New Member Introduction - New to Pedal Steel Too!

[Steven Henning]

Just wanted to say that I'm excited to be a new member here! I'm looking forward to learning from you all as this is my first foray into steel guitar. I've been playing six string and slide for a very long time, but I've always been fascinated with the sound of pedal steel guitars, and I've decided to take the plunge and immerse myself in learning and playing.

I just ordered a GFI Ultra (10 string single neck, 3 pedals/4 knee levers with their keyless tuning system and 2+ longer legs) straight from the factory in Birdseye Maple based on reading a lot on here before joining. It should be here in 10-12 weeks! I also picked up a Goodrich L-120 volume pedal (since I'm 6'4" tall, I figured it was a good choice), a Dunlop 920 tone bar and plan to play through my Kemper and Atomic CLR wedge. I've also got an Ampeg GU-12 clone that might be a good choice for pedal steel - nice clean amp with reverb. I don't plan to play out - just want to record original music and covers...

I recognize that I will have a long learning curve, even though I have good theory knowledge and have played guitar for so long, but I'm excited to get started. If anyone has any advice for a complete beginner, I'd love to hear it. I live in South Orange County, Ca, so I'm close enough to take lessons at Steel Guitars of North County in Oceanside, which I plan on doing, but I'm also interested in other methods of study (online, books, etc.) that folks might recommend. My dream would be to be able to play the pedal steel parts on the Stones Torn and Frayed, but I'm interested in exposing myself to many other artists in other genres.

To give a bit more background on myself, I've mostly been a technical hard rock/metal guitarist and I played professionally (all original music) back in the '80s in LA. I've got a nice recording studio at my house and I still write and play instrumental stuff and covers. I am also the owner/designer/builder at Henning Amplification:

https://henningamps.com

Anyway - great to be here and I look forward to participating!

Steve

[Dennis Brion]

I am a newbie myself lots of great info on this forum....the veterans here have vast knowledge and seem to help anyone in need, welcome to the forum!

[Don Walworth]

I found lessons via Skype to work well for me. No packing up guitar - driving someplace -- set up guitar -- and reverse it all to go home.

My wife takes music lessons via Skype also --- her lessons are every other week... works well for her.

Always a pleasure to welcome our instructors into our home.

Just my view.

Don

[Dennis Brion]

Mickey Adams is my go to right now fabulous player lots of video instruction on line. Makes things very simple and now that my guitar is in full operation i am moving forward at a rate that I feel is good for me!

[Justin Emmert]

On on one lessons and The Paul Franklin Method. That's my top suggestions. Being a musician, you are ahead of the game already.

[Larry Jamieson]

Welcome, Steve,

You have a good guitar on order. Some one on one lessons are a great way to start and to avoid bad habits from the git go. Your guitar background will help with learning the steel guitar neck. There are tons of lessons on you tube from many individuals but it will be a while before you are ready for the more advanced stuff.
Get some one who plays to help you get your guitar tuned and the pedals tuned and give you a lessons to start with. Maybe a lesson a week or every two weeks, and try to spend at least 1/2 hour a day in the seat.
Good luck, and feel free to ask questions. Forum members are very willing to share knowledge and solve problems.
Have fun!

[Michael Meader]

Welcome , I'm a newbie myself....I'd recommended the Paul Franklin method and the winnie Winston book.

[John Spaulding]

Welcome Steve!

Here are some links to Paul Franklin's instructional materials and sites:

The Paul Franklin Method Courses

Facebook

YouTube

Blog

.

[Steven Henning]

Thanks for the welcome, folks! I appreciate all the suggestions and encouragement. Keep 'em coming!

Steve

[Bobby D. Jones]

Welcome to the forum and the world of the Steel Guitar.

Since you are an accomplished musician, I would suggest you get a copy of the MEL BAY Steel Guitar chord chart.
This will allow you to transpose chords of a song to the neck of a steel guitar.

Good Luck and Happy Steelin.

[Eric Dahlhoff]

Steven,
Pedal Steel is the funnest and hardest instrument in the world.
If you get discouraged just wait a little bit & you'll break through. It is a worthy journey!

[Parnell Flynn]

It is truly a beautiful sounding instrument that is so much fun to play. The forum is a great resource. Taking lessons from William Litaker has really helped my playing. His emphasis on building proper technique has really helped me with my tone and coordination. He has great beginning classes that you can download and work through and if you like them you can sign up for his weekly broadcast where he sends you the tabs for four technique exercises, an intro to a song and part of the song chosen for a four week session. In addition you get backing tracks for the main song you can practice on. I recommend checking it out.

https://www.pedalsteeler.com

[Colin Swinney]

The E9 chart available to download here was invaluable when I first began. Highly recommend printing one off and laminating it.

http://www.cryinsteel.com/download.html

[Steven Henning]

More great info/suggestions! Thanks so much folks.

I already had a local South Orange County guy who is a member here reach out from this post (through my amp website) and we talked on the phone a bit and he's got a lot of experience and said he'd help me out! Awesome community here - glad I found it...

Steve