The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Dan, Thanks for the response. It always warms my heart when I run across others who can appreciate the value of the G lever. Why should guitar players have to throw away the topological map when they take up the pedal steel. In a separate thread titled " The future of the steel " a few ...

Thanks Lane and Richard for thought provoking responses. As we all know there is always something lost and something gained in ANY copedent change. Lane, it's true that "While the relationship remains the same on 3-6, you have a whole different relationship with 1,2 and 7." There is certai...

Hey Larry,

Great talking with you and taking a deeper look at some of the copedent possibilities...I appreciate the feedback.

Ben

I want to hook up my D# string so it a raises to E. Where's the best place to connect the pull rod given my current copedent? One possible spot is hooking the second string up to the repurposed C pedal (now doing duty pulling F# strings to G#) which would give me a D# to E along with the F# to G#. W...

Hey Leo,

Thanks for posting that wonderful in depth interview. It's a gear head's delight! Them boys sure can play ;~)

Thanks Jeff, just wondering. Nice concept.

Hey Jeff, that's pretty cool...what's it cost?

Bent just finished building #007 for a repeat customer...it's name is "Bond"...not sure if it comes with an ejection seat, but the aluminum sure shines good :<)

Hi Allen,

Thanks for the message. By all means, if you're ever up in the area, please do get in touch. It would be great to connect.

Take care,

Ben

Hey Allen, I just saw your post. Usually they're forwarded by the Forum, but there must be a ghost in the machine. There ain't much for Honky Tonks in these parts lately...Allen's is gone. There's the Rt 63 Roadhouse in Miller's Falls, The Rendezvous in Turner's Falls, The Arts Block in Greenfield. ...

I drove all the way from western Massachusetts to London Ontario for one of Bent Romnes' steels guitars, and what a fabulous steel it is! It's a Twang Machine! and I LOVE it! Awesome!

Hey Dave, Thanks! I know Doug and took a lesson from him last May. I plan to do so again, but at $50.00 an hour, it's not on the agenda just yet. Just lookin' fer local folks who wanna talk shop and share a few licks and chords. I did get together w/ Ron Banks and Sam Gibson recently and it really j...

I would love to find players living locally, or within a reasonable distance of Shelburne Falls who would be interested in getting together for a session or two to share their knowledge. I've recently met with a couple of players and it was such an amazing experience to share information. It was not...

Here's the scene o' the crime...my fun room! (may need padding on walls)

Hey Lane, speakin' of Tommy White, I have a DVD by him, "Hot Licks and Cool Tips for E9". Fabulous playing, but WAY over my head for now. He plays too fast for me to steal his licks, and doesn't slow anything down enough, or explain what he's doing, but it's great stuff nonetheless! Rememb...

For some reason I find it easier to differentiate between the minor chords and grips if I place them all in one key (any key). That way, a chart like the one below immediately shows how the same chords differ from one another in grip, pedal/lever combination, and location from one another. The dista...

Richard, one of your comments caught my attention... "There are so many other ways to get minors that I think are better." I'd appreciate it if you shared some of those variations with me. (anyone else on this thread feel free to do the same) I realize some of these minors may be based on ...

Hey Dave, that was an interesting and somewhat complicated tour of the split tuning realm. I suppose to some folks this is all relatively straightforward and makes perfect sense, but I have a feeling I need to study this further before taking the plunge. There's more to this than meets the eye. For ...

P.S. Dave and Ernest, for some reason I missed your posts. I will have to backtrack and go see what information you've added to the thread...man, I gotta tell y'all, my brain is near burstin' from all this stuff! It's a lot to absorb, but I dig every iota of it! I've been around six string guitars f...

This is really a meditation on loss versus gain. In many ways it's like a game of chess where you move one piece and the relationship to every other piece is changed. The question then becomes how to assess which piece is the best sacrifice. But, unlike chess, the pedal steel offers options for addi...

Richard, I was again looking at your copedent. It does strike me as being somewhat non traditional. Is this what they call the Day set up? Just wondering how long it took you to arrive at this particular configuration, and what motivated you to organize in the particular way. I realize the answer to...

Hey Richard, no sarcasm intended whatsoever. Most forum members are light years ahead of me, and many have seen it all and done it all, so I look up to them and appreciate the depth of information that flows in from the forum fountainhead. What you guys can do on the steel amazes me, so pardon the e...

Thanks Bob. There's some wisdom in them words! Especially "play any lick or chord I know on three different places on the neck with whatever copedent I have on there. That is a key to understanding the neck." In many ways, this is similar to what I'm trying to do with the steel. But first,...

Richard, thanks for the solid advice to keep the tuning in its conventional/traditional format. "I say, learn the tuning as it was developed." (also thanks for pointing out it's not an F, but an F7...I gotta pay better attention to the little details) That's probably the best advice I'll e...

oops! Somehow the copedent keeps getting re-formatted. sorry about that! So much for clarity .............LKL......LKV......LKR......A......B......C......D.......RKL......RKR F#......................................................................................................... D#..................