Future of Pedal Steel Guitar

[Bill Duncan]

It may be only my perception but I sense a real downturn in the amount of pedal steel used today. Since a fairly large amount of opinions have been expressed and discussed on this forum over the years, I feel it should be fair to ask for opinions as to the future of the Pedal Steel Guitar.

Will it continue as it is now or will its utilization in music increase?

Will, there ever be PSGs built-in the numbers like MSA did at one time. I remember reading or hearing once that MSA built 2600 guitars in one year. I don't think so, but maybe a builder is shipping those kinds of numbers now.

Are PSGs best years behind or yet to come?

[Bob Carlucci]

It was a passing musical instrument "craze" that had a decent run.. It will always be around, perhaps even featured in some very popular music here and there...

It is versatile, and some will always take the time to learn it... same way there are some today that learn to play accordian, tenor banjo, oboe, or soprano sax.... its a great instrument, but in my opinion it is pretty long past its peak popularity, and is more of a specialty instrument as opposed to a mainline instrument... I dislike the term "niche", but am beginning to think the word applies to pedal steel... I know I'll get a lot of disagreement, but believe me, I have lived it, and was around in 72 and if you could play a I IV V chord progression on a pedal steel, even only halfway in tune, you had your choice of working bands that would compete hard to obtain your services.... bob

[Ken Metcalf]

Part of the situation is that Rock has all but disappeared and merged with or has taken over country.
Pop country has a lot of screaming guitars that kids like. Kids are most of the pop music market.
You guys remember... Right. LOL

[Colin Swinney]

I think the future of pedal steel is in hover pedal steels.

Seriously though, I agree 100% with Bob. Steel centered country music had its cultural moment, like jazz, Brit pop, or disco, and now it’s just an influence that is felt through various artists keeping it alive.

Not a bad thing, it’s just a normal evolution for any popular music genre.

[Donny Hinson]

Pedal steels are getting increasingly complicated and expensive, I don't think that that bodes well for the future of the instrument. Add to that the increasing lack of standardization and the substantial time necessary to become proficient, and I think we can all see where it's going. It happens to everything that becomes more expensive, more complicated, and harder to use.

[Dave Hopping]

Since it's New Years' Day (Happy New Year, y'all!), our thoughts turn toward what was and what will be...

One thing we do know about past predictions of present circumstances is that they're only occasionally on the mark. What I think about the future of pedal steel guitar is that it depends on a set of events that may or may not take place. That would be whether the collective unconscious continues to embrace or turn away from the increasing use of artificial intelligence to do what mechanical devices have done in the past, and secondly whether live dance music continues to fade into the woodwork or (somehow!) has a resurgence.

Of course, my preference is for doing things mechanically AND live dance music again becoming " a thing". I've always thought that PSG as a mechanical device could do just about anything the computer nerds could dream up--and make it sound like real music!

[Larry Baker]

My opinion is this: as the number of Pedal Steel shows are
are not around any more, and clubs are not having bands, places to play are just not there. I haven't played in over two years. Hope it gets better.

[John Palumbo]

I think Steel Guitar will always be around but I think it's future it will never be as popular as it once was or is now.
In my younger days I used to love to watch & enjoy traditional country music, seeing those stars with their bands and most if not all having a steel guitar making that great music that is now pretty much gone. And although back in those days' country music was not as popular as pop or rock, Steel Guitar had more visibility albeit to a limited audience but still much more visible than it is today. It just doesn't have the exposure it once had making its future limited. (IMHO)

[Allan Revich]

Speaking as a strictly non-pedal player, it seems like there has been a recent increase of interest in lap steel. Prices are increasing and more posts are showing up in guitar forums.

Since many pedal steel players have lap steel guitars as their “gateway drug” introduction to pedal steel, it’s possible that the pedal steel world will also see a new generation of players coming on board soon.

[Marc Jenkins]

The last live show I played (November) had an audience of about 50 20-somethings. I talked to two guys who had just picked up their first steel, and gave my card to two others interested, both women.

