The Steel Guitar Forum

I see a lot of dealers that have a new guitar for sale, and with what I would think is a somewhat outdated 3X4 setup on E9. It appears that 3X5 is more the norm, and 4X5 is gaining ground. What are your thoughts?

Well, I put 4 pedals and 5 knees, but it would actually be 4 pedals and 6 knee levers.

You didn't go far enough with your choices. I vote for 5 pedals and 6 knee levers.

I think that if a player is going to invest, get it all ! Grow into the guitar not past it... I would like to add a 6th lever for my 4+5 I just don't know where to physically mount it. I would like to drop 6 a full tone on the 6th lever...Yes I have that on the 4th ped ( 5,6 and 10) but also want it by it's little own self.

t

If I bought a guitar today, it would be a 12 string ext E9th with 5x5, or 5x6
I guess that leaves me out of the polling stats.
sorry
However I do presently own one with 3x5
Rick

If I would buy a new steelguitar it would be one with four pedals and five knee levers

4 pedals, 5 knees for me. It'd be great for casual gigs where lugging in one of my double 10's is hard, and I wouldn't be doubling on keyboards. I'd play out of my Peavy Classic 30, since I wouldn't need my big old Vegas 400. - Jack

I'd go 5+5 for personal use but I recommend 3+4 for students. I've pretty much standardized on 5+5 as the max that my brain can handle. 3+4 is plenty for anyone who's been playing 5 years or less IMHO. It takes about 5 years to get your reflexes working right for 3+4 movements. Guitars should be expandable to at least 4+5.

I voted 4+5.

5 pedals, 6 knees. Need them or not to play out with, the joy of having extra pedals and knees for experimenting with is priceless. Not to mention that these will give you extra rod pullers and tuners should you want to add an extra pull and change things around.
I started playing PSG at age 17 and with a 8+5 setup and within a few weeks my dad had made me two more knee levers. Get all the hardware up front!

Greg

Tony said:

I think that if a player is going to invest, get it all ! Grow into the guitar not past it... I would like to add a 6th lever for my 4+5 I just don't know where to physically mount it. I would like to drop 6 a full tone on the 6th lever...Yes I have that on the 4th ped ( 5,6 and 10) but also want it by it's little own self.

accent added by me.

Amen Tony. I have that setup on my guitar and having the 6th string lower by itself (apart form the Franklin Pedal) is great. It is my 3rd most used lever after the E raises and lowers. I have it on my RKR (opposite knee of the E to D# changes which it combines with). It would be worth trying a 2nd LKL or something and move some other change to it to make room for the 6th string change if necessary.

b0b wrote:...I've pretty much standardized on 5+5 as the max that my brain can handle...

If I were to stick to how much my brain could handle I'd stay away from pedal steel altogether.

I've been playing pedal steel for a bit less than two years. From previous experience with other instruments, I knew I would want to expand as much as possible with whatever steel I ended up getting.
I settled on a D-10 with 8 pedals and 7 knee levers. One of the levers isn't even connected to anything, and still it's more than I can really play yet. I plan on having it for the rest of my life, and eventually, I'll learn how to use the whole thing. Along the way, it's more fun than I'd be having with a less loaded instrument.

4x5

How about a S-10U 7 X 5


http://b0b.com/tunings/kappen.htm

I have a Shobud, 3 and 6, but would like to ditch the D string, add the low E, and pull the B to D with another lever. Love the guitar, but miss that E that's on my Uni. So,,, 3 and 7.

3+2. I'm a realist in predicting my progress in the second 58 years.

I'm still very new to this, but it doesn't take long to start thinking about what you'd like your steel to do.

May I be the first to suggest versatility over quantity? In other words, I would be happy with 3+4 if they did more. More half-stops, combinations (is that what they call a split?) and so on.

For starters, I'd like a half-stop on the A pedal and one on the E raise lever, so that it could raise to F &/or F#. That would free up the C to do something more useful (I agree with Georg Sørtun on that).

Dennis Shearin wrote:...I'd like a half-stop on the A pedal and one on the E raise lever, so that it could raise to F &/or F#...

Push the pedal half way.

Richard Sinkler wrote:Well, I put 4 pedals and 5 knees, but it would actually be 4 pedals and 6 knee levers.

And a wrist lever.

My latest steel (ext. E9) came with 6 FP and 5 KL....JH in Va.

My P/P has 9 & 7. Jimmy Crawford built it and wanted me to get 10 & 10. When I said I wouldn't know what to do with all of them he said "when you get used to it, you won't know what to do without them. He was mostly right but 9 & 7 can get confusing even after 34 years. I guess I'm a slow learner.

I went for 4+5, but I don't really use the extra floor pedal. I would like to have 6 knee levers, but I don't see how more than 5 can be handled efficiently, at least not by me. I had 6 on my previuos AVM, but could never use the second vertical without activating the other vertical lever as well.

So 3+5 is all I need - but if you're spending 3000+ dollars, why not add another hundred or two to be on the safe side? When you feel like adding levers or pedals, the parts may not be available anymore.

I agree with Greg (Cutshaw) - get the hardware up front. My current #1 guitar has 9 & 9 with 4 & 6 working on the E9 neck & I use them all regularly! #2 has a mere 8 & 9 and it's the same story. If I were shopping for an SD-10 E9 guitar it'd be 5 & 6 so I'd have as many options as possible. And since Rick Schmidt is such a huge proponent of extended E9 I might even consider an SD-12! But get the changes new so you don't have to retrofit 'em later!


Jim

I think that the larger market is for new players, so the question of what should be a "stock E9" configuration should be directed at them. If I were a builder, 3+4 would be my base model. Pedal and knee lever kits would be readily available, and would be easily to install.

I don't believe that 3+4 is "outdated". People like to have more, but they don't need more. From what I've seen and heard, very few people have actually mastered or outgrown the full potential of an E9th with 3+4.