The British Steelies Society

Hope everyone's doing well!

Here's an article that discusses using delay (and reverb) with pedal steel:
https://playpedalsteel.com/delay-and-reverb/

Anyone using delay, and if so, how do you use it? Does anyone use a reverb pedal instead of the amp's reverb?

-Casey

Hi Casey. I have only ever used Reverb in the amp Fender Twin, Peavey Session 500 and only VST Reverb on my recordings. I find delay off putting when playing. Mind you there are some great players that use it well and some that use it to cover up the bad bits Ha Ha!

Mr W wrote:Hi Casey. I have only ever used Reverb in the amp Fender Twin, Peavey Session 500 and only VST Reverb on my recordings. I find delay off putting when playing. Mind you there are some great players that use it well and some that use it to cover up the bad bits Ha Ha!

Dave - try a longish delay (around one second for slow tunes) a very quiet first repeat (barely heard if you damp the strings as soon as picked) and fairly lengthy decay. It gives an ambiance that doesn't interfere with the reverb. Adjust the initial delay time according to the tempo.

Hi Tony I will give it a go on my next recording haven't picked a song yet and still have a lot of decorating to do. And John what have I told about pleading guilty! Wait until they arrest you.

Haha!! Thanks Tony, gonna experiment with the volume level of the first repeat!

Interesting that the article above recommends two different Strymon pedals for reverb. I actually have both of them at the moment having just received my new Nightsky to replace the Blue Sky. They are both absolutely fantastic, expensive yes, but seriously good. Only reason for upgrading was that I’ve started using the ‘shimmer’ for soundscape stuff and the Nightsky has more control over that side of things. It creates a huge sound from one pedal steel and is almost like being backed up by an invisible keyboard player. I’ll be selling the Blue Sky next time eBay are doing a £1 selling fee promotion or send me a PM if anyone on the forum is interested (£200 plus postage). Good thing about Strymon stuff is its always worth what you paid for it if you buy a second hand one in good condition with box and manual. A better bet than Bitcoin!
Cheers
Calum