I feel that if you only look at throwback country, you’re not going to see that the instrument is not necessarily in decline. It’s perhaps evolving, which while less good for country, is better for the instrument in the long run, I think.

[Dave Mudgett]

People have been predicting the gradual demise of pedal steel guitar for a long time. The subject has come up over a period of decades, including very recently, a very long time ago, and all points in between - just a handful of examples, there are lots more:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=372662

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=324785

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=342352

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=236500

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8513

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=26665

IMO, pedal steel has always been a specialty instrument for people who do and think a bit differently than your average guitar slinger. But I'll bet there are a lot more pedal steel players around than 50 years ago. I think the classic country world way back when was a pretty insular world, relative to the rest of the music world, and I think pedal steel has moved out quite a bit since then.

I think all of this is something to celebrate. But my opinion - if one is stuck in the mindset that there's nothing worth playing on pedal steel besides pre-1980 country music, I think the opportunities are gonna be very limited indeed.

[Ron Hogan]

I have worked hard here in Nashville to get my steel to sound like a TUBA. Work has picked up!

[Mike Holder]

We’ll get it while you can Ron; I’ve heard the only difference between a chainsaw and a pedal steel is “ vibrato”!

[Jon Snyder]

I always thought steel pedal guitars were like pianos, in that they all played the same...mostly. I only learned they were all different after joining this forum a few months ago. And I've played six-string guitar on and off for 50 years.

That said, I don't agree that all those differences have resulted in the lower usage of steel in music today. When Country & Western music was replaced with Country music the alarm bells probably started to go off somewhere. It is probably still an old school instrument to everyone that listens to music and does not play an instrument.

I have listened to some newer (post Urban Cowboy) songs mentioned here on the forum and to an untrained steel guitar fan, I have trouble telling a steel from a six-string most of the time. In older C&W music that was never an issue. Perhaps in trying to blend into the new style of country music it is becoming a kind of death spiral.

I think at some point some performers are going to sense that and ask where that sound went. When that happens there will be a new era of steel sound in music.

[Donny Hinson]

Will it continue as it is now or will its utilization in music increase?

Will, there ever be PSGs built-in the numbers like MSA did at one time. I remember reading or hearing once that MSA built 2600 guitars in one year. I don't think so, but maybe a builder is shipping those kinds of numbers now.

Are PSGs best years behind or yet to come?

I think how it's used is far more important. If it's used more often, but only as a "filler" or thematic instrument, I still see that as a downward turn. (Others may disagree.) Without a commanding presence, it will stay a rarely-used niche instrument.

As far as the numbers built, MSA was definitely doing a couple hundred a month for awhile, and even Sho~Bud did that many occasionally. But I don't think you'll see that again because we're moving farther away from any standardization, and that kind of quandary can only be addressed in two ways. One, of course, would be to come up with a "standard" setup, one that most all players would use. And the second way would be to come up with a guitar like the old Fender, where setup changes could be made very quickly and easily. China could make a Fender 800 copy for a very reasonable price (Under $1,000), but the volume of projected sales would still likely be too low to warrant the investment.
Regretfully, I don't see either of those possibilities happening.

I'm not a cynic, but I think I'm more pragmatic and objective than most. In addition, I think the mindset of most players nowadays is simply not very conducive to bringing new blood into the flock.

[Ron Pruter]

I ordered some fish $ chips from a Chinese restaurant recently and all I got was fish

[Darrell Criswell]

It is interesting to me that I still hear quite a bit of steel and dobro in movie scores and for television shows. Not much on on other recordings.

[Roger Rettig]

It's been a while since a major hit record had a prominent 'signature' contribution from a steel-player. It's a trend of sorts, I suppose, that might possibly reverse itself to where things were in the '90s when steel was everywhere.

It's occurred to me that the reason for 'A list' players turning to teaching of late could be due to a downturn in their day jobs. The industry has changed, and the same technology that accommodates online tuition has surely affected studio work. I wonder how many steel players are rushing from session to session on any given day, as was once the case.

