The Steel Guitar Forum

I know the Pedal Steel is a relatively unusual instrument, but here in New Zealand it is literally unheard of.

I have my Linkon D10 set up in the lounge and when anyone visits I usually get a comment like, "What is that?".

My current answer is: "Its a guitar on legs.... I'm lazy."

And before that: "Its my pedal-powered electric guitar."

These are getting a bit tired for me... anyone got some good one-line descriptions?

Trevor.

Larry Bell calls it his electric cheese slicer. Dunno'.

phred

Trevor I have been known to refer to mine as a "Taranaki Gate" ....!!!

It's like bagpipes.......only with strings....I pump my right foot to blow it up and release the bloated undercariage with my other foot...and knees.

"the only thing in the band that sounds good"

Paddy, for the benefit of those of us unfortunate enough not to be New Zealanders, could you explain?

I had to Google it, Brint. It's what we call a "wire gap" in Texas, like a gate without a frame.

I like Steve's answer the best!

I've found that if I tell them what it really is they want to stand there and talk the whole break and I don't get to go pee. If I tell them it's a electric piano they just shake my hand and walk away. LOLOL

JW

Trevor, you will find weird comments all through your steel playing days even in places where they are seen quite frequently. I have had comments like was it a Zither!!! Last I heard was from a very smart dressed woman sitting in front of me at a club I was playing at. In the break, she came up to me and asked "Is that some kind of Piano??"

Micky Byrne United Kingdom

i use to call my steel a cat mangel

An electric table,don't you know.

Ironing board for sadists...

By any other name it is still a "vulgar display of wealth"

Brint - a "Taranaki gate" is a widely used name out this way for a temporary gate, which is usually comprised of stretching lengths of wire across a gap in a fence, with just one pole, or branch off a tree as the steadying bit at the end. This is then attached to the nearest fence post to provide a temporary closing of the gap in the fence!! A lot cheaper than putting in a proper farm gate. Taranaki is a province in NZ which has a high volume of dairy farms !!

I describe my steel as a knitting machine. If you have ever seen an older style knitting machine the similarity is fairly close. Also when I first started to play my kids said it sounded like a strangled cat.

As a guy came up to the bandstand at break-time and asked me, "what kind of piano has strings like that?"
I told him that most all pianos have strings, but this one, you have to play it a little different!
He was satisfied, and walked off...........

It's an electric pitch bending processor.

I'd say, Its a keyboard that sounds a lot better than a piano! Then hit em a lick!

Some guy in a club gave mine a name when he was bragging he new the name of every instrument on stage, he was doing perty good untill he got to the steel and called it a SLIDE PIANO.

steve wins this one!

YAY!

It's an honest question. I usually say that it's a "pedal steel guitar".

What surprises me is that I get the same question about my marimba. I thought everyone knew what a marimba was. I can remember not knowing what a pedal steel was (long ago), but I think I must have learned about xylophones and marimbas at a very early age.

Egg cutter.

When I built my first lap steel in 1963, the other guys at our sessions used to call it the Electric Barbed Wire Fence. ...and the way I played it probably sounded like one...

b0b wrote:...What surprises me is that I get the same question about my marimba...

If you think that's bad, try telling someone you're going to be giving a recital on the Cittern ! And almost everyone I meet thinks a Lute is a wind instrument ! Don't even think about having to explain a Hummel, Kneeharp, Trichordia, Symphonie, Viola da Gamba, Viol, Psaltery, Scheitholdt, Crumhorn, etc. And most people think the word "racket" means noise, not the name of an instrument that makes that noise !

It's a manually operated pitch approximator.