which steel for best sustain?

[David Doggett]

John, I think the main thrust of this thread is that some pedal steels have more sustain than others, and that affects what you can play on them.

However, I think we would all agree that a player's technique also strongly influences the amount of sustain they have. Basically, the harder you pick, the more sustain you have. Even though you pick harder, you will adjust the attack and initial volume with the volume pedal, so the notes don't start any louder coming out the amp. But because you picked harder, the string will vibrate longer, and you can milk that with the VP for more sustain. The caveat is that picking really hard slows you down and is harder to control. So it is a balancing act between optimum hardness of picking for sustain, and optimum picking for control. The top pros really have this down. Also picking harder gives a richer tone with more overtones. Also, a heavy bar with the right amount of bar pressure affects sustain and tone. This is why people talk so much about tone being in the hands.

So, as with many things, it is not really an either-or situation. Great tone and sustain come from both the instrument and the hands.

[Mark Durante]

Wow David,
Your assertion that picking harder equals more sustain is pretty controversial. I would personally have to disagree, I think bar control has a lot more to do with sustain than how hard you pick. I guess it would seem that harder picking would vibrate the string more but I am skeptical it actually creates more sustain, not to mention all the other tonal factors that are affected by harder picking.
Do the top pros really pick harder?

[David Doggett]

...I guess it would seem that harder picking would vibrate the string more but I am skeptical it actually creates more sustain...

It seems self-evident to me that if the string is vibrating more, it will vibrate longer. I wouldn't have thought the simple physics of this would be controversial. When you pick the string it puts energy into the string in terms of transverse vibrations (how far the string bends from side-to-side). The harder you pick, the more energy you put in the string. That energy gradually dissipates because of internal friction within the string, and because some of the energy is dissipated in vibrating the changer, nut, body, etc. The vibration eventually stops. The more energy you put in at the beginning of the note, the longer it takes to dissipate, and the longer the note sustains.

I can't really see how you can put more vibrational energy into the string other than how hard you pick. It's true that by simply rubbing the string with the bar, you can excite a little vibration. But that seems so quiet as to be negligible compared to picking hard.

As for how hard the top pros pick, well, they don't all have the same style. I would imagine one of them would watch some of us play, and would tell some of us we are picking too hard, and tell others they are not picking hard enough. The point is, they have developed an optimum balance between picking hard and maintaining optimum control that works to give them good tone and sustain. Picking very hard gives a very intense, aggressive, overtone-rich tone in addition to sustain. Some people actually may not like that tone. But I don't see how anyone can argue that it doesn't give the most sustain.

[b0b]

Do the top pros really pick harder?

Yes. Pros play each note with more confidence than most amateurs, and that confidence translates into a consistent, strong picking technique.

A note sustains longer above the signal-to-noise floor if it is picked harder.

[Alan Brookes]

Most people in the Forum haven't had the opportunity to play all those brands mentioned, and, even if they have, they won't have been in the same environment with the same amplifier. The only place you could do a good comparison would be at a well-equipped showroom. I guess a meeting of steelers would be another place, but it would be difficult to get everyone to let you play their steels while your memory is still active.

What happened to Sho-Bud and Fender as voter alternatives ?

[Larry Scott]

This thread is a damn joke

[b0b]

Of the pedal steels I've heard in person, Frank Carter's EMCI has the longest sustain.

[Kevin Hatton]

I agree Larry.

[David Mason]

Odd that non-pollers Franklin, Williams, and Fessenden would be on my wish list, along with Zum, just based on the tones I've heard people make with them. I guess I just don't care... I need to start buying lottery tickets, hum.

Zum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PefU-xNZ1zo

It seems to work O.K.

[Bill Lowe]

ZUM

[Barry Hyman]

Just got a Hilton pedal for my Williams 700 Series wood body, wood neck S-12. That'll sustain until after your ears have fallen off! Much better sustain above the twelfth fret than with the old volume pedal, too...

That being said, this is a silly thread. Every man likes his own wanger the best...