The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey Raybob!

Finally got to check the E when the A&B pedals are activated. My Peterson StroboFlip said it dropped .8 cents.

Marty

Hi Ric...You can buy a lift kit from Steel Guitar Nashville. Hit the "Links" tab at the top of the page and then click on "Vendors & Instruction". I bought a one inch kit awhile back and I think he sells two inch kits as well...Bob

Ric Truett wrote:Can knee levers be moved - if so it is really hard to do? I have some structural problems with my left leg, and find that when I sit in a comfortable position to use everything else (pedals, other knee levers, reach the strings, etc) I am not in a good position to use the LKL lever.

I am borrowing a friend's steel and would NEVER do anything mechanical to it! I just need to know if this can be accomplished when I get my own steel.

Also I'm a big man (6'3" 300 lbs) and it seems like I need a "taller" steel if that even exists. My friend let out the adjustable back legs a little bit just so I could get under it, which of course tilted the steel forward a bit. Can one buy a "taller" steel?

These may be stupid questions but I truly do not know...

Ric,

No such thing as a stupid question here.

I ordered two knee lever kits from Wayne Link in Winnipeg, and installed them yesterday. I installed the LKL too far over towards the tuning pegs. Since my old Semi-Classic MSA S-10 had extra holes drilled for more levers and pedals, I detached the rod screws, loosened the bell-cranks, and slid the shaft out of the wrong hole, then reversed the procedure to place it two holes to the right. These extra holes aren't apparent unless you look under the guitar, or take the cabinet plate (faces your belly).

Bear in mind that your guitar may be set-up differently.

Steve

Marty DuBois wrote:Hey Raybob!

Finally got to check the E when the A&B pedals are activated. My Peterson StroboFlip said it dropped .8 cents.

Marty

Hey Marty,

How does it sound to your ear? Did you recognize this (or any other tuning changes) aurally?

Thank you,

Johnne Lee

Hey guys,

JUst wanted to get in here with a question. I'm new to the forum and to pedal steel. I've got Bob Simmons building a Genisis Econo SD10 for me,should be done in a few weeks.Does anyone have some suggestions on what to do or what to get or what to expect in my first pedal steel.Thanks for helping a new guy.

Hi Todd...Welcome to the SGF! Congrats on your new steel! The first thing I'd do would be to get to know your rig from a mechanical perspective. The most basic being how to to tune the strings, pedals, and knee levers. The Carter website has some good starter info as well as how to change the strings. Then comes the bar and finger picks. The 7/8's bar is standard. I bought some pricey Perfect Touch fingerpicks. I feel they're the best.
Then there's the volume pedal and amp. By this time people are running out of money! There was a recent post about Vox amps. On the search feature, type in Vox and it should come up. This appears to be a great entry amp and isn't all that pricey.
You may want to repost your original question as a new thread. Sometimes things get buried here in Beginner's Corner and the response is marginal. Do you play other instruments?

Todd, if you have not already lined up an instructor or purchased other psg education material, I would highly recommend investing in some of the Jeff Newman courses. Three in particular are 1) "Pedal Steel Guitar Techniques", 2)"The Right Hand Alpha", and 3) "Up From the Top". I feel that courses 1 and 2 are well worth the price as they get very basic about things, and provide some techniques which can be beneficial as you progress. Course 3 is good once you have at least some basic understanding of things. Though at this point for myself, I am still working through all 3 and they all complement one another as you progress. I know the cost of thoses courses is a bit pricey, but they are very well done, and can be referenced again and again.

What Chuck said. You can`t go rong with "Jeff Newman".

I might have given the wrong impression.I started fooling around with guitars when I was around the age of 13 and off and on ever since. I'm only 29years old now. Been playing a six string lap steel for about 9months and ready to dive into the pedal steel.Bob I appreciate the kind advice.Bobbe seymour and his crew have already hooked me up with the essentials, a peavey 112,goodrich L120,etc.,etc. Chuck, thanks your input as well. I've been looking at the newman courses, they just seem to be the best most comprehensive materials around. Anyway, I guess I do as Bob suggested and start a new topic on the simmons psg and anybody thats puchased one.

I purchased a new peavey 112 amp about a month ago and it must have gremlins in it When you turn it on it emits a very loud pop. I mean very loud. Then it makes a loud sound like a wave crashing on a beach. The guitar sounds very good through the amp once it's on but it has a lot of hum even from the humbucking pickup on my remington non-pedal. This is my first peavey and it is has been disappointing. Anybody else ever run into these problems with a peavey?

I have been playing an S8 non-pedal console since the first of the year and have really been enjoying it but I just had to try the pedals. I bought a nice psg and started taking lessons and practicing on the psg last week. Boy, I don't know about this. I was playing pretty well on the non-pedal and it seemed natural and fun. The psg feels like driving an old straight stick truck with bad suspension. This may be a bridge too far!!!!!!!!!

