Is it too late to start learning pedal steel?

[Lindell Thomas]

I started playing PSG when I was 70 now I'm 79. In my humble opinion age never presents a limit. To me, it's a matter of how badly a person wants to learn something new and his or her's physical ability. Good luck if you choose to learn.

[Ron Funk]

Just like a lot of things in Life,
The best day to start was Yesterday.

But one day late isn't too bad.

[Philip Mitrakos]

. .

[Mark Peters]

A somewhat contrary view:

When I started in my early 50's, I told my mentor (who shall remain nameless) that I had saved it for my old age. He said "that was a mistake," and when I asked why, he said: "You won't live long enough to be any good."

13 years later; so far he's still right.

But that is not a reason not to start. I've loved (almost) every minute of it.

[Don McKinley]

Hi David,
I can tell by your playing in the video link that you posted, you won't have any problem at all getting up to speed within several years for sure and maybe faster. The process will also be outrageously fun.

I recommend that you make a selection of three or four great recordings by the artists that you'd like to emulate and copy them note for note. That'll make a great foundation. Also make sure, for the tunes that you pick, that your copedant is correct for what you want to do. There are many full recordings on YouTube of songs that are great for this purpose. If you have questions about the co-pedent you can message the particular artist or ask some of the other people on this forum because they will know.

I'm partial to straight ahead country and so that's what I'm doing with some tunes by Paul Franklin with Vince Gil and Mike Johnson playing with a number of other artists.

I'm 67 and started PSG at your age. I started music with guitar and bluegrass banjo in high school. I played dobro in a bluegrass band for maybe 5 years. I play some fiddle. My improvisation is not so good so most of what I do is rehearsed pretty well prior to playing with others.

PSG was on my bucket list for 50 years. I finally decided I'd like to give it a try so I actually rented a Paul Franklin PSG and copied it. It was a big project but I have the Craftsman skills. I made a posting here on the Forum of my process building the instrument and so if you search on my name you'll pull it up fast cuz I haven't made many other postings. I'm having a blast playing it and you will too if you decide to go down that route

Best,
Don

[Jeffrey Beers]

Hi. I’m 65 and I bought my first pedal steel in September. If you are a guita4 player and have played some dobro and have just a taste of theory, jump in. There are a ton of videos on YouTube and the guys on this platform will answer even your dumbest questions.

Once, you figure a few things out, like how the thing works and how to tune,, it gets fun very quickly. If you like making “sounds”, you will have a blast. I’m just now getting into the “I’m going to be able to do this” stage….with a lot of play.

The only advice I can offer you is to find a good, used, professional grade guitar that will stay in tune and not flop around like a suspension bridge when you hit the pedals.

Get a D10 or U12. Pay attention to the volume pedal and tuner that might come with. Good stuff is always a pleasure to use.

I found a 2004 D10 GFI Ultra with a Hilton pedal and Peterson strobe. I drove five hours each way to pick it up.

Do it!

[Bill McCloskey]

I turn 69 in a few months and am now about 3 months in the Pedal Steel Journey. My initial guitar was and is a 12 String Williams Ext E9, but I recently acquired a Sho-bud D10.

First for anyone considering taking the plunge: do it. It is easily the most fun I've had learning a new instrument. All my worries (being non-mechanical, bad feet, two replaced knees) that I would physically be unable to play it or that it would be beyond my limited brain power to even tune the thing, all have turned out to not be an issue.

Some thoughts on being a newbie: Find a guitar that is the right size for you. I had to have the legs of the sho-bud cut down before I was really able to get behind it with anything approaching accessibility. And even though my first Pedal was a 12 string universal, I've barely played it since getting the D10. I would really recommend going for the D10 E9/C6 and having as common a setup as possible, especially to take advantage of Paul Franklin's Method and other great instructional sites (Travis Toy, Doug Jernigan) which are really helpful. Another great resource for me has been Casey Saulpaugh's books.

But for me the biggest eye opener is how much fun I'm having just making noise. And even after 3 months or so, I can see myself playing out doing simple stuff with friends in the not too distant future. I wake every morning excited to play and I play on and off until it is time for bed.

My only regret is: not starting sooner. It is never too late.