Beginner here

Brett Barton · Post by **Brett Barton** » 21 Dec 2012 8:44 pm

Hello all.

I'm 30 yrs. old from Atlanta, GA now living in Grand Prairie, TX. I've decided to learn pedal steel guitar and am excited to have my first lesson tomorrow with Steve Lamb in Fort Worth.

Of course I'm now in the market for a psg and it seems from reading around the boards a bit that the zum stage one is highly recommended for a beginner like myself. Any recommendations as far as other equipment I will need?

I'm very excited to start playing and look forward to sharing my experiences and learning from you all as well. Hope to get to run into some of you and hear you play along the way.

-Brett

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 21 Dec 2012 9:11 pm

Brett Barton wrote: Any recommendations as far as other equipment I will need?

Besides picks and a bar and cables, You'll need a volume pedal with all the jacks on the right side of the pedal. There are a lot of good ones, they all work. Goodrich, Hilton, Ernie Ball, Telonics. At this point it doesn't matter which one you get. The important thing is that you get a volume pedal that's designed for steel, and not one designed for guitar or keyboards players.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 21 Dec 2012 10:19 pm

To amplify or explain what Mike just said: guitar volume pedals typically put the jacks at the front, and you'll want the pedal as close to the pedal bar as you can go.
As you start learning, your amp won't matter; I started on a fliptop Ampeg bass amp.
It's gonna be awhile til you figure out how to get good tones out of your hands anyway.
The Stage one is a fine axe. I think you'll be fine with a basic Ernie Ball or Jim Dunlop bar although many of us swear by the BJS.

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 21 Dec 2012 10:20 pm

Welcome to the wonderful world of steel guitar, Brett. I play a Jackson BlackJack Custom steel guitar and those steels are great for any level. There are lots of great steels to choose from. If you like a Sho-Bud type sound, a Jackson Steel would work well for you. Shot Jackson's sons David and Harry build those steels.

Brett

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 22 Dec 2012 5:13 am

Lane Gray wrote:To amplify or explain what Mike just said: guitar volume pedals typically put the jacks at the front, and you'll want the pedal as close to the pedal bar as you can go.

A few players (like me) put the volume pedal back several inches from the pedal board, and don't fasten it to anything. So for them, front jacks aren't really a problem.

Jim Curtain · Post by **Jim Curtain** » 22 Dec 2012 6:19 am

Practice, practice, practice. I use a Morley optical volume pedal, no issues at all, and you can't beat the price! You find a wealth of useful information here, Welcome!

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 22 Dec 2012 6:24 am

If your teacher is Steve Lamb, he'll be able to fix you up with anything you need. Probe him with questions, and you should have many more come up in the future.

I've known Steve for over two decades and he's a top shelf fellow.

And you ARE coming to the TSGA Jamboree, I assume... aren't you?

Brett Barton · Post by **Brett Barton** » 22 Dec 2012 6:32 am

Thank you all for the replies. I'll definitely look into all of your recommendations.

Herb, yessir. I am planning on attending the jamboree. I guess first I need to join TSGA and get my tickets. Looking forward to meeting a lot of you there.

Jason Putnam · Post by **Jason Putnam** » 22 Dec 2012 6:38 am

As a Stage One owner I'll tell you it's a great guitar! And Doug is a great guy to deal with. I use a Ernie Ball pedal and it works ok until I can afford a Hilton. As far as the amp, in my experience I would get a pedal steel amp if you can swing it now. That was one of the most frustrating things for me. I had a Peavy Delta Blues amp when I started. I hated not being able to get the tone that I was hearing from other steel guitars. I later traded it for a Nashville 112. What a difference!!! Good luck with the journey! It never ends!!!

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 22 Dec 2012 6:54 am

If you can afford it, you might want to get a Stage 2. Right now it won't make any difference, but down the road you will most likely want to experiment with different pedal or knee lever setups. The Stage 2 lets you do that. The Stage one does not.

Brett Barton · Post by **Brett Barton** » 22 Dec 2012 7:03 am

Mike, whats the price difference between a stage one and stage two?

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 22 Dec 2012 9:10 am

Doug should be along shortly to answer. I just tried searching.
BTW, they decided to call it the "Encore" instead of Stage 2.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 22 Dec 2012 10:19 am

Donny said:

A few players (like me) put the volume pedal back several inches from the pedal board, and don't fasten it to anything. So for them, front jacks aren't really a problem.

Same here, and although I see more that put them close to or attached to the pedal bar, I also see many that don't. I (and my leg/ankle) prefer to have my leg make a 90 degree right angle at the knee rather that the slight forward angle required if the pedal is farther forward.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 22 Dec 2012 10:54 am

Brett Barton wrote:Mike, whats the price difference between a stage one and stage two?

I'm sorry, I don't know.

Brett Day · Post by **Brett Day** » 22 Dec 2012 12:00 pm

There's another Zumsteel called the Encore, and it's kinda like the StageOne steel

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 22 Dec 2012 12:33 pm

Brett Day wrote:There's another Zumsteel called the Encore, and it's kinda like the StageOne steel

The Encore is the stage 2. Out Friend Lane pointed that out.

I know everybody likes the stage one, but I must say the fact that the copedant is fixed disturbs me. It might not matter to a newbie, but there comes a point where we all want to tinker with the copedants. I would not want a guitar in which that's not possible. The fact that the Encore does allow for that kind of tinkering is in my opinion, a big plus.

Is there anybody here who has been playing 5 years or more who has not experimented with different setups?

Peter J. Faith · Post by **Peter J. Faith** » 22 Dec 2012 7:17 pm

The Stage one is an excellent instrument. It will help you understand the pedal steel well, then when you need a more expensive guitar you will know what you want. I have had mine since July and play it every day for about 2 hours. That nice fat sound you want is a lot in the amplifier and how you adjust it. I am using a Nashville 400. It sounds great, I made a volume and tone box for it. I also made an armrest (clamp on), that helps as well. With all you have to learn, you might not need a volume pedal as of yet. I have both a light (light bulb type) version and a Pot version of the Goodrich 120, both sound good. Don't let the picking get you down.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 22 Dec 2012 11:38 pm

ISTR the Stage One is a pull-release guitar and the Encore is all-pull

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 23 Dec 2012 1:07 am

Bill Moore · Post by **Bill Moore** » 23 Dec 2012 6:41 am

Stage One...949.00
Encore...1499.00

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