The Steel Guitar Forum

Hello all! Longtime lurker here finally registered to the new site. I have a question about arthritis and playing pedal steel. I have arthritis and carpal tunnel. Currently I do not own a psg, but have been itching to get one. I play guitar and slide, and it gets tougher and tougher to play with my hands and wrists the way they are. I still play out quite a bit and rehearse 2x a week, but I am becoming more and more limited and more sloppy.


- How rough is playing pedal steel on the hands/wrists?

- I am sure that proper positioning and posture helps, but what advice do you all with similar ailments have?

- I was hoping to find a cheaper used or maybe go the Carter Starter, then I thought about wrist rests (if that's what the are called). Do I def need a psg with a wrist rest?

Thanks in advance!
Frank

hi Frank

i think what you are looking for is an SD-10
it has what you might be calling a wrist pad
it is a single neck on a double body with pad where the 2nd neck would normally be hence the term sd-10 s (single neck) D (double body) 10 (10 strings)
with the problems you stated i would think that a used pro model would be your best bet because they can be adjusted to the point that they require much less movment of the pedals and knee levers than a student model, however having said that,
if you must get a student model one of the best by far is the Zum stage one. it is very close in price to other student models and comes close to being a pro model

Welcome to the Forum, Frank. I'm sure there will be a lot of people ready to help you with this. It would seem it depends somewhat on just how the Arthritis effects, which joints, etc. I have arthritis now in my finger joints of the left hand, and is causing some trouble, due to the bar being somewhat weighty; at this point can't play for long periods of time. The pad "wrist rest" as you call it, is a big help to me, but mostly for the right hand, not the left because the left hand has to move up and down the neck a lot. Some guys say it is not good playing posture or form to rest the wrists, anyway. Also, a light or hollow bar may be a help. Anyway some of the other guys probably can be of more help. Good luck and go for it

Welcome Frank,from Alabama,The guys are right a guitar with the arm rest would help,also if holding a bar in your left hand would be a problem,Chuck Brattain makes a bar with a ring on top to put your finger through to control the bar,go to the links here on the forum and you can find his link.Hope this helps and good luck,don't you know.

Thank you guys!! Glad I asked!!

Hey Frank. FWIW, there are several steelers here who are guitarists who took up steel for that very reason. There are also several steelers who are struggling to play steel because of carpal/arthritis kinds of stuff. So there's no one answer but steel playing is, for sure, easier on some of those body parts that can get messed up by git picking. There's a convention in Norwalk in November:
http://www.psga.org/
This doesn't tend to be a manufacturer's showcase event like some of the other conventions but I see that Jerry Fessenden will be there picking (and presumably with guitars to show?). Carter was there a few years ago.
It would be a good opportunity for you to breathe in some steel air and pick some brains. But here on the forum will do you just fine too as far as brain picking.

Frank,
Feel free to get in touch. . If you want to visit you are welcome to drop by and sit down with a few different steels so you can see whats going on in person.

I'm down in Brooklyn. You might want to lookup John Widgren in Wilton CT also.

Thanks again guys, you are great!

Stan Paxton,Just noticed what you said about your left hand,the bar I told Frank about may help you.Just go to the links here to manf go to Brattain products,they have a picture on their site.May help you ,don't you know.

Frank, I have more arthritis in more joints than I care to mention. I had the right shoulder joint replaced and while I can pick block, it's still troublesome to roll my right hand to palm block. So far, I've had no luck breaking a "bad habit" with "pain".

Here's that ring that was mentioned to all those who may need it:

http://www.rickalexander.com/BigSteel/C ... ngBar.html

I guess I was also wondering about an ergonomic type tone bar, something like these:




Anyone know of similar ones that maybe are not as easily found online?


Thanks again!!