The British Steelies Society

Just posted video of a nice track from The Eagles - I Dreamed There was no War. I know it's not perfect but I hope the phrasing and riffs show I am slowly progressing.

JohnDavisStringsHere wrote:Good effort! great to see beginners having a go .........keep `em coming >>>>>>

I agree!

sounds great to me!

looks like you've got your foot quite far back on the volume pedal, might be easier to control if you moved it forward
just my 2c

looks like you've got your foot quite far back on the volume pedal, might be easier to control if you moved it forward

I agree, but I have an Ernie Ball pedal with the plugs at the front and can't seem to get it a comfortable position. Need to change it but spent all my cash on good basic equipment! Will change it ASAP

ossettjohn wrote:

looks like you've got your foot quite far back on the volume pedal, might be easier to control if you moved it forward

I agree, but I have an Ernie Ball pedal with the plugs at the front and can't seem to get it a comfortable position. Need to change it but spent all my cash on good basic equipment! Will change it ASAP

John - your pedal is fine, here's a couple of tips to help you use it more comfortably.
You could swap to angled jacks. I have a few leads with an angled on one end and straight at the other, you can use them whichever way round suits the situation.
But what Henry means is that your heel is way off the back of the pedal. Plonk your whole foot firmly on the plate and you'll find you've much greater and easier control over that aspect of playing - that will leave your brain more space to look after all the other things you have to do at the same time. T

Tony,

thanks for the tip - it certainly helps. I did, however, find a major problem that I have now rectified. Because I practice with an iphone playing the music, I had the volume balance wrong between the backing track and the PSG, meaning I could only use about half of the pedal travel before the guitar became too loud. I therefore had to concentrate too much on not overdoing the volume. By turning down the input level on my amp so that the full on level on the pedal matched the playback volume of the backing it suddenly became much easier to control. I'm sure this a really basic mistake but I am totally self taught and am finding my way by trial and error. No book i have read or video I have watched seems to cover this very basic point! I wonder how many other starters have fallen into the same trap, ro am I just super-stupid? John

John, you are about an hour away from me. If you ever fancy a trip up here for an hour or so "help" (as others have done) send me a pm for directions and phone number. Also look out for the North of England Steel Guitar Festival (in my village) in August and make it a "must attend" event. You will learn a lot from many players a all levels of ability. Tony