Not yet an owner. Help in general

[Euphony]

Hello all, I'm really not sure what to say. When I was younger I played alot of fiddle and tenor banjo - trad folk as well as novelty dance band music of the '20s '30s. Worked for a piano restoration firm, so I've a reasonable understanding of music and some of it's theory - though not a reader. I play uke now.
For how long now I'm not sure, but I've developed great respect and affection for the honky-tonkers.
And I wish to play as they do! (you have to have a dream).

So what now? I haven't even seen a steel in RL, just vids and pics. I have only tried picks for maybe a week, years ago trying 5 string, they drove me crazy.
As yet I don't have a favourite player/style - I simply love the psg and the women and men who play them.
So that's some information about me and where I'm at. I'm in North Herts.
So thankyou for your time.
Gav.

[Nick Bidmade]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. Get in touch with John Davis via this forum - he's in St Neots so not too far from you. He usually has a number of pedal steels you can try - he's very helpful and reliable and will see you right.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Hi Gav, and Hi Nick and thanks for the nice recommendation, yes I will always help a new steeler , finding anything to buy has got a lot harder over the past few months it seems either famine or feast and at the moment people are hanging on to their guitars.....
Gav, if money is no object my advice would be go and buy the best available new "Pro" guitar on the market and there are many to choose from, I have nothing to sell but if you want to try one of my Emmons to get a feel for playing you are welcome to come to St.Neots and have a play (I always keep plenty of tea bags as many on here will testify )

On the other hand, if your restricted by price you could look at the Springfield/Bennett that Luke is selling,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Springfield-B ... 2094370156

as anything Ronnie Bennett has worked on is going to be a playable guitar.

If anyone out there has a guitar for sale at a resonable price I would be interested as I have other "Would be" players in line...

[Euphony]

Thank you for replies. I rather think I made I fool of myself here- I didn't quite realise how much they cost. I am not put off, 'where there's.........'
Would this be any good ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Built- ... 1937244190.

I'm afraid I dived into this too quickly. I'm also thinking about a Lap Steel. I'm even considering a self build. Desperate - sounds about right - but that's what happens when one gets' The Bug' I suppose?

I've been listening to Hank Williams, Ray Price, e.g. very keen on this sound, are they pedalling ?
Despite immediate (£) circumstances, I would love to visit you in St. Neots if you're are able to spare a little time.
Thank you,
Gav.

[nevada150]

Hello Gav,
I can see your dilemma. PSG's are complicated pieces of art and as such cost lots of pennies, whereas a home-build Lap Steel as a starter can be quite cheap in comparison. I started this way with a 6 string then an 8 string home-build Lap Steels. I think they probably cost around £60-£70 to build and gave me lots of fun doing it. EBay is a great source for all of the hardware required. One advantage with going this route is, you can build whatever shape you wish taking into account positioning of the pickup(s), controls etc. Wiring of the controls is quite simple if you can "wield" a soldering iron and it's very satisfying when you first plug it in and it works.
Here are pics of a couple I made in 2014 and I'm still enjoying learning on both.
Regards
Keith

[Tony Russell Davis]

To jump in with Keith on the self build here, there is not a lot to it if you can handle a few tools.
The body/neck can be as simple as a plank. "Wings" can be glued to the sides at the tail end if you prefer some shaping but don't have a band saw.
The bridge/tailpiece is a piece of angle ali, brass or steel and the nut - the same.
You can buy 8string pickups or, like Keith's picture, two P-bass units. I made a 7string steel guitar using a cheap jazz bass copy p/up that is wide enough. 7 or 8 strings is my recommendation but 6 is useful, it's just that the extra one or two give scope for more tunings.
Check around music shops or instrument makers for "odds and ends" boxes to find tuners in singles or other than sets of 6; maybe left over from repair jobs. At a pinch a mandolin set could maybe do if robust enough.
Fretboard can be as simple as cardboard marked off from a regular guitar as a template. You make the scale length of yours to match the distance from the bridge to one of the lower frets; around 22 - 24in would be good enough. F'rinstance, from the first fret to the bridge of a Les Paul looks ok. Or, Keith has a contact for reasonable complete fretboards with dazzling inlay designs (is that one of them on the blue job?)
You don't even need volume and tone controls, wire up straight to a jack socket. Pedal steel guitars don't have them, although a vol. pedal is used.
The point here is that you CAN make a reasonable guitar for very little money before you plunge in and spend on either a good instrument or better materials to make your second one.
Ask if you want any help or advice.
PS let the available parts guide the design!

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Gav, you are already getting some good advice here and a plank is a way in for a start, most that started on a plank play better than those of us that jumped straight in with the pedals.... re the ebay steel if I had Baz's picture of a can of worms I would be putting it in about now.. I think you would find it to be the road to frustration.
go the self build plank route until you can get a decent pedal guitar and come up and have a go on my Emmons whenever your ready.

[Euphony]

Hi, thank you for the advice you kindly gave in all your replies. much appreciated.
Imagine - I was so close to buying the eBay listing.
Well in just a week things have looked up.
A friend of mine is a luthier - Dave Stacey - he makes beautiful banjos, is going to help me.
This is the only clip I could quickly find, but you'll see the quality of the instruments he builds and plays,



So I rate myself as very fortunate - last week, not much more than a pipe dream.
I will have to get machine heads, pick-up, strings, ( volume pedal ?). I have a steel but it's for Dobro I think.
The rest is already taken care of. Oak body, mahogany fretboard with maple frets, and I have chosen abalone dots.
Nut, tailpiece, bridge, all brass.
I would like to post a few pics of the build, would that be OK ?
The private messages were very encouraging - Thank you,
Gav.

[Tony Russell Davis]

Hi Gav - so what spec. have you decided on for your guitar?
You say the steel s a "dobro" one; I'm guessing that means a shaped jobby with a channel down the back for your finger, often called a "Stevens" bar?
Dobro calls for a bar suitable to a different technique; the recommended bar for lap steel is a "bullet nosed" bar. That's a piece of straight cylindrical steel rod with one end semi-spherical. Do a search on a Dunlop 920 to see what I mean. Other bars are available, but the 920 shows the pattern for lap steel. There are reasons why the bullet nose is important, so make sure you find one where there is no "shoulder" where the nose meets the sides, it should end in an exact semi-sphere matching the diameter of the bar.
Your pal will know how to work the wood, but if you or he have any questions related to steel guitar, don't hesitate to ask - they are not banjos and have different design demands. Example - don't use an adjustable, or compensated bridge, it needs to be straight and flat (same with the nut).

[Euphony]

Hello Tony, thanks for posting. Yes, that would be a Stevens bar - and from watching vids and trawling the net for any info, I thought this steel was wrong. So that bit is sorted out.
My friend said, from his own point of view, that to go ahead he needs plans. I found these;
http://www.bluestemstrings.com/page5.html - His background along with his practical skill, is maths - so one of his first concerns was the bridge and nut.
One of the nice things about this, is that he is keen to do this, just to end up with a well thought out well made instrument.
Oh Tony, I have offered to buy various stuff, you know to get things going, - always the same response. " Well.... let's see what's in the shed.." he has no end of 'stuff' - all musical gear.
He also engineers so I feel pretty safe.
I have more Questions, but I have to go out.
Thanks again Tony
Gav