The arrival of Randy Travis and Ricky Skaggs wrought a change about thirty years ago; it seemed to bring the Nashville execs to their senses. Maybe something similar is just around the corner?

[Al Evans]

Pedal steels are getting increasingly complicated and expensive....

The more-or-less $1800 cost of a nice D10 pedal steel with 8 pedals and 4 knee levers in 1972 would be equivalent to about $12,000 today. And my new-ish pedal steels are no more complicated than was my 1975 MSA Classic, unless you count the split screws on two of them. But those could be considered a simplification.

It's occurred to me that the reason for 'A list' players turning to teaching of late could be due to a downturn in their day jobs.

Or maybe they've just realized they're getting old, and that teaching on the internet is a lot less physically demanding than touring or "rushing from session to session on any given day".

--Al Evans

[Darrell Criswell]

Eddie Stubbs has documented the decline of country music very well with the British Inasvion. I may have the exact numbers wrong but beginning in 1963/64 top ten records with a fiddle solo or intro ended.

[Lee Gauthier]

I'm actually one of the new steel players Marc Jenkins mentioned from his November show. I do production and play in a few bands and my last 3 projects have been super enthusiastic about using Lap or Pedal steel. Of course no one is really doing country stuff, and one young folk artist didn't know what a steel guitar was but said "Oh my god, Thats the sound!".

Among my friends I can think of at least 3 more who are taken by steel guitar, but price and availability are the biggest reason they haven't started. There is a GFI at one of the music stores in town, but after tax it's be almost $3k which is obviously a big ask for a first instrument.

I think laps or laps with palm benders could be a way in for folks, I started on lap steel a long time ago and moved through a gretch I modified with benders before a pedal steel finally came up for sale in town. Good way to find out if the bar is for you at a much lower price point...

[Lee Gauthier]

Also wanted to point out my friends in Peach Pit who have been sharing lap steel a lot recently in a their social media posts. My fingers are crossed their next record uses a bunch. Something like that could be a big catalyst for a lot of young people starting with the instrument. They are on Sony and have a huge reach in the Teens and 20 somethings age groups.

[Brooks Montgomery]

I think acoustic guitar builders were worried a few years ago about the same thing.
And now players abound, and sales are booming.
I believe that any increase in interest in music and the instruments that make that music, will increase interest in steel. After all, it sounds the coolest.

[Dustin Rigsby]

I'm actually one of the new steel players Marc Jenkins mentioned from his November show. I do production and play in a few bands and my last 3 projects have been super enthusiastic about using Lap or Pedal steel. Of course no one is really doing country stuff, and one young folk artist didn't know what a steel guitar was but said "Oh my god, Thats the sound!".

Among my friends I can think of at least 3 more who are taken by steel guitar, but price and availability are the biggest reason they haven't started. There is a GFI at one of the music stores in town, but after tax it's be almost $3k which is obviously a big ask for a first instrument.

I think laps or laps with palm benders could be a way in for folks, I started on lap steel a long time ago and moved through a gretch I modified with benders before a pedal steel finally came up for sale in town. Good way to find out if the bar is for you at a much lower price point...

And yet there is one builder who says that pedal steels aren’t expensive enough! I think a standard guitar and setup, along with standard teaching material would go a long way. I really think John Fabian was onto something with the Carter Starter and the Magnum by Carter line that he started. The story about that is somewhere here on the forum. I started playing pedal steel about 18 years ago. It’s easy to learn, but tough to master.

[Lee Gauthier]

For what it's worth I think the value of pro level instruments is crazy especially when you consider how mechanically simple a 6 string guitar is and they easily hit the same prices. I'm more just commenting that the only locally available option is way above what most young musicians could afford to jump into an instrument that is notoriously hard. Easy to learn hard to master describes most instruments in my experience

I think a carter starter or brisco bud are in a good price range. If something like that was available where I live I probably would have started playing 10 years sooner. Even the GFI in town only appeared in the past few months.