Help...Looking for a Lefty Pedal Steel

Justin Sharbono · Post by **Justin Sharbono** » 23 Jul 2011 7:01 am

Hello-

Do they exist? If so, makes them? I would like to get as close to Sho-Bud Lloyd Green specs as possible.

Any info would be so helpful. Thanks in advance!

Justin

Bill Moore · Post by **Bill Moore** » 23 Jul 2011 7:54 am

if you are just starting, it's probably a good idea to get a normal, "right handed" steel. Easier to sell, and easier to replace when you decide to get another. I believe Lloyd Green is actually left handed.

Justin Sharbono · Post by **Justin Sharbono** » 23 Jul 2011 8:08 am

I play guitar left handed. Too late to go back.

Thanks.

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 23 Jul 2011 8:45 am

Justin,left handed steels do exist,but they're extremely rare-MUCH more rare than LH six-strings.I don't think any steel builder has ever had a LH model in regular production,but that does not stop you from inquiring about having one custom-built to your specs.
Once in a great while,one will come on the market,either here in the classifieds or at one of the bigger retailers.Let them know of your interest.

EDIT: I'm pretty strongly left-handed,but learned six-string (and later,PSG) right-handed.I'm glad I did,but I think that unless a player is truly ambidextrous,it's probably better to stick with the orientation you learned first

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 23 Jul 2011 8:46 am

Take it from another lefty... There are builders who will make you a lefty. Pedalmaster, GFI,Excel,Desert Rose are 4 that I know of. All great guitars!
You will never see one on display unfortunately. It's like buying a car without a test drive for us lefty's. This has been one of my gripes for years.
The builders who make left handed steels need to have them for demo purposes. This would encourage more left handed people to learn to play.
You can have any setup you want on any steel. You would have to come up with the copedant you want and discuss this with the builder.
With GFI, you will need to deal with them direct. And for an Excel you will need to talk to Scotty Music. They are Excel's exclusive dealer in the USA!
With Pedalmaster & Desert Rose, you would need to directly contact them as well.
I may be selling my 2010 LH GFI UNI 12 string steel in the near future. I have some pics of a lefty Lloyd Green. It's a sweet lookin steel. But the owner wont part with it.
Hang in there...do not be dismayed by all this or will drive you mad!!! I've been there.And still go there sometimes!! lol...
I had a Sho Bud pro2 custom built in 77..natural blonde birdseye maple. I played it for 20 yrs. I would love to have it back now! I sold it to get my Excel D10. I could not afford 2 steels back then..
woulda coulda shoulda eh?
Good luck...stay in touch if you need any help!!
T

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 23 Jul 2011 9:17 am

Left handed PSGs exist Justin
often custom orders
not easy to find used but they do pop up
here are some that were 4 sale here at 1 time or another

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=176710

Bill Moore · Post by **Bill Moore** » 23 Jul 2011 10:15 am

Well, some might disagree, but none of the physical things needed for guitar are transferable to pedal steel. The proof? So many really really good guitarists pick up a steel and think they will just play it, only to quickly give up, this forum is loaded with examples. Look at it this way, you are used to using your right hand to form chords on the neck of the guitar. The hardest part of steel technique is learning picking and blocking. If you play a right handed steel, you will use the right hand to pick. That almost seems like an advantage, to me. But, good luck to you, whatever you decide.

Larry Rafferty · Post by **Larry Rafferty** » 23 Jul 2011 1:07 pm

I was able to pick this beautiful Dekley up on E-bay a while back. I did it so my instrucetor would'nt have to cart a D-10 left handed Pedalmaster to my house every week. I am right handed but my mentor and insructor Larry Edwards (from Broadalbin, NY) is a lefty.
I have probably learned more from him in the last 3 years that I could have in 10 years with a right handed instructor. We set the steels facing each other and it's just like looking into a mirror for grips, knee and pedal levers, pick and palm blocking, etc.
Larry is one of New York's top steelers, and he also plays the 5-string banjo, dobro, mandolin, fiddle, and telecaster lead guitar. He has been playing as a pro for over 50 years and is called the "master" by all the musicians in every show he plays.
My advice is, if you are left handed...play left handed. One of Larry students is also left handed and recently picked up a nice SD-10 Desert Rose from the forum.

Robert Deemy · Post by **Robert Deemy** » 23 Jul 2011 4:56 pm

Robert Deemy · Post by **Robert Deemy** » 23 Jul 2011 5:15 pm

Thanks for those sweet pics CrowBear!

