Hello!

[Jamesperry102]

Hi all,

I've been playing pedal steel for around 6 months and figured it's time to learn and get some advice from people who actually know what they are doing.

I'm currently looking at how to create a great amp tone from my steel. Currently only using solid state and valve guitar amps however unsure on eq settings.

Will I I need to look into funding a proper steel amp? Is this fundamentally the main issue? I've found that swelling some reverb and delay can sound great.

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks!

[Ken Byng]

Hi James, you don't say where you live, but there may be an experienced player reasonably close to you that can show you the rudiments of playing pedal steel. Good tone doesn't always come from the kit that you play, but it certainly does come from the way that you play the kit.

You should be able to get pretty good tone from either solid state or valve amps, but the latter are easier to dial in decent tone as generally they have less mid range bias than solid state. If you let us know what guitar you have and what amp you generally play through, there will be some helpful folks on here who can give you a ball park area of settings that work for them. Also your location would be helpful so that you can possibly hook up with other players.

This is an interesting thread on the topic on the USA steel guitar forum. http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=317739

[Danny Mitchell]

Hello James,
Welcome to the forum and I'd start by echoing Ken's advice in looking to locate a player in your locale, but even better, if you can get along to a steelie's meeting (there are a few dotted around the place) you could hear different sorts of setups.
Other than that, if your loaded, you can buy a new Sierra SD10, a new Telonics Combo and a new Telonics volume pedal, and in ten years you'll have the best sound in the village
All the best with your steel journey

[Jamesperry102]

Thanks for the quick response! I have decided that my solid state sounds better, it's a line 6 flexitone twin. The valve amp has too much grit. I will have a look at the link above.

I live in Somerset and have played in bands for 10 years. I have already performed with the steel on several occsssions (nothing complicated) but could do with some guidance. Would be very good to meet with someone or would be happy to attend an event!

The steel I have is a very old Springfield. I think they were made in Scotland?

Many thanks!

James

[Uncle Roy]

Hi James,
Welcome to the forum,
Our next BSS workshop meeting is for Saturday 1st July . The venue is St Anne's church hall, Siston near Bath, we kick off 6.30pm. Be great to meet up with you and there will be guys there you can ask question etc. Drop me a email if you like to : [email protected]

[Ken Byng]

.......The steel I have is a very old Springfield. I think they were made in Scotland? ............

James

James
The Springfield was indeed made in Scotland. Here is an old thread from this site that gives some background into the Springfield company, complete with a clip of Scotland's Bob Adams playing a Springfield S10 at the top of page one. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1846&p=36160&hilit=springfield#p36160