The Steel Guitar Forum

This is a timely thread. I bought my first PSG more than 3 years ago and for reasons of time, I didn't really get started with it until a year back. I'm going to confess that all but one of the strings are those it came delivered with, direct from the builders workshop. I changed the broken string a...

Yeah I get that problem. I have since had a diagnosis of early arthritis in my left hand, particularly in my left ring finger, which of course is extended and not moved when playing steel. Ok, at 61 I am at an age where one may expect this but it I have to admit it began as I started to practice PSG...

My DW16 had an audible difference when I first acquired it. The only change I've made is to adjust the pickup heights to bring the volume roughly in line with one another. I've never measured the output levels with anything other than my ears so I cannot quote any electronic values. I would add that...

Ian, for my own curiosity, what is the scale length?

Since I added a pedal steel to my armoury, I was advised and indeed invested in a Peterson StroboPlus HDC. It contains sweetened ( temperament) tunings for a great many instruments including dobro, lap and pedal steels. At about 200€ here in Germany, it's expensive, considering 'phones, tablets, mul...

I have the little THR5 which I use at home, for rehearsal (everyone else acoustic and drummer using brushes) and I have played an outdoor gig where we had to be fairly "in the background" volume-wise. I like it mainly because I can pack it in my shoulder bag and bicycle my gear wherever (E...

In my wonderful world of fantasy tunings and "If I had just one my string...", for a 10 str., I think I would consider retaining standard A6 on strings 1-8 and add a D# and B on 9 & 10. Then you have a B11 on 5 - 10. B11 compliments A6 and I recommend all to try it! I have a D8 and use...

I would also recommend a Shubb bar. I've not tried the model recommended by Lloyd but I do have two others in my bar collection. Paul Franklin recommends this type of bar as a means of learning how to correctly grip a bar and I conclude it works, even after years of playing with a bullet bar. If I s...

Not that I treat your post as a competition, Sandy but I've used a DV Mark Little Jazz combo for many years. I pack that and all accessories in a DJ bag - and use my bicycle for local gigs. :D Ok, most of my gigs are non pedal but it's Ricky D-8! Still trying to figure out the best balance point for...

I'm enjoying your responses, no matter how diverse! It's good to know that people arrive at steel guitar (with or without pedals) through many diverse routes. Also good to know that one should never underestimate who is in your audience! Apropos diverse routes, greetings from Mons, Belgium where I'v...

... I overcompensated for getting lost in the songs by working out parts and trying to strictly adhere to them. It didn’t work and I ended up frustrated. What has worked much better is diligent, focused practice time learning the instrument. Now I have more confidence in being able to play parts, a...

For anyone about to go to their first gig with a PSG, here is my experience, listed roughly in order of occurrence. By all means have a good laugh! Know the surface! The gig was a private party, set in the yard of a farm house complex. It was mostly gravel. Fortunately the host put the band under a ...

I highly recommend Paul Franklin's E9 Foundation course from Modern Music Masters. it's a 99$ subscription for a year and if you live a normal life (job, family, social life,) there is enough material to keep you busy for a year. The videos are more like workshop lectures than simple how-to's and to...

Its Bavarian Zither. Probably has other names but it often shows up on Bavarian folk music TV shows.Quite regularly found in German antique shops. Personally I find a clumsy looking instrument to play and not pleasant to listen to! Worse though, is how often I am approached at gigs here in Bavaria a...

Hi Michael, I put out a similar question a few months ago. I was looking for suggestions for bender changes on A6. Nothing really inspired me. As you note, benders are better suited to 6 strings, presumably because the string notes are often not repeated. Whereas on an 8 string with a '6' tuning, th...

Mike, a) not really (read on) b) enough that the tone bar is not hitting the fretboard. I've gone this route with a couple of acoustic guitars. Basically a nut raiser, like the aforementioned Grover, sorts out most of the initial challenges. Once you've established that the instrument sounds ok, you...

Mike, a) not really (read on) b) enough that the tone bar is not hitting the fretboard. I've gone this route with a couple of acoustic guitars. Basically a nut raiser, like the aforementioned Grover, sorts out most of the initial challenges. Once you've established that the instrument sounds ok, you...

Oh this is annoying! After setting up with Cakewalk some time ago, I haven't touched it for ages and wanted to record something today. Of course I couldnt remember how to set up MIDI and was about to post a question here! Think I'll save myself the hassle and go with Reaper which as far as I know is...

Like most people on this Forum, I have tried quite a few and my preference is a Goodrich 120. I used to be a fan of an active Morley but when I changed my amp to a hotter tube model, I found it incompatible and reverted to the Goodrich. The Goodrich is mechanical and uses a tight string to turn the ...

I learned it at 63...did 10 hours per day for 100 days and then got on stage with my alt-country band...played for 6 years, ... Bill and Steve, you just became my role models! I am 61 and after a 2 yr on / off relationship with my PSG, I vowed to start again last January. I take clear breaks from i...

E13 is fun but my only real use for it is to emulate a Big Band playing one huge power chord! I use A6 on my main neck and vary between an extended B11 (I add a G# & E on 7 & 8 ) and a version of E13 on the second neck. Thing about these and a great many lap steel tunings is that they all ha...

I like and use the lower strings for funky minor chord stuff. Examples: 16 Tons, Green Onions, Cantaloupe Island. I have occasionally tuned #8 to G for songs with a lot of dom7 chords, e.g., Limehouse Blues, but found that to be too muddy on the lower half of the neck. I could imagine a low E would ...

That's an elegant case! Could you provide a link to the company please?

My own musical history began on electric bass. I had long been fascinated by PSG but the price of the instrument put me off. I began playing 6 string lap steel much later in life, "upgraded" to 8 string and then a D8. Now I have an entry level PSG from the German builder WBS. I thought tha...

Tony, even with Internet, Dunlop and Shubb seem to be the only bars easily available in Europe. I use a 918 for lap, same or a Shubb SP2 for acoustic and a 920 for PSG. My only experience of "copies" has been short and, with hindsight, largely pointless; design was either wrong shape, wron...