Help. I need advice.

[Zebedee]

Plug your steel directly into the amp, with nothing else in the chain.

See what it sounds like, and adjust the amp settings till it sounds the best you can get it.

If you can't get a decent tone, try another amp

Then add your volume pedal, and see if the amp tone has changed.

If it has changed dramatically, then the volume pedal could be faulty (or you have got the cables the wrong way round).

If everything is still ok, add the delay pedal after the volume pedal.

[Basil Henriques]

I go from guitar to volume pedal to compressor to delay to amp. Reverb is in the amp. Should I have the volume pedal last?
Maybe I need to get shot of the compressor - I understand that a compressor can negate the impact of the volume pedal to some extent, so maybe I need to get used to improving my volume pedal technique.

Thanks again all.

Well, I did say put the compressor before the volume pedal, that way it would work as intended and even out the varied picking volumes etc.

The Volume pedal is actually described incorrectly, It used in fact as an EXPRESSION pedal as per the way organists do. The RMS normal level state being determined by you and your normal position of the pedal's attenuation. Usually you set your normal volume to be correct at the three quarters on point on the pedal, and then use it to lengthen the sustain/decay of of the note(s)..

Guitar--> Compressor/limiter or other dynamics device ---> Vol. Pedal. --> other FX... ---> amp..

[Jif]

I go from guitar to volume pedal to compressor to delay to amp. Reverb is in the amp. Should I have the volume pedal last?
Maybe I need to get shot of the compressor - I understand that a compressor can negate the impact of the volume pedal to some extent, so maybe I need to get used to improving my volume pedal technique.

Thanks again all.

Well, I did say put the compressor before the volume pedal, that way it would work as intended and even out the varied picking volumes etc.

The Volume pedal is actually described incorrectly, It used in fact as an EXPRESSION pedal as per the way organists do. The RMS normal level state being determined by you and your normal position of the pedal's attenuation. Usually you set your normal volume to be correct at the three quarters on point on the pedal, and then use it to lengthen the sustain/decay of of the note(s)..

Guitar--> Compressor/limiter or other dynamics device ---> Vol. Pedal. --> other FX... ---> amp..

That's interesting Basil, never really considered putting anything in front of the expression pedal before but what you're suggesting makes good sense. If compression comes after the pedal then the compressor is not being driven correctly.

I use a Boss GT3 or Boss GT8 multi-effects unit with my steel, something else I've been looking into is where reverb / echo is placed in the chain. The Boss units also have amp simulation so if you set up an amp simulation on the unit then go straight into a combo, (I use a couple of Cube 60's), then you are effectively going through 2 pre-amps, one in the effects unit and one in the combo. Also it is better to have reverb and echo at the end of the chain, essentially after the pre-amp, so better to use this in an effects loop on the amp, or use the 4 cable method to bypass the pre-amp section of the amplifier all together.

So essentially the multi-effects unit is functioning as a pre-amp as well as providing effects. Unfortunately on the Cube 60 there is no effects loop, so I have decided to build a couple of power amps and 12"cabs, (for stereo), and bypass any pre-amp stage altogether. The Cubes then become redundant of course.

On the Boss GT units, there is also an option to add in an external effects pedal and place it in the internal chain of the Boss unit where you want it, i.e. you want to put the expression pedal after a compressor, so you would hook the Expression Pedal into the Boss external effect jacks and place it where you want it in the Boss internal chain.

I think I'll give that a try tonight, thanks for the tip.

@Mustang - I found getting a good pedal steel tone quite difficult compared to guitar. I think half the battle is that there is such a wide frequency range on the steel that it is difficult to get it to sound good over the whole neck. For me it has been a long process of trial and error and the search goes on

I use quite a lot of equalisation and cut quite heavily around the 600 - 800hz area, which seems to remove a lot of the muddiness. A bit of boost around 3Khz gives a nice bright shine to the tone, but of course this will vary from setup to setup.

It takes time and can be quite frustrating as you can get a good sound on one part of the neck then discover the changes you made makes another part of the neck sound not so good. I guess in the end it's a compromise, sort of like the tuning on a pedal steel

(Then there's your hands and expression pedal technique - Argggggggghhhhh )

[Basil Henriques]

Guitar--> Compressor/limiter or other dynamics device ---> Vol. Pedal. --> other FX... ---> amp..
Is the preferred way, not set in stone, but any other would be going against the majority and not be very productive. Having a reverb or delay BEFORE the volume pedal (Except for one use) will result in an unnatural decay to the notes, the very thing you're looking for is a natural one.. I would also like to point out that almost all reverb and delay units now are in stereo. the correct way to connect a stereo effect is MONO in stereo out.

[Willie Gamble]

In my humble opinion, a lot of your tone come from what you have always had, your hands, and really the more seat time you put in the better your tone will become
The way you pick the strings, the correct pressure on the bar combined with the volume pedal, all contribute to your tone.

For example, If i am working on a tune in the house, I generally play through a small Peavey Rage practice amp and I get a great tone, albeit at low volume, but a very acceptable tone never the less.

I don't wish to disrespect any of what the previous contributors have said, but there is NO substitute for technique and I don't think that comes off the shelf

Asleep at the steel