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[Tony Russell Davis]

Hey Sid - nothing wrong with your playing! I thought at once of Junior Brown when I listened to you, then properly re-read your original post and - - ah, now I see! Keep it up, you're doing more with a 6 string than many I've heard

[simon_f3]

Nice one Sid, takes me back to the Tennessee Ernie Ford songs, love your playing and the old doghouse bass player great sounding band. Love it. More videos please.

Thanks Uncle Roy, I really appreciate your comments. I still gig with these guys (Jack and the Real Deals) every couple of weeks, though haven't played steel for a while - it became a bit cumbersome to lug around and set up when we only had 4 or 5 songs in which I would play it. Here are another couple of videos with the lap steel:



This one is a bit long. To save you some time, steel guitar is at 2:31, 7:47, and 16:24


I am hopeful that I can squeeze some pedal steel into the set somewhere, but it may be more for the studio than for live work. We shall see!

Re. the sound, I have always been a fan of the more Western sounds, like Don Helms, Herb Remington, Speedy West, Freddie Calhoun (Curtis Gordon's steelie) but I find myself being drawn in more and more to the later country PSG sounds.

[simon_f3]

Hey Sid - nothing wrong with your playing! I thought at once of Junior Brown when I listened to you, then properly re-read your original post and - - ah, now I see! Keep it up, you're doing more with a 6 string than many I've heard

Thanks Tony! I really appreciate the kind comments from this forum - I've always been a bit shy when it comes to playing steel guitar in public as errors feel less easy to disguise than with electric (fretted) guitar...

Thanks again

[Danny Mitchell]

Hi Sid,
thought this might interest you. The set up and tuning's mentioned in the drop down info bit. Dig yer band btw

[simon_f3]

Thanks Danny - great video! That's exactly the kind of inspiration I was hoping to find on this forum ☺
I need to do a bit of minor overhaul work on my D8 to get it properly functional, but your suggestion of tuning sounds like a very good place to start.
Thanks again,
Simon

[Mcneilwaeasteel]

Hi Simon
Welcome to the forum and good luck with your search for the right tunings for your twin eight, having a double neck 8 string non pedal myself I have decided to settle for E13th on the front neck, top to bottom G#,E,C#,B,G#,E,D,B , this tuning is based on Don Helms E13th and gives a nice E9th sound.
On the rear neck I use an A6th tuning top to bottom E,C#,A,F#,E,C#,A,G this tuning is used by Eddie Rivers and is good for Western swing, it can easily be changed to C6th Using the same strings dropping to E,C,A,G,E,C,A,G.
I find the benefit from these tunings is the fret number positions are the same 3 5 7 9 12 on both necks, you can figure out what pedal arrangements would be available using these tunings, but the worlds your oyster when pedals are involved.
I would like to see you swinging your right foot for swell on that tone/volume pedal when jumping from one pedal to another with your left foot and still figure out with your brain, where your hands are going, when that's all being done at the same time you can then think of adding leavers to get the missing notes!
Best wishes on your journey into pedal steel and good luck in finding tunings that suit your needs, meanwhile you can always use the twin neck as a double eight console and forget about the pedals for now by using the above tunings, when you figure out what slants are required for each tuning it will give you a better idea of where and how to use the pedals.
Best time to work on tunings is in bed, it's more therapeutic than counting sheep , but it leads to nightmares
Cheers
Robert

[simon_f3]

Cheers Robert!
To be honest I was torn between trying to get hold of a pedal steel and a double 8 console - and then this Denley D8 pedal came up and I thought it would possibly be the best of both worlds
It's currently tuned to E9 (without the lowest 2 strings), and C6 (effectively Don Helms E13th but shifted a few frets), but the pedals only operate on the front neck so the C6th is still effectively a non-pedal. For now... There are 2 extra pedals in the case which are not currently connected, so I plan to attach them, at least, to see what happens!
Totally agree with you on playing as a non-pedal, then using the required bar slants as a leader for setting up the pedals though - great idea.
The guitar needs a bit of TLC, but I've managed to knock out a tune on both necks so I feel like I'm making progress of a kind
Once I've got it a bit more tuneful (partly the pedal mechanisms, and partly my playing!) I'll post some pics and possibly a little video clip.
Thanks,
Simon 'Sid' Farley