The Steel Guitar Forum

Hopefully, this sheds light. A post from Carter's Ann Fabian announcing the rollout of BCT: "...BCT has been built into Carters since late-July 1998." "...Carters with either Serial Numbers lower than 90658199-20 or received before July 1998 can be UpGraded with this new BCT Technolog...

I’m trying to learn this solo but struggling to play by ear given how fast it is. That, I can help with. To slow the recording down, click the YouTube link Brad posted. Then click the 'settings' icon (the thing that looks like a cog at the lower right side of video). On that menu that pops up, clic...

I support your decision, David.

Now... Cel-A-Brate Good Times, Come ON!

Just bought a set of new legs for a steel and ran into this situation for the first time: the legs had to be pulled slightly toward the center of the guitar to get the pedal bar on. Donny laid out the solution: don't cinch down the legs until after the pedal bar is situated. For some reason, when as...

What do you think, Paul? Have you tried out the Strymon yet? I'm curious how it compares.

Hi, Johnie. I would like some bellcranks. I set you a private message. Thanks!

Hi, Bill. PM sent...

I was actually just listening to this when I stumbled on this post! What are the odds?

Thanks for saying that... but I don't know what just happened. The 6th string's finger was the one out of line in the photo. I don't see how that could affect the C-pedal, so was just trying to fix the 6th issue as a secondary problem. Anybody understand how putting on a plain 6th to correct overtun...

And not for nothing, the finger on the changer that's out of line is the 6th string, not the 4th. So that's unrelated to the A-pedal and C-pedal problem. The most common cause of this is 'overtuning' of the hex nut. And the most common reason for that is because a wound 6th string has been installed...

Standards got screwed up along the way. Even the "D" and "E" changes are disputed. My understanding: Originally , the levers were named in the order they were developed: 2nd string lower was dubbed "D" E-string lower = "E" E-string raise = "F" 6th st...

You said you plug the steel straight into the delay... does that mean you don't have a volume pedal in the chain? Steel pickups are a lot hotter than those on 6-string guitars and they sometimes overdrive the input of certain effects units, especially if there isn't a volume pedal sitting between th...

Yes, going over the top of the bracket is correct. Congrats on getting it fixed.

Darryl, here's something you can try: On the pick that is catching the next string up, it could be that the blade is curved too much, at least in relation to how you hold your hand. If you straightened your pick blade a little bit, you would be more likely to hold your finger in a slightly more vert...

Bruce, I can only speak to the two Sarno boxes you mentioned. The Black Box is not designed to give you any real hair. It's designed to add tube warmth -- but it's got gobs of headroom and will not break-up. This is a very subtle effect in that you may not notice it's doing anything until you remove...

To decrease string noise, its helpful to have the thumb of the bar-hand down, slightly touching those lower strings as you slide around. Most folks have fingers touching the strings behind the bar -- but I think some players don't do the thumb thing in front to the bar.

This stuff is magic to me too. I know enough to answer a question, but haven't taken the time to learn the science.

If I'm using a buffer (or a buffered fx unit) specifically to deal with a long instrument cable run, does the buffer work equally well at either end of the cable run or does that miss the point that it needs to convert the signal before the long run. When you say "dealing with a long instrumen...

Another thought: play with a band. Problem solved. You won't even be able to hear your own notes, much less string noise.

Larry, sounds like you're on it. Having the same copedent on your guitars is a good goal -- and moving your ABC pedal changes over one slot to the left seems necessary if that's what it takes to comfortably hit the A+F position. The only question is: do you want to leave the new Pedal 4 as the Frank...

What Dave said... it's helpful to momentarily close you're eyes when you arrive in the neighborhood of the target fret and let your ears guide you to the correct spot. You WILL end up a bit to the right of the fret marker. It will look really wrong -- but it will sound correct. Also, be sure that th...

Don't know the answer, but what a line-up. I would accept only 15 minutes of steel from Robert if I could also hear a range of acts like that. It's entirely possible that one of those backup bands will make you happy... hell, I would go just to hear Mavis Staples sing this: The Band - The Last Waltz...

Good work, Aaron. I'm sure you're all over this, but those starting-frets and the associated pedals & knees are also the same places to get a G chord if you add another string to the grip. That's my mental framework for finding at least the starting place for thinking about harmonized scale work...

Well. My. They really get cranked up there at the end.

That was hotter than a Phoenix sidewalk in August.

Jerry, you're right. I was just poking around under my Carter and found the angle-adjustment (it's the black allen-headed screw).