I have decided to follow Paul's and John's advice - I will play from tab and as I now have a vague knowledge of the theory, I understand quite a few of the musical terms and I now know where to look to advance my theoretical knowledge, if needed in the future.
As my aim is just to play the steel for my own amusement, I think it better to ignore my normal approach of learning theory first, to get on with the playing and the pleasure
