Thinking about tinkering with modern pedal steel someday...

[Nic Neufeld]

Hi all,
Am a bit of an odd duck here as I don't really play country music, or even listen to much of it. But am a beginner/intermediate no-pedal steel player...learning from Alan Akaka in the Hawaiian style and playing a combination of jazz and Hawaiian generally on the guitar (have accrued a nice little stable).

I also have a 60's Fender 400 with six pedals set up in Basil Henriques' A7 copedent. Basil was a great help getting me started on that...mostly for the same genres, Hawaiian, jazz, old popular music. I'm still learning the mechanics of it but I probably need to devote more time to it...

Anyway, my question is, even though country music isn't really my thing, there's part of me that, as a steel guitarist, would like to one day have a serviceable, if not exceptional, capability to play it, just as an all round steel guitarist. I guess that's not a question either, bear with me...basically I'm wondering, if and when I decide to look into it, what kind of guitar I would need, what sort of learning resources are best, etc. Single neck E9 guitar with 3 pedals and 4 knee levers?

There's part of me that knows I should just keep specialized, but may want a new challenge down the road...

[Ian Rae]

On a basic E9 setup such as you have in mind there's a heck of a lot of music to be played that isn't country.

E9 suits country music but it's not an exclusive contract.

[Ian Rae]

[dang]

[John Spaulding]

Paul Franklin E9 course:Foundations:E9 Foundations

Modern Steel

Joe Walsh Style

[Paul McEvoy]

I started playing non pedal but I decided to get a pedal steel. I think it’s totally cool to just play straight steel, there’s so much that can be done with it and it’s portable and versatile. All the different tunings available...it’s pretty amazing. Just saying.

[Gibson Hartwell]

Nic, it’s a deep well you are tapping into here! It really depends on the type of country music you want to play. A modern guitar is not necessary. You mention jazz and Hawaiian so I imagine you have a decent foundational understanding understanding of theory. There’s lots of early country music played on a straight Steel in a 6 or 13 tuning. Ralph Mooney and Tom Brumley and several others played Fender pedal steels and they seemed to do just fine . Your Fender guitar is real easy to change around setup if you want to explore that.

If you want access to lots of instructional material and tab, a modern single neck 3x4 guitar would be a good place to start. So many options for setup and instructional material but as John mentioned, the Paul Franklin courses are quite good. Gotta say, you aren’t “into country music” it’s gonna be a long row to hoe!

[Jerry Overstreet]

Steel guitar, of any design, knows no genre. It only spits out what you put into it. You can play any style of music you want on it same as any other instrument.

Pigeon-holing and stereotyping the instrument has done it's image much harm.

With your interests and background, I'm sure you can make it your own. You needn't just follow in the tracks of others, but make some new paths in playing the music you love on it, no matter the style. Of course that means learning some things on your own, but isn't that half the fun?...plus there's all kinds of stuff on the internet for ideas.

Besides the single 10 with say, 4 pedals and 5 knees, you might consider tuning it in the "short" Universal 10 or even going to a 12 string uni with 7 or 8 pedals. Many non-traditional players find this set-up more friendly.

Listen to some things by Bruce Kaphan and other ambient players to see how others employ the pedal steel.

Good Luck and I look forward to any offerings you care to post once you get going.

[Richard Sinkler]

you want access to lots of instructional material and tab, a modern single neck 3x4 guitar would be a good place to start. So many options for setup and instructional material but as John mentioned, the Paul Franklin courses are quite good. Gotta say, you aren’t “into country music” it’s gonna be a long row to hoe!

I think the point Gibson was getting at was the fact that most instructional material is geared more towards country music. It will be real hard to find any jazz instructional material.

Jerry made a good suggestion in maybe going with a 12 string universal. Since you are more into jazz and Hawaiian, you might consider something like the Bb6 tuning that some use. But there is almost no instructional material for it, but you can use the C6 material. You can get the country stuff on this tuning.

The other option is a 12 string E9/B6 universal. You can get jazz, country, and Hawaiian on here too.

Basically, even on a 10 string E9, you can play some jazz and Hawaiian along with the country stuff.

[Nic Neufeld]

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies!

Just to clarify a few things...did not mean to imply that an E9 (or any tuning/copedent) pedal steel is pigeon-holed to country...I've heard some great players play jazz and other genres on them. I was just thinking...were I to find that I needed to play a very straight, conventional modern country pedal steel, what would be the ideal or at least most stereotypically appropriate instrument? I assumed it would be an E9 3+4. I know pedal steels can do a lot more than that...but I'm up to capacity with instruments that do all the other stuff quite well (Stringmaster, Magnatone, the 400, a tricone, and my latest, a Clinesmith frypan that I am head over heels about) so it's not something I would need a modern pedal steel for.

I've tinkered with early country a bit, western swing of course...definitely the kind of thing I can do with straight/nopedal steel, or my 400. I'm probably keeping the 400 in its current setup because well, I love what Basil H does with it and I want to someday get better at it. It's the type of rig that requires both feet doing pedal duty though which doesn't work well with the modern country sound (with the volume pedal swells) I assume.

Ironically C6 would be hugely easy for me to adapt to since C6/C13 is my "home tuning". Only difference is the extra low F and top G. But I know exactly how I'd sound playing a C6 neck of a pedal steel...just like I sound now, too much aloha and not enough country!

Anyway, I'm more in a curious phase rather than planning a course of action anytime soon...the wife has been pretty tolerant of my new hobby, so another large and expensive instrument will need to wait its turn!

And thinking a bit more about it...I know it's a "deep well" so to speak but I was just going to do a shallow draft...my thinking was, be capable of doing the basics in modern country pedal steel just as another tool on the toolbelt...be comfortable with sitting down at somebody's instrument and knowing my way around for instance. But there are plenty of good pedal steelers around...and my music room is getting a bit cramped

[Chris Brooks]

Hi Nic,

Yes, sounds like an E 9 (or extended E 9) is your next logical step.

>I assumed it would be an E9 3+4.

They all should come with the standard 3 pedals. Knee levers? The more the merrier, but 4 will serve you for one lifetime.

As Jerry said, "It only spits out what you put into it. You can play any style of music you want on it same as any other instrument." You can play single notes and chords: the instrument doesn't care what they are used for.

Chris

[Paul McEvoy]

I was holding out for a universal guitar for a long time because in my head I..."wanted to be able to do everything". But I ended up with an extended E9 and I'm pretty happy with it. Coordinating all the pedals and knee levers is challenging enough at this point and just figuring out how it all works. Plus the educational materials are all there for E9 and it just is a lot easier when they say "string 8" that it's actually string 8 (in that sense I kinda wish a little bit it was a 10 string because that would be simpler too).