The Steel Guitar Forum

It's all falling into place. I originally pulled the trigger on a ZumSteel Encore, but there's a waiting list until July (well worth the wait though), but things change and the opportunity to pick up a wonderfully maintained '78 Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom with original Sho-Bud volume pedal presented itself for slightly more than a new Encore, and there was no way I could pass up that opportunity. Also got my '74 Twin Reverb back from the shop yesterday with a clean bill of health and ordered a John Pearse tone bar yesterday.

Wondering what other 'essentials' I need, or at least what are a list of things that every pedal steel player should have? Are pedal steel specific seats worth the price of admission given their storage capabilities, or do some guys just have a separate 'tool box' for their essentials? I've been a 6-string guitar player for a while and have a few delay and reverb pedals, cables, etc, so that stuff is covered.

Picks?

Edward Rhea wrote:Picks?

Haha! Forgot about that. I also play banjo, so I have those covered as well!

Unless you change strings frequently and religiously (which I do not recommend at this point) you will break your E9 3rd string after x number of hours and your 5th string less frequently. It goes with the territory. You would do well to have spare singles.

It would be good to know exactly what the guitar is currently strung with (there can be some variation between string sets) because a different gauge string might require retuning the pedal.

On the other hand, retuning a pedal or lever is NOT something to be feared. The better you learn the workings of the mechanism, the better prepared you will be for anything that hits you.

Scott..Since you appear to be just starting out on your steel guitar journey, at this point a pac-seat (storage seat) may not be a necessity. A viable alternative is a well padded adjustable keyboard bench. These are fairly inexpensive, especially if you catch one of the sales that the big box or on line stores run on occassion..FYI: A note on changing the third string (normally an .011); may be advisable to tune the new string to pitch and let it settle in overnight before attempting to play. Sometimes you get lucky and they will hold immediately without breaking, more often they will not.(IMO,YMMV)

This: www.steelguitarshopper.com/products/Ped ... Keith.html

What Lane said. and Time. And some more time.

Order lessons from Jeffran College, Mark Van Allen, Steve Palousek, Jim Loesseburgh , Mike Archer,etc.. and practice as many hours as you can.

Book ordered, and currently looking for someone for lessons in the San Francisco East Bay area.

I wonder if Richard Sinkler gives lessons. He's East Bay, IIRC.

You may want to try a drum throne with a lockable seat top as you are 6ft 2"...you can set that to the height you are most comfortable with...You may want to adjust the rear legs of the steel out a inch or two to raise the back of the steel up a bit...Micky Adams has a lot of youtube videos as do a lot of other players...Being a banjo picker my self you will find you will learn steel pretty quick once you get use to the pedals and knee levers...Keep the bar strait on the fret...Keep it simple and clean....And try not to run before you can walk!!!....And I think you made a good choice with the Sho-bud.

A good tuner such as a Peterson.

Carl Heatley wrote:You may want to try a drum throne with a lockable seat top as you are 6ft 2"...you can set that to the height you are most comfortable with...You may want to adjust the rear legs of the steel out a inch or two to raise the back of the steel up a bit...Micky Adams has a lot of youtube videos as do a lot of other players...Being a banjo picker my self you will find you will learn steel pretty quick once you get use to the pedals and knee levers...Keep the bar strait on the fret...Keep it simple and clean....And try not to run before you can walk!!!....And I think you made a good choice with the Sho-bud.

Thank you, sir!

John Booth wrote:A good tuner such as a Peterson.

I have a Boss TU-3 I use for guitar. Any reason that won't work? Also doubles a mute/kill switch for my signal path when playing 6 string electrics.

Any chromatic tuner will work. I prefer needles (or virtual needles) to strobes (or virtual strobes).

PS: cue round 3,427 of the endless "which tuning scheme is best" debate.
The answer: doesn't matter. Every scheme can find people who follow it and sound good.

Lane Gray wrote:Any chromatic tuner will work. I prefer needles (or virtual needles) to strobes (or virtual strobes).

PS: cue round 3,427 of the endless "which tuning scheme is best.
The answer: doesn't matter. Every scheme can find people who follow it and sound good.

Yes, I am discovering this as I type this. Jeez! If you want to stir the pot around here I guess you can always start a tuning thread! I'm just curious how all this sounds tuning the guitar to these different cent values works when playing with a full band, where everyone is basically tuned to A/440Hz?

Exactly!
Tune the thirds flat enough to sound sweet, and they're clashing with other thirds on the stage.
Buddy Emmons tuned straight up, I tune my 5 thirds (A#, C#, D#, E# & G#) just a titch flat and everything else straight up.

Mel Bay has an E-9th Chord chart that is one of the things a beginner MUST have. It shows the fret and what strings to raise or lower and which strings to pick to get a chord. It makes it easy to set and figure out all the chords you need for a key. Example. (KEY G) G, C, D, Em, for a start. Once you find the chords to play G the pattern is the same just down the neck 2 frets and A D E and F#m will be the same. Good Luck and Happy Steelin.

A patient wife and two sets of earplugs?

Are you instested in any delay or reverb pedals?

Jordan Beyer wrote:Are you instested in any delay or reverb pedals?

Got that covered since I also play electric guitar. The Twin has great reverb on it and I also have a Holy Grail reverb pedal, and also have the delay covered with an old DD3 that I don't use much anymore since the Ibanez Echo Shifter replaced it on my electric guitar pedal board, so it's freed up for the pedal steel!

Tom Gorr wrote:A patient wife and two sets of earplugs?

Even better, I'm single, no roommates and live in a house so no neighbors to disturb either!

You might try contacting Joe Goldmark in San Francisco. He might teach or know somebody who does.

Did you get both the Sho-Bud and the Encore?

Is there anyone giving lessons on SKYPE?...Just a thought!

Mike Perlowin wrote:You might try contacting Joe Goldmark in San Francisco. He might teach or know somebody who does.

Did you get both the Sho-Bud and the Encore?

No, I only got the Sho-Bud and cancelled the order for the Encore. I emailed Doug letting him know and apologized to him for taking up his time, but I hope he understood, and hopefully no hard feelings. He has a waiting list until July, and the Sho-Bud would get me playing faster, and it's twice the guitar since it's a D10. I got the Sho-Bud Pro III Custom and a Sho-Bud volume pedal for what I would have paid for an Encore and Goodrich volume pedal, and I am a sucker for, and have a soft spot for older gear (I have an old Fender Champ, Princeton Reverb and Twin Reverb and some 'older' guitars). The awesome gentleman who sold me the Sho-Bud steel and volume pedal is a member here and is the second owner, included the original sales receipt from 1978 and said it plays flawlessly and has been mechanically maintained and is issue free. I know I previously mentioned given my lack of experience with pedal steel guitars my hesitation to buy an old one for fear of spending more time tinkering and fixing it instead of playing it, but really could not pass up the opportunity! It should arrive by the end of this week.