Jim, no gremlins in my nashville112. Its quiet as a mouse when you turn it on.

Thats what I thought. I am calling Peavey in the morning.

i haven't been on the forum in a while now nor do i intend to comment very often
with that said i would like to offer a small bit of advise to the new players trying to learn to play the pedal steel,
get your hands on Jeff Newmans "just play the melody"
take your time and learn it well , it will make huge improvements in your playing and your understanding of how things work together

i haven't been on the forum in a while now nor do i intend to comment very often
with that said i would like to offer a small bit of advise to the new players trying to learn to play the pedal steel,
get your hands on Jeff Newmans "just play the melody"
take your time and learn it well , it will make huge improvements in your playing and your understanding of how things work together..

sorry for the double post

Jim Waldrop wrote:I purchased a new peavey 112 amp about a month ago and it must have gremlins in it When you turn it on it emits a very loud pop. I mean very loud. Then it makes a loud sound like a wave crashing on a beach. The guitar sounds very good through the amp once it's on but it has a lot of hum even from the humbucking pickup on my remington non-pedal. This is my first peavey and it is has been disappointing. Anybody else ever run into these problems with a peavey?

Call Peavey or post over in the electronics section of this forum where there is a very helpful Peavey rep by the name of Mike Brown, as well as some other very knowledgeable amp dudes. Put Peavey in the thread title. "Peavey Nash 112 Problem" for example.

The "wave crashing on the beach" component of your problem sounds like a problem with the reverb. I have no idea what kind of reverb Peavey uses but check the back of your amp and see if there is some kind of connection from "reverb tank" to amp and see if one of those connectors isnt loose or something. best of luck.

Calvin, I just recently got the Jeff Newman "Up from the Top" course. I was actually gonna get the "Just Play the Melody" as I'm trying to follow the courses in sequence. When I was talking to Mrs. Newman about which course to get next, she reccommended the "Up from the Top" in place of the "Just Play the Melody". And I questioned her on it, but she insisted that I should go with the "Up from the Top", which I did. Maybe my next one will be the "Just Play the Melody". I would welcome input from others that might have taken both of the course and can give a comparison of the two. Don't get me wrong though, the "Up from the Top" is a good course and I'm not sorry I bought it.

-Chuck

Chuck

from a raw beginers stand point i found that up from the top was in many ways over my head so to speak
keep one thing in mind fran does not play steel (or not that i ever heard of ) what the just play the melody
does do IF you really work thru it
it gets you up and running once you study and pratice it till its 2nd nature to you
and can transpose it to any key playing the steel starts to make a lot more sense

as always your freind
calvin

Calvin, thanks for the input. I probably should also have mentioned that prior to me getting the "Up from the Top", I had bought as a set "Pedal Steel Guitar Techniques" and "The Right Hand Alpha". Yes I would agree with you that the "Up From The Top" would be a little too much as my first course. I would also highly recommend the two I began with ("Pedal Steel Guitar Techniques" and "The Right Hand Alpha") as they cover a lot of very basic stuff and attempt to establish some very basic techniques to build from.

-Chuck

I've heard so many great things about the newman materials. I just wish they werent so expensive or that there was a shorter less expensive version of one of the up from the top courses so a fellow could get a taste before plunking down the big bucks.

Yeah, it would be nice if they ran specials on those once in a while. I would think they could reduce the price a little at this point. Maybe there is someone in the Seatle area that has the course that you could borrow for a while. Although once you see the course I think you will agree that it is worth paying the money to get your own copy.

-Chuck

even a short two minute youtube sample of one of the videos, or all of em for that matter would be very helpful. The Jeffran College site should consider hosting some short clips IMHO.

I have spoken with the peavey rep and the company I bought the amp from. It does appear to be a reverb problem. The company I bought the amp from is handling the problem so everything will be ok. I will be without the 112 for a while until the back ordered ones arrive. I have a kustom amp that will do until then. Thanks for the advice.

About my previous post about the psg learning difficulty. I have already learned how to play 8 string, C6, non-pedal and my right and left hand technique are fine. Palm and pick blocking are also fine. Most important of all I have a great teacher. What spooks me is the pedals and knees. I guess that will come with time. I like non-pedal so much that I spend most of my practice time with my non-pedal guitars. As I get more comfortable with the psg that will probably change. I will supplement the private teaching with other material so all the info on the forum is much appreciated.

Jim,On the loud pop and reverb sound problem at turn on. This is usualy a problem that occurs when you turn on the amp with the volume or drive turned up on the amp or instrument. If all volume and drive controls are not turned off at turn on, you stand to damage your amp and, or your speaker.
James