And a shout out to Bob Simmons

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/profile. ... ile&u=3238

Jack Aldrich · Post by **Jack Aldrich** » 23 Jul 2011 8:56 pm

I, like a lot of other steelers out there, am left handed. Because I started on banjo and could not afford a left handed banjo, I learned to play righr handed. I strongly recommend that you learn to play on a right handed steel. (It took me a couple of years to get flat picking down on a standard guitar, tho!)

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 24 Jul 2011 7:28 am

Q for the left-handed players,who'd be the ones most likely to know...Since the market for LH steels is so small,it'd seem to me that a used one might sell for somewhat less than the RH equivalent.Yes? No? About the same?

Larry Rafferty · Post by **Larry Rafferty** » 24 Jul 2011 8:01 am

Roy Thomas (builder of Pedalmaster) told me that he has made and sold more that 100 left handed pedal steels. He said they are no harder to build than a right handed one, and therefore has always chaged the same price for either kind.
Roy also has modified many volume pedals so that the input/output jacks are on the left handers left side and the plugs and leads do not interfere with getting tangled under the foot pedals on the D-10s.

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 24 Jul 2011 9:52 am

Wow~ Great resonses!
Maybe a lefty who is starting out could eventually learn to pick right handed. Maybe not. It's worth a try. It would be easy to pick up a nice used right handed steel to try for sure. My gripe is, since there are builders who will make left handed steels never have one for demo. I understand Pedalmaster has them on hand. And my hat's off to them!!!
But the others..at the ISGC for example never have a lefty to sit with. And some do charge more for a lefty too! "A Custom order" is what I am told!
I'm not a builder but would'nt it be the same amount of parts as a right handed steel? HUH?

This alone is totally discouraging when considering a new steel. Would you lay out $$$$ for new car without taking it for a test drive?
Having some left handed models available would encourage lefty's to learn how to play! I do not disagree with the idea of a left handed person trying to learn to play right handed! I just don't think they all can do this. I tried it...for a long time way back. It was clumsy and awkward for me. When I finally had it converted to LH, it all started to make sense to me.
Shelling out a lot of cash for new left handed steel may be not very practical for a learner who may get frustrated with after a while.
Finding a nice right handed student model would be more easy. Try it righty.. then get it converted over to lefty. And if that does not work, you can either turn it back right handed for resale or sell it left handed. I am sure there a lot of lefty's who would love to try one! This is just an idea for a newbie!
I flip my volume pedals upside down! Works just fine. Now, finding a nice left handed amp and cables are another problem!

LOL
And before I close off this off...sorry about the length here.Thanks guys for reading and sharing.

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 24 Jul 2011 10:04 am

For Dave Hopping in Colorado.
That's a tuffy. If the seller is not in a desperate financial need, I think a lefty steel would hold it's
value. Considering we get charged more for having one made from some builders. And the wait time for the build on a new one is lengthy. If the guitar is in good quality it should sell. It might take time to get it sold or not.
I was lucky in the past selling 2 of my steels. Neither lasted a week on the market. One was my ShoBud Maverick. The other was my ShoBud Pro 2 Custom. That was long time ago. I guess it's a crapshoot when it comes to this sort of thing.
Are you a left handed picker?

Steve Leal · Post by **Steve Leal** » 25 Jul 2011 1:24 pm

I purchased a beautiful used left handed PedalMaster steel guitar from Larry Edwards that he had ordered from Roy Thomas. This guitar plays and sounds great to me. It is much better built than the lefty Shobud Pro1 that I previously owned. Here is a video clip of my guitar so you can hear the tone (played directly through a new Fender Twin Reverb Reisue amp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FmtQpsd5oY
Note....Lefty Pianos are harder to find

Steve Leal · Post by **Steve Leal** » 25 Jul 2011 1:29 pm

duplicate

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 25 Jul 2011 1:58 pm

Tony,
" then get it converted over to lefty. And if that does not work, you can either turn it back right handed for resale or sell it left handed."

I don't think that would work with most steels. Most parts would be interchangeable. But you need different endplates, and different routing in the body for the changer. Many guitars have a deeper front apron than rear apron. And, of course, I'm just talking about Single-neck guitars. A right-handed Double-neck would be really funky if it was turned around.
All that said, I see no reason that a left-handed guitar would be any harder to build than a righty. I just think that a conversion would be pretty "iffy."

