Guitarist tries pedal steel

[Danny Smith]

Howdy folks. I've been lurking, searching and making a few comments here for a couple of months, but never formally introduced myself. I've played guitar, mandolin and bass for many years (mostly acoustic music but also rock, gospel & country). I've recently started gigging in a country band and got a wild hair to try pedal steel. I drove to Nashville a couple of months ago and bought a Derby SD10 from Damir Besic and have been playing non-stop since, even played a paying gig on steel last week. I'm really enjoying learning and playing steel.

Many of you have unknowingly helped me along the way. I have searched for so many things - picks, bars, strings, seats, etc - but the best assistance I've gotten has been from Paul Franklin and Bruce Bouton. I started day one with Paul Franklin's Foundations course for 30 days, then about 3 weeks with Bruce Boutons course. Then I followed that with 6 weeks of insanely intense repertoire prep where I learned close to 50 songs for my first gig. I survived it all and have loved every minute of it.

Here's my progress so far. I know it's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it considering I've been playing about 3 months. This is a song we're working up for a gig in March.

https://youtu.be/UF_iWSxyPOA

[Larry Dering]

Danny,welcome to the fold. Nice beginning. Plan on spending plenty of seat time and listening back to your work.

[Danny Smith]

Thanks Larry.

Seat time is a pleasure. Listening back is kind of tough right now.

But, I guess if I can hear the pitchiness and phrasing stuff I don't like, that means I can fix it eventually, right?

Thanks for replying and the encouragement.

[Larry Jamieson]

Hello Danny, Welcome to the madness, and the Forum. You are making good progress. This is not an instrument that you learn over night. Have fun and feel free to ask questions.