The Steel Guitar Forum

I attended JN's seminar once and asked him if it was proper to engage the AB pedals when both pedals did not pull both strings and he said "Yes".
Example in the key of C
1. When playing strings 5 and 8 or 4 and 5, do most players push A and B even tho B is not used? With the E's lowered on the LKR, when going from 3A to 1A to 1D, do most players push 3AB then 1AB then 1BD? or do they play 3A the 1A then lift off the pedals completely and play 1D?
2. Strings 4,5 and 6 2 and three string combos going from 3AB to 4AF. IF one plays all three strings then the AF combo has to be used at the 4th fret but if playing only strings 5 and 6 then the F lever is not required. Do most players push the lever anyway?
3. Same situation with a 345 string cobo. When playing strings 3 and 5, do you push the D lever with A pedal going from fret 3 to 4? If a three note grip would have been played, the D lever would have been needed.
4. I would like to hear some comments on the above situations.

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dben@lycos.com
dben@shaw.ca

Oh-----why yes---er ahhhh --no - well wait-- hmmmmmm--- I'm takin the 5th (or at least some of it) and going to bed and sleep on that one !!!!!

So Jeff said it was proper? Well, I won't argue with him. I will add, though, that I don't make it a "habit" to activate pedals when they have no effect...seems like wasted effort, to me.

Even Jeff Newman says it's ok to push both pedals because it does save time, but I rock my foot between the A & B pedals depending on which pedal I need for the particular lick.

I personally believe it also helps you understand better which strings are activated with which pedal. The more you understand the fretboard and pedals the better player you will be.

Let me explain a little more. Say you are playing strings 5 and 8 and you are at the first fret with A pedal engaged and you want to go to the D lever from there. If you don't have both A and B pushed then you have to make two motions. First you have to lift your leg vertically to disengage the A pedal then move horizonally to engage the D lever. That's two motions in two different directions, whereas if you already have both pedals down, it only takes a horizontal motion to disengage the A pedal and engage the D lever.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Don Benoit on 02 December 2001 at 09:17 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Don Benoit on 02 December 2001 at 09:18 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Don Benoit on 02 December 2001 at 09:19 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Don Benoit on 02 December 2001 at 09:21 PM.]</p></FONT>

Let's say you are just playing on the 4th and 5th strings and you want to raise the 5th string a full step with the "A" pedal. Why would you want to engage the "B" pedal also?

A reason for doing it: On some guitars, the "cabinet drop" is such that if you tune the C# with both pedals engaged, it may be a tad sharp with just the "A" pedal engaged.

A reason for not doing it: That old third string can be bent back and forth just so many times before it breaks. Why bend it more often than you need to?



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Lee, from South Texas

I just watched JN's D lever video and he pushes A and B pedals when playing the 5th and 8th string and I have to agree whith what he says. It's just easier, that's all. Also, if you were planning to play only two strings ie 4 and 5 and you accidentally hit 6 or three, you won't hit an "off" chord.