Let's talk PEDAL STEEL

[DallasLemonade]

anyone here play? for the last like, 2 years I've gotten the urge to buy one every few months.
Any input? Where to start? Difficulty of actually learning?

[lapsteel]

A pedal steel rig has soo000 many sonic possibilities, but I find the entry fee to be a bit steep....

[dubkitty]

I had an Emmons S-10 for about a decade...i had to sell it this winter. when you talk about pedal-steel learning curve you're talking two separate categories: playing and setup. playing pedal steel is easier than you'd think if you're reasonably skilled with a volume pedal and with fingerpicking and open tunings on guitar...the typical 10-string E9 tuning is open E from 6-string guitar/lap steel with added strings that give you some of the passing tones. the pedals raise one or more strings in pitch and are usually set up so you can change chords in one position i.e. without moving the bar. knee levers lower the pitch of their assigned string(s). i found that a lot of the time i could play within 2 or 3 frets of the tonic and hit all the licks i needed for a three-chord country song.

however, to really use the potential of the pedal steel you need to devote a lot of time and attention to it. one reason i sold mine was that i concluded that at 56 years old i'm never going to get around to mastering it before i die.

what will really drive you batshit is setting the thing up and doing all the fine-tuning adjustments to the mechanisms to keep it playing in tune, and you've got to know how to do it because pedal steel techs are exceedingly thin on the ground. you will not find someone to fix it for you before your gig even in a big city, unless the big city is Nashville.

they sure do sound lovely, though. i wish i'd have taken the time to work with it more, but then, i wish a lot of things.