The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm just curious if most players can sit down and know right away if a steel is right for them or does it take longer? Are your first impressions accurate or do steels have to "grow" on you?

Hi Stephen,
If I don`t like it from day one I`ll never like it. I`ve never found an Emmons Push Pull that I don`t like.(oops, here we go again)

Stephen, my thoughts would be that any musician that plays an Instrument out of the box ( first time ) knows right away if it is a fit for them . I think Pedal Steel is no different. Some feel great to some folks and probably "good grief" poor to others. Of course I'm talking a quality Instrument to begin with. The Telecaster that I play on ( 1989 / 52 RI ) is the best playing Tele' I have ever owned, my Tele' playing band partner doesn't really like the neck, he prefers a different feel.. See what I mean !! I personally wouldn't buy or keep a Steel or Guitar that I didn't like the feel of right away. You could probably learn to like it ( Steel ) but that takes the fun out of sitting behind such a great Instrument to begin with !
tp

TPrior/SteelGuitarHomesite
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 24 April 2002 at 03:07 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 24 April 2002 at 03:12 PM.]</p></FONT>

A famous steeler once told me that if you don't feel comfortable in the first half-hour of playing a steel...you never will! Pick one that feels comfortable for <u>you</u>, and not one that feels awkward but was "recommended by so-and-so". That way, you'll be enjoying and playing, instead of wasting your time working on it to make it "feel better".

Big difference between if you're a beginner or if you're somewhat experienced. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you pretty new to pedals?
If so, provided that your guitar is at least adequate, it's a tough call. It's very cool to learn on a generic decent guitar and to reach the point where you feel ready to step up and buy a guitar better suited to your personal needs. But this can wait, as long as your guitar works well enough and doesn't frustrate you with limitations. I wouldn't trust myself, as a beginner at anything, to determine if my hardware is right for me. Nor would I trust anyone else to decide this.

Just a different view of this.....

What Donny said is pretty right on.

WEll when I first got the ShoBud I'm playing now, a few years ago...it certainly didn't feel comfortable. It was completly different from anything I've ever played......it felt weird...the string spacing was wider....the scale was shorter....the pedals were wider and stiffer.....the.....bla .bla bla...I can go on and on.
But I can play it now.....better than any other steel I've played......
So it takes a little time.....but I did have the sound in my head I wanted....and I knew it right off the bat; this was the guitar for that.......but It took me 4 months to even play this guitar "in tune"....but I finally made it work for me.
So I'm a believer in; if there is One thing you dig about it....give it a chance then make your decision..."you never know; it might become the best steel you've ever played" and you may even play it on the Opry a few times........ah.......ha.
Ricky

Having the guitar set up to your body and specs makes a heckuva difference. I've tweaked with my Emmons original for 4 years now to get it the way I like it. If the knees are too far apart, you'll hate it, if the pedals are the incorrect height, you'll hate it, etc. Jon Light had a good point too, the more experienced you are, the more you know what you want in a guitar.

I've been playing just a year, but I've had the opportunity to play a few different kinds of steels during that time and I think I'm beginning to understand what I like and dislike. It seems that sometimes the things that bother me take some time to notice. Kind of like a piece of sand in your shoe.

I was down on my MCI until I moved one of the knee levers. Made all the difference in the world, and now I love it.

One thing that can make a difference in "feel" is having the correct height for your torso and length of your legs. I dug my Fessenden's sound but it was strangely uncomfortable to play... not painful, more like awkward. Bobby Bowman watched me play it one night and told me he was of the opinion that the guitar did not ergonomically fit me. We cut the legs and rods down 1" and now it fits like a glove.

It's the only modern all-pull guitar I have. If I wasn't so hung up on the cachet of my 1965 Emmonses, I'd be honkin' on the Fessy.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

I decided to got the Emmons P/P route a few years ago. I bought one and had Bobby Bowman set it up for me, and when I got it back it just didn't feel right. I was in the middle of building a new house, so I put it in the case for close to a year. I had some time one day, so I got it out, tuned everything up, and WOW, everything felt and sounded great. Its hardly been in the case since. Now when I play my all pulls they feel a little awkward for a while, until I re-adjust.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

I pretty much base everything on the sound and tonal response of the steel. I can tell if a steel has got something I like after I sit down at it for a minute or 2 these days. Then I see how the tone holds up in battle conditions.
After that it takes me a couple months of constant playing on a steel to really start to sink into its voice.

I checked out this ugly old used steel of Stephen's and I'm still upset he didn't sell it to me on the spot. And Stephen, we gotta stop telling people how great that sort of steel is because the prices are going up !

Bob

oh, yeah. you mean those late model MCIs and EMCIs? Yeah, they're really bad. Nobody should ever buy them, but I'll take them as donations to keep others from being hurt.

What Ricky said is just how I felt about my ShoBud when I first played it. It didn´t feel very comfortable, but there was something about it that I just knew it was what I was looking for. Took me quite some time to get used to it and a lot of fine-tuning (thanks again Ricky for all your good advice), I guess some can still be done, but now, about half a year later, it´s like, that guitar is all I really need to play the music I want to play. In fact, yesterday I set up the old one for a guy who wants to buy it, and it was a bit of trouble to play, even though the pedal action etc. is actually easier than the ShoBud.

Regards, Joe H.

Well, if you are speaking in the biblical sense, it might take several months. You have to take the steel out quite a few times...
especially if it is really, really good. Having good right hand technique is always helpful too.

It's the sound. If it has the sound the rest I can adapt to or change to suit me. I have an old Sho-Bud and a new Carter, in both cases it was the sound of the particular steel that made me want to "know" her. If it doesn't have "the sound" the rest doesn't matter.

Regards, Patrick

I'd second what Herb said. The guitar has to FIT. I have played a good number of guitars and some p/p emmonses are the worst... and some are the best. It all has to do with how they are set up. I find knee lever placement VERY important-- if you have to struggle to push it-- it is wrong. Pedal height too is a big one. I remember I had all sorts of problems with my first sho-bud until I noticed that some players ha taken corners off the pedals or made them narrower. I took 1/4" off the width of the pedals and it made all the difference in the world.
And... if any knee lever is too hard to push or hold-- then it is not right-- at least for me. I played with the knees on the one I built, and the all activate by breathing on them... well, I'm exaggerating, but they are all very light.
If the double stop on the 2nd string is too hard, you'll never use it.

Winnie<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Winnie Winston on 26 April 2002 at 10:35 PM.]</p></FONT>