 
> ...


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## JHarasym (Mar 27, 2007)

I was pretty ignorant about steel (now I'm only mildly ignorant), when I was at the NY State Rhythm and Blues festival in Syracuse, primarily to catch Robben Ford. The Campbell Brothers came on, which is a band playing "sacred steel" music, which originated in churches. The band had two steel players, guitar, bass drums, as well as piano, Hammond B3 and backup singers. They rocked the place. The music is a gospelly rocking blues and the audience was on its feet from the first song. They practically stole the show (of course Robben can never be eclipsed in my mind). But my ears were opened to steel for the first time. Then came Robert Randolph.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

It's a shame more isn't used it rock, it can be fantastic in that context. I give you http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Greer


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## james on bass (Feb 4, 2006)

I've been playing with a great pedal steel and slide player the last few years. Sadly though, it does seem to be a dying art. It's not just the old country or Hawaiian music using steel though. Almost all new country, which is what we play, uses a steel player. Probably the same 2 or 3 guys in Nashville though. Sadly, my steel player is retiring from live playing. He is starting to feel his age. Gonna take part in our recordings and possibly some larger shows though.


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

when I was a dumb kid I thought steel gtr was dorky and old fashioned, just for "lonesome cowboy" music 

then I heard "echoes" by pink floyd and I realised you could do other stuff with it

now that I know a bit more about music I can really appreciate it. and "lonesome cowboy" music!! heh

I really love all the stuff Ben Keith did with Neil Young, RIP he passed away not too long ago


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## plasticfishman (Dec 14, 2011)

I love pedal steel, but have never tried to play it... would love to take some time and give it a shot, though I am often left in awe from seeing what others can do. In my work at my job at the university here (event crew for concerts and the like), I got a great view of a fantastic pedal steel player in Tim Hicks' band. Seeing him play got me thinking about pedal steel again and maybe giving it a shot. With school and all the gigs going on right now, it might have to wait a while but definitely a project I'd love to undertake.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

There's a wonderful pedal steel solo in 'Hasn't Hit Me Yet' from 5 Days in July (Blue Rodeo 1993). I could listen to that all day.

Was that Kim Deschamps?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

JHarasym said:


> I was pretty ignorant about steel (now I'm only mildly ignorant), when I was at the NY State Rhythm and Blues festival in Syracuse, primarily to catch Robben Ford. The Campbell Brothers came on, which is a band playing "sacred steel" music, which originated in churches. The band had two steel players, guitar, bass drums, as well as piano, Hammond B3 and backup singers. They rocked the place. The music is a gospelly rocking blues and the audience was on its feet from the first song. They practically stole the show (of course Robben can never be eclipsed in my mind). But my ears were opened to steel for the first time. Then came Robert Randolph.


One of the greatest shows I've ever seen at Ottawa Bluesfest was a late Saturday night "Steel Summit", that was hosted by David Lindley, and featured the Campbell Brothers, Harry Manx, Bill Frisell and his lap steel player Greg Leiscz, Don Rooke from the Henrys, and this blind 13-year-old kid named Jonathan something. Sonny Landreth and Colin Linden had also played earlier that day, but I gather they had somewhere else they had to be at that time. It was a slide player's wet dream that day. Here's a pic I took.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

_______________


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I love steel playing. I miss the 80's where Ricky Skaggs so adeptly melded Traditional country with bluegrass using the industries greatest pickers. The steel/Dobro player was top notch.

[video=youtube;fPYxj3QBkIs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPYxj3QBkIs[/video]


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

nkjanssen said:


> Yes you can, by the bridges.
> 
> It's a pedal steel.


I was going to ask you to school me on what you meant but after looking at the bridges in the picture, it's self-evident. I thought it was a pedal steel as it just looked too massive to be a lap steel.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

As to Pink Floyd and his lap steel on Echoes see at the 21:09 mark in the video below.

[video=youtube;Qq_bITDr_90]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq_bITDr_90[/video]


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

And here's one of those old country one's with Vince Gill and Paul Franklin on Steel Pedal. There is nothing like the Steel Guitar.

[video=youtube;dAHfcqzhag0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAHfcqzhag0[/video]


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Here is an amazing collector with rooms full of guitars and many steel guitars.

[video=youtube;9TXqKkcdqCw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TXqKkcdqCw[/video]


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Now THAT guy is just plain nuts....*and* my next new bestest friend!


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

mhammer said:


> Now THAT guy is just plain nuts....*and* my next new bestest friend!


It's also why you don't see a lot of used lap steel guitars for sale. He's got most of them!


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Steadfastly said:


> And here's one of those old country one's with Vince Gill and Paul Franklin on Steel Pedal. There is nothing like the Steel Guitar.
> 
> [video=youtube;dAHfcqzhag0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAHfcqzhag0[/video]


i saw Paul franklin play with Dire Straits in Hamilton. Awesome show.


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## 79Deluxe (6 mo ago)

I’d love to get into pedal steel.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

I repaired an old Fender twin neck pedal steel for my faculty advisor in university. It used cables rather than rods for pitch change, so it could only (as I recall) raise a string's tone. The modern ones can be set up to do all sorts of bends.

Later, I helped him make a pedal steel chord dictionary. YIKES! For one thing, pedal steel is tuned to a natural scale rather than equal tempered. So when a pedal or knee lever change is appropriate for some chords/inversions, it may be out of tune for others. So we had to mark that. And there are two historically dominant tunings (hence twin neck steels) plus "universal" tuning and a bunch of also-rans. It was a very interesting project, but computers were much slower then so we used a database and printouts. I learned a lot and constructed a chord chart font that I still use today. But it never went to market.

Pedal steel is very complex and best begun at an early age since it's a lifetime-of-learning kind of instrument. Like accordion.


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## smorency (6 mo ago)

I really playing the steel guitar. It is a complex instrument but it have such an amazing voicing. I presently own an old emmons S10 (push pull) and it's a marvellous piece of gear. 

Nothing's like a pedal steel for sustaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn


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