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 25 Jul 2011 3:11 pm

Hi John, you're right... I might of jumped the gun a little on the conversion thing. I remember a couple of yrs. ago..someone on the forum refabbed a steel to a lefty. It took a ton of work. And If I recall also the man that did that was a pro machinist..new end plates...wow...a labor of love there!
Finding a lefty will be a little hard. But advertise here in "Wanted to Buy" section and get the word out would be a great way to start.
I lucked convering my Maverick over to lefty about a million yrs. ago. That was totally uncomplicated compared to the newer steels out there.
I sm teetering on selling my GFi Uni 12...

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 25 Jul 2011 3:19 pm

Steven, that was an awesome job on Danny Boy! Was that that just the verb from the twin?
Me and Larry and a couple other lefty's keep in touch. Us lefty's are "alright!"
Keep in touch if you likr...
either here or..telefty815@sbcglobal.net
Where did you get that Danny Boy from?
I'd love a chart on that ...
We need a lefty's corner here on the forum...
T

Steve Leal · Post by **Steve Leal** » 25 Jul 2011 7:40 pm

Thanks Tony. I tried playing Danny Boy similar to what I heard on a Buddy Emmons recording. Yes, just reverb from the amp. The guitar has a George L PF-1 pickup, and has a nice full sound to my ears. I would highly recommend other lefty pickers to purchase a PedalMaster guitar from Roy Thomas. Roy is a really great person, and provides top notch customer service. No need to try it out first if you buy it new, believe me, it will play like butter.

Justin, I agree with Bill that you should first try and play a right handed guitar - if you want to have more options in the future. But, if you already play left-handed electric guitar, you should play a lefty steel because the fretboard is already cemented in your brain (especially for E9th tuning) and if you are anything like me, it would be impossible to re-program your picking/rhythm hand to be your right hand. When I tried playing right handed, I was like a fish out of water. When I first received my lefty steel, I was able to play right away!

Amen to the idea of having a left's corner!

Tomi Graso · Post by **Tomi Graso** » 25 Jul 2011 10:22 pm

Nice topic, i just have to chime in here...i have been part of this "secret society" for almost 20 years now! Yet still enjoy playing steel this way and it's not going to change i can tell you that!!!
Main thing is getting the job done and being happy picking "that thing"... I have had a few attempts at playing righty but didn't feel "right" for me at all ! I started lefty on a 6 string for a while before i took up steel guitar. It was almost impossible to convert fully. It was going to take years and years and at the time i could not afford wasting time on this. If you are starting out, by any means - give it a go ! I can still play righty a bit which comes handy as i can test other people's guitars for the action and feel which is great.
I have been playing my Emmons LeGrande D10 8x7 for the last 10 years and absolutely love it ! You can see it and hear it all here : www.myspace.com/tomisteel
Please keep in touch Justin and the rest. Love ya all ! Tomi from Down Under ......steel

Paul Papanek · Post by **Paul Papanek** » 26 Jul 2011 12:11 pm

I bought my left handed LDG sight unseen. It was my first PSG. I truly don't know how sitting down at several lefty steels prior to buying would've changed my mind, as I would not have have known enough at that time for it to have made a difference. (I don't think the car buying analogy really applies here; people buy all sorts of guitars via the internet without having played them) I knew that not only was I buying a lefty steel, but that I was buying a piece if history. Had it been a showroom sitting next to one of Roy Thomas's steels (who I had been talking to about a build), I probably would've made the same decision.

As for resale value, judging from the sight unseen offers I've had through the years for mine, I can certainly attest to the fact that there is a market out there for lefties.

Finally, there's that old refrain about learning right-handed. Sure, there are way more right-handed guitars than lefties, but that whole notion ignores the fact that for most of us, our brains are just wired a slightly different way. For me, picking up a right handed guitar just makes no sense.

So - follow your gut instinct. You'll learn much faster that way.

By the way, back in 2009, I received an email from a guy in the UK who had an LDG for sale but didn't know how to price it. I'd be happy to pass his info on to you via private email. Who knows...?

Good luck -

pp

Justin Sharbono · Post by **Justin Sharbono** » 30 Aug 2011 11:19 am

Thanks for all of the info. I am going to pursue LEFT Handed steel.

Any info tracking down a great steel as described in the OP would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Justin

Rob Fenton · Post by **Rob Fenton** » 30 Aug 2011 2:34 pm

I found this listing here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/msg/2519755882.html

I don't know the seller, but it seems he knows Eddie pretty well. Probably a well maintained instrument.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Help...Looking for a Lefty Pedal Steel

Help...Looking for a Lefty Pedal Steel

Lefty

My 2 Cents...

Right Handed is NOT and option.

Lefty Fulawka S-10, 4 and 5, in Toronto.