The Steel Guitar Forum

Gentlemen,

I am brand new to PSG. Just received my guitar yesterday. Settling in on the right way to sit at the instrument to avoid as many bad habits as possible.

Assumptions:
1. of course this would be hard at first
2. learning to use A and B pedals +/- F lever (LKL on my guitar) should keep me busy for a long while
3. sitting at guitar with navel at 12th fret

Why is it so uncomfortable to manipulate these 3 parts?

The relationship of my LKL is directly perpendicular with the B pedal relative to the fretboard. This turns my left foot out at such an angle that I struggle to get off the B pedal while still depressing A without activating (at least in part) the LKL.

Is my LKL to close to center?
Is my body out of position?
Is it the wrong shoe I'm wearing?
Don't sweat it, the ankle will loosen up with time and use.

I'm scouring the web for pictures of players to try to answer. Any tips are appreciated!

One day with a pedal steel, particularly when you've never played one before, is not nearly long enough to start tinkering with the knee levers. It's highly probably that you will eventually need to reposition a lever, or at least angle it in or out. But don't do it yet.

I would fold up the knee levers on the left leg and just play the A & B floor pedals for a good while, i.e., several days, if not several weeks. Get comfortable with your position. You may need to lower or raise those pedals until they feel good to you and you can rock your foot and play them cleanly. Do the same with the B & C pedal combination. Once you are sure where your left leg is going to be in it's neutral position, then you can figure out where the knee lever(s) need to be.

It is very important that you are comfortable at your steel. We all have different anatomies. One size does not fit all. You must make your steel fit you, and not vice versa.

Most players position their bodies well over to the right of the instrument, closer to the changer end than to the headstock end.

You might find that the pedals and levers are in a more accessible position if you stop sitting opposite the 12th fret, and move closer to the changer end of the steel.

I agree with what Richard is saying. I sit with my belly button at about the 15th fret. But that's not gospel. You need to find what works for you.

I'm a rookie player too, and I've had the same issue with LKL. I'm long legged and have a 2inch lift on my guitar and was always catching that lever. Fooling around with seat position (height and lateral position) and setting my pedals up so they're not at the same height (plenty of info on the forum about that) helped. And finally adjusting my knee lever to have just a tiny bit of play in it before it engages the changer was the solution.
Watching how other players, especially tall ones, use their feet and knees has been really helpful too.

James Meloan wrote:I'm a rookie player too, and I've had the same issue with LKL. I'm long legged and have a 2inch lift on my guitar and was always catching that lever.

If by "catching that lever" you mean that you were activating the lever unintentionally, that is a problem for some players. When pressing the A&B pedals, either separately or in any combination, it is important that you try to not move your left knee to the left or right - unless you are activating a knee lever. I've seen more than a few players that tend to "swing their knee" when they operate the A or B pedals, but that's not the proper (read: "best") technique.

Cool. Great stuff guys. I'll try those ideas out today.

Cheers

Donny Hinson wrote:

James Meloan wrote:I'm a rookie player too, and I've had the same issue with LKL. I'm long legged and have a 2inch lift on my guitar and was always catching that lever.

If by "catching that lever" you mean that you were activating the lever unintentionally, that is a problem for some players. When pressing the A&B pedals, either separately or in any combination, it is important that you try to not move your left knee to the left or right - unless you are activating a knee lever. I've seen more than a few players that tend to "swing their knee" when they operate the A or B pedals, but that's not the proper (read: "best") technique.

Great advice. I used to have student sit anywhere (doesn't need to be at the guitar), grab the knee firmly with both hands, and just bend the ankle back and forth to get those muscles in tune. Keep doing it until you can bend your ankle both ways without moving your knee. Great way to pass the time while watching TV. 📺

That's a great idea, i never worked on ankle flexibility (cause I never needed to before)

I always seem to need longer and/or wider levers, which i make out of aluminum angle and velcro. The right levers are trickier, both having half stops (on mine), i've also seen recommendations to put the volume pedal down but don't plug into it, just sit your right foot on it.

Course Al Brisco said just worry about learning 2 pedals and 2 levers (I think he said it to me about 5 times!)

Bill Ferguson has afew of these steel cruise videos, I watched these over and over again but you'll lots of variation on how people have their steels setup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FiqQtAWq70

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCPuMkN96u0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O6t9LLziKE