Sneaky's Bag of Tricks

[John Larson]

On Linda Ronstadt's rendition of "Rock Me On the Water" Sneaky Pete's part has this very mellow quality to it almost harp like in timbre.
What's the secret?
Dump the fingerpicks?
Pick further up the fretboard?
Some secret from Sneaky's multi pickup steel?
Laying back on the volume pedal?
https://youtu.be/EbqDZKbDdP4[/b]

[K Maul]

Pete always used fingerpicks so that’s not it. He hardly touched his volume pedal, either. Not sure if he had his phase 90 on for this. Maybe he used the pickup closest to the neck or set the pickups out of phase. He just had a way about blending in and enhancing the song, sometimes in a subtle way that was very “non pedal steel”.

[Donny Hinson]

I'd attribute it to amp settings..and picking away from the pickup, along with judicious use of the volume control. It's also dry (a rarity for Pete), with lots of palm harmonics.

So much is possible when you stop trying to play what you hear, stop trying to play like everyone else, and instead try playing what you imagine.

[John Larson]

I'd attribute it to amp settings..and picking away from the pickup, along with judicious use of the volume control. It's also dry (a rarity for Pete), with lots of palm harmonics.

So much is possible when you stop trying to play what you hear, stop trying to play like everyone else, and instead try playing what you imagine.

My hunch is that he was picking above the 2nd octave range of the fretboard for easy access to the palm harmonics. Seems a correct guess Greg Leisz does this as well on certain tunes and Sneaky is one of his influences.

[Skip Edwards]

Pete recorded direct most of the time, if not always. And that was before all the devices we have now that make recording a steel direct sound good...

[Tucker Jackson]

Part of Pete's mellow timbre is related to his B6 tuning, which is lower than the typical E9 guitar. Almost like a 'baritone steel.'

https://b0b.com/wp/copedents/famous-players/#B6pk

There have been several of his parts I've tried to mimic the tone of, but it's really hard without that lower-pitched tuning. And probably, without a Fender steel.

[Tom Higgins]

Are palm harmonics"fretted" with the heel of the right hand? Sounds like it would be difficult to be accurate w/ the contact point.

[Tucker Jackson]

Are palm harmonics" fretted" with the heel of the right hand? Sounds like it would be difficult to be accurate w/ the contact point.

Yes, you use the edge of the hand, like doing a quick down-and-up karate chop, while picking with the thumb.

It's not that hard if you have your hand at the correct fret. And even if you are a little off from the exact ideal position, it can still chime, though softer.

The harmonic that's '12 frets above' the bar is the easiest one to produce ('7 frets above' is softer). Also, it's a good idea to put a little extra downward pressure on the bar to get a good harmonic.

Here's a trick to at least getting you in the ball park of where to put your right hand. Let's say you're in the key of G at the 3rd fret and you want to hit a harmonic 12 frets above that (your hand would touch the string at fret 15).

Rather than thinking about moving the edge of your hand one octave above the bar (to fret 15), think about where your thumb would be if you did that. For the size and posture of my hand, if I put the thumb in what would be the pedals-down fret, it gets me into the correct position. For example, the pedals-down version of a G chord is at the 10th fret. Pick there with my thumb, and the edge of the hand strikes at fret 15.

If the bar is in the 5th fret (open "A" position), the thumb would be in fret 12 (pedals-down "A" position). Etc. If your hand is larger than mind, you might have to slide it an inch to the left of the thumb-locator spot I'm using.... will be a little different for everyone so experiment.