New to Pedal Steels

[lordalladin]

Hi, my name is Donald and I have played guitar professionally for forty years. I have wanted to learn the Pedal Steel for many years, but I never seemed to have the time to learn. I am hoping to purchase a single neck E9 in early 2019, after my December cheques have cleared, and as I’m quiet at the beginning of the year, devote as much time as possible learning some of the basics. If any of you guys have advice to help me, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Regards
Donald Laird

[Danny Mitchell]

Hello Donald,
And welcome to the forum, it's a great resource for someone in your position, just starting out.
Depending on your location, I would suggest attending one of the meetings that are held throughout the land. Even before you've purchased a guitar. The community's extremely helpful.
As for purchasing, if you are buying a used instrument, there are gents on here that would see you right, John Davis in St.Neotts and Ted Nesbitt in Northern Ireland. In fact, John always seems to have a living room full of tasty pro guitars and is a font of knowledge on all things steel.
Once you've got your guitar, or even before, take a look at Mickey Adams on YouTube, and Joe Wright on the Sierra Steel Guitar site, to get you going and inspired....for free!

[lordalladin]

Thank you for the welcome, I live in Dundee Scotland and am glad to become a member of this fantastic resource!

Cheers,
Donald

[Haddock]

Hi Donald and welcome.
I’m sure you’ll get lots of help here and its a good place to find a reliable first guitar. Dundee is near enough to the Gartcosh meeting and if you turn up this Tuesday to the Christmas special, its a rare chance to hear 14 versions of Little Donkey on pedal steel!
Cheers
Calum

[Mcneilwaeasteel]

Welcome to the group Donald come along on Tuesday and see what your letting yourself in for, Gartcosh community hall about 7pm.
Calum regards little donkey, it will sound great on pedal steel, but my version of a Christmas carol on a lap steel will sound as if it's being played by an Ass

[Haddock]

I’m sure it will bring tears to the eye Robert! My nearest neighbour is 3 miles away and I still got complaints about Little Donkey so its the Christmas Day Bond theme for me again I’m afraid.... a bit of a rule stretch I know.....
Cheers

[Jif]

Hi Donald, welcome to the forum. I live in Glenrothes in Fife and you would be welcome to come over and have a look at my pedal steel and hopefully I could give you some pointers. As Calum says a visit to Gartcosh tomorrow would be a great chance to see the variety of pedal steels on offer. However if you can't make it there will be other opportunities next year.

I'm retired so my time is fairly flexible, if you want to come over some time PM me and we'll arrange something.

BTW Calum blames me for encouraging him to empty his bank account, it's an expensive but very rewarding journey

[lordalladin]

Thanks Jif,
You’re very kind to offer me a visit, at the moment I’m playing guitar for 3 Pantomimes and a 2-day Christmas show which will take me up to the end of the year. I will take your kind offer in the New Year if that’s ok. If you’re on Facebook look me up under Donald Laird. If not my mobile is 07740676286. I’ve been offered a GFI Ultra single E9 keyless, with 4 pedals and 5 kneelevers. What do you think?

Cheers
Donald

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Hi Donald, if you really want to grab the Bull by the horns my beautiful Emmons Blonde D10 is up for 2750.it is a 1970 push pull model. Welcome to the forum.

[simon_f3]

Hi Donald,
Welcome to the murky world of pedal steeling
I started properly around April 2018 and despite work and family commitments have managed to make measurable progress since then! The guys on this forum are absolutely fantastic as a source of advice and knowledge, and I have yet to find a community so generous with their time and resources as this. If you can, a visit to Gartcosh would be well worth it (sadly for me it would take around 12 hours for the round trip - though I am still tempted...!) just to see what kind of guitars are out there, and the particular foibles and nuances of each. A bit further south of the border, after a few chats about what I actually wanted, John Davis sorted me out with a beautiful double neck Sho-Bud Pro 3 (1975 I think) which is more than enough to keep me busy/confused for the foreseeable future.
I am sure you'll make progress very rapidly if you are a pro guitarist - the main ingredient as far as I can tell for pedal steel is time! A bit of musical understanding helps, but an honest half hour a day, if you can do it, will accelerate learning way beyond the average. Sadly I struggle to put in 10 minutes a day but I'm still gradually improving. I think...
Good luck with your quest,
Sid