The Steel Guitar Forum

Jacob, "Born in "91"! I've got underwear older than that. :whoa: Erv In my 30s Im the ancient guy when I go to the punk rock shows, but the young whipper-snapper on the Steel Guitar forum. Your 30s are a weird place to be. I, too, experience this phenomenon. It truly is weird. Like y...

I am a new player who has been researching lessons as well. For $5/month on Patreon you can get a ton of lessons and tabs from Johnny Up at https://www.patreon.com/pedalsteel/posts. I listen to a ton of newer "alt-country" acts (or whatever you want to call the newer neo-traditionalists) ...

Wow, this is wild! It really opens so many questions about what kind of instrument this is. My first reaction is that it's almost more like a pedal steel-shaped midi controller than true pedal steel. I don't mean that negatively. The sound is pretty good, but there is an unnatural timbre I can detec...

I had someone ask me if it was a keyboard at a gig this weekend. It's funny to me, but I don't get annoyed. I bet I could go to their workplace and ask a thousand questions about their equipment that seems ignorant and obvious to them.

I'm not laughing! I love my little ZT Lunchbox.

I think it's a great idea, and definitely better than not practicing at all! I'm not sure how far you are along in your journey, but (as Ian mentioned) you could practice blocking, grips, open chord positions, intonation, and even slants (not a bad idea to know these even if you play pedal). I would...

I'm so sorry to hear this, Mark. I hope you're feeling ok, and continue to mend. From your original post, it looks like you don't use a volume pedal, so you're asking about double footing. I don't have direct experience but had a few thoughts: -Replacing pedals with knee levers on that side -Custom ...

Watching this topic! I think I usually use my middle fingerpick to reverse rake. I found this old, short thread: https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/011956.html. Not too much info but some people say they use a thumb. Using the backside of a thumb pick feels very weird to me.

Hey Mike, I'm working my way through Steelin Scales and Modes right now. I'm trying to expand my vocabulary outside of position playing, and it's been really helpful and empowering to see such a visually balanced and pleasing approach. I've been using Band in a Box to wrap my head around how the dif...

This happens to me sometimes too. The two things that have helped are more focused practice on right hand accuracy, and giving a very slight lateral twist to the finger pick on my middle finger. That seems to help the meat of the pick land in the right spot, for me.

That's the trade-off for access to the market and free tools: Facebook will constantly try to convert you to a user.

The advantage is a built-in audience that is served your content automatically by the platform, as well as digital tools for creating and diseeminating an ad. You can set your Facebook page to be accessed publicly, which will allow non-users to see the details they would need to learn about your bus...

Work on the palm technique, for sure, but don't hesitate to also work on pick and knuckle blocking. Personally, I find myself palm blocking at slower tempos and pick/knuckle blocking for faster tunes. You may find a hybrid method that feels more natural with your movements.

Thanks, Kevin! The Marlen fits me like a glove and sounds like heaven all day long.

Hey all, just wanted to share a new single by the Original Cowards with me on pedal steel: https://originalcowards.bandcamp.com/track/lowlands

I place the tip of my ring finger on the string 12 frets above the bar, and pick the string with my thumb. It's pretty hard to do in a live situation without giving myself a couple beats to make sure I'm on target, but I'm getting better. I find that I have to take a deep breath and zone out of the ...

I started on a hybrid 8 string tuning (that I've now expanded to 12), so it feels normal to me. In the beginning (before I knew anything), I would be confused by people talking about workarounds to get a 6th sound on their guitar. I've always had the 6th tone right in the middle! It works out incred...

Following along! This is very interesting, although beyond my current comprehension level without going line by line. I'm also very interested in getting better at thinking in dyad intervals rather than "chord positions".

You're sounding great! And you've got the right idea to get on stage and play with others sooner rather than later. I learned (and still am learning) the most by performing with others. It forces you to practice hard, listen deeply, and builds your confidence. If you can maintain your self-awareness...

Took the ZT Club to a small brewery gig last night and it was just fine. Incredibly clean and loud. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between it and my Peavey Austin 400, except I could load it in and out with one hand while also holding my electronics case.

That's a good idea, Steve. I also still use the Lunchbox for certain gigs and jams, especially with my cheapo lap steel (it sounds better with the smaller range of the lap than the pedal steel). For portability and power it just can't be beat. Really a pretty amazing little piece of technology.

Steve, that's a great idea, and I almost went that route. K, thanks for the recommendation! Good to expand my decent budget amp vocabulary beyond Peavey. I tend to agree that 12" sound fine for steel. Thanks to everyone for your input. I ended up buying a ZT Club at a decent price. My first imp...

That does seem like a fine amp, and it was also recommended to me by Doug Beaumier. A little out of my budget at the moment.

That's an idea, Larry. I also considered getting a compact head and single 15" cabinet.

Chris, I'm considering the Roland but not sure if it will have enough clean power to cut through the noisy bands I play with.

Thanks, Larry. I did find Mike's posts, they were helpful. I too have a Lunchbox and like the portability and power. I've used it for pedal steel but it's not great. I thought the 12 inch speaker on the Club might be better. I used the Lunchbox rigorously over the last decade on different instrument...