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Steel guitar build for guitarist?

Posted: 28 Oct 2011 1:30 pm
by gary wyatt
my crazy brian just had the thought of having a pedal steel(once i learn it) that I can play standing up .Is this possible You would need pedals more to the front.. mmmmm how would you use knee levers?thow out ideas guys .With moden country they seem to use instruments and just in spots in songs.i know lap steel is option but is minmized without pedals etc

Posted: 28 Oct 2011 1:45 pm
by Bob Vantine
There was a post within the last year of a Sho~Bud like what you seek ....just had taller legs and longer rods for foot pedals .
As far as knee levers ..... :?:

Read about some of the great ideas that have been shared on the forum in the past ..... :idea: looks like anything is possible .

Good Luck !

Posted: 28 Oct 2011 2:40 pm
by David Nugent
Don Worden, Porter's long time steel player had his Sho-Bud set up in that manner. I believe it was an eight string fitted with two pedals.

Posted: 28 Oct 2011 3:45 pm
by Alan Brookes
Not all pedal steel guitars have knee pedals. A lot of good music has been played without them.

As for standing up, you have to support your weight on something. With one foot on the pedals and another foot on the volume control, what's going to hold you up ? :\

Posted: 28 Oct 2011 4:13 pm
by Paul Graupp
Alan: Bob White used to play a triple neck Bigsby while standing and I wrote many years ago about how fascinated I was watching him do what you have described. I think the volume control was usually fully on/down. Truly a legendary sight to behold.

Regards, Paul

Posted: 28 Oct 2011 5:25 pm
by chas smith
Marian Hall played her Bigsby with pedals standing up.
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Posted: 28 Oct 2011 10:31 pm
by CrowBear Schmitt

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 7:29 am
by gary wyatt
now that some awesome stuff... need leg extender and pedal link extenders?

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 9:00 am
by Alan Brookes
No, he needs Marian Hall's legs. :lol:

Notice the modesty curtain around the bottom half of the steel guitar. I find that amusing. If she didn't want people to see her legs why wear a mini skirt ? :eek:

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 11:08 am
by chas smith
Notice the modesty curtain around the bottom half of the steel guitar. I find that amusing. If she didn't want people to see her legs why wear a mini skirt ?
Speedy had one too, for when he wore a mini skirt....

Image

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 2:12 pm
by John Billings
David,

"Don Worden, Porter's long time steel player had his Sho-Bud set up in that manner. I believe it was an eight string fitted with two pedals."

And,,, at first, they were located at the changer end, right foot, of the guitar! Don was getting the first stuff Shot and Buddie were making.

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 4:14 pm
by Butch Pytko
Here's Junior Brown's latest Guit-Steel:

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Posted: 29 Oct 2011 4:57 pm
by Bob Vantine
man :eek: ..... :whoa: could I use one of those 6 strings & bracket 8)

Posted: 30 Oct 2011 8:46 am
by Geoff Cline
That rig Michael Stevens built for Junior is THE FINEST ever for the application. ITs a lot more than just slapping a guitar neck on a PSG. Sounds great too.

Posted: 30 Oct 2011 10:30 am
by Dean Parks
Jerry Fessenden makes a 6 string two-pedal steel with folding legs. You can get it in a stand-up model.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 27497741dc

Posted: 30 Oct 2011 4:08 pm
by Alain-Yves Pigeon
Steve Howe of the prog band Yes played a Sho-Bud standing in 1975. He just had the whole guitar lifted on a small stand and he used the pedals standing up in the song To Be Over (which appears on the album Relayer). I was there in the 2nd row just in front of him, when they came to Montreal (saw the show but could not hear anytbody else than him, much too loud) and have been deeply impressed by the brand of his steel to a point that I bought one some 35 years later, still having a vivid image of the instrument, a Sho-Bud Pro Custom II, like the one I have today... There's a DVD from that era that can be found from time to time on ebay and Amazon called Yes Live at Queen's Park. No knee levers though.

Best to all,

Stand Up Steel

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:57 am
by James Nottage
Todd Clinesmith has done stand-up versions of his pedal steel.

James

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:04 am
by Bob Hoffnar
Check out this steel for guitar players:

http://www.lonestarsteelguitar.com/

Jim Flynn has exactly what you are talking about and does great work.

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 3:23 pm
by gary wyatt
Bob Hoffnar wrote:Check out this steel for guitar players:

http://www.lonestarsteelguitar.com/

Jim Flynn has exactly what you are talking about and does great work.
know theres a intresting steel guitar woinder how high it stands ?

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 6:13 pm
by John Bresler
I had a friend, Chuck Edwards, out in Oregon who played a D-10 Domland standing up. Chuck used a high stool with a back rest and played outstanding pedal steel. If I remember right, he mostly leaned back into the stool. He played a lot of Mooney style.

I really can't remember if Chuck had knee levers or not. This was a time when knee levers weren't in high demand. Kind of shows my age!!

8)

Posted: 31 Oct 2011 6:55 pm
by Bob Hoffnar
On rereading the original post I misunderstood a little. The steel Jim makes is for guitar players. It is not a standard pedalsteel that just has long legs. I think a standard steel that has long legs would not really work for most pedalsteel players. The knees would be tricky to work and without them you would miss lots of basic stuff.

Posted: 2 Nov 2011 9:17 am
by Alan Brookes
Why not use a console D8 with palm levers?

Posted: 2 Nov 2011 9:46 am
by David Mason
Couldn't you learn to engage the knee levers with something else?



(modesty curtain REQUIRED....) :whoa:

Posted: 2 Nov 2011 10:14 am
by Richard Sinkler
If you carefully placed the knee levers and had long enough extensions that came off the levers at a right angle (similar to the "flags" you now see some have on their levers), you could probably activate them with the upper parts of your legs or hips (only one at a time though). Wrist levers would be another option.

Still, I say if you want the best possible PSG experience, sit your butt down and play like the rest of us.

Posted: 8 Nov 2011 9:58 am
by Stan Schober
Alan Brookes wrote:No, he needs Marian Hall's legs. :lol:

Notice the modesty curtain around the bottom half of the steel guitar. I find that amusing. If she didn't want people to see her legs why wear a mini skirt ? :eek:
That modesty panel was to keep Dirty Old Men from looking UP her short miniskirt, if the band was on a raised stage. While standing in that promo shot, I believe Marian pretty much always played kind of half sitting on a tall stool.