Raise B to C - half travel on A pedal, or via knee?

[simon_f3]

Aren't those screws for "split" tuning? To "true up" a note raised a whole-tone by one pedal and simultaneously lowered a half-tone by another pedal or KL? e.g. raise E string to F# with pedal C and then bring it back to an accurate F by lowering the E string on a KL?

I think that's true, Tony, although I have seen several diagrams explaining the many ways to achieve correct split tuning, and/or getting a half-stop at the correct point, by playing around with the stop positions and the pulls on raise and lower fingers. The pedalsteel.fr site has some very nice CAD images, e.g. here: http://pedalsteel.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=881&catid=173&Itemid=1492
I recall a few posts by Haddock on this very subject not long ago (combining simultaneous raise and lower), although I have to confess I did get confused from the start towards the end

I think for now I am going to make sure everything is in tune, and then progress using the copedent I currently have. Next time I pop down to visit JD I will lean on his wisdom and spare parts stock to see if I can make a couple of changes (mainly for C6), but for now I should probably stay focussed on the important part which is learning to play the guitar to an acceptable standard!

I've been working on 'Borrowed Angel' and will do my best to upload a video in the next few days. Can't promise an exciting background or rhinestone troos though...

[Jif]

I've been working on 'Borrowed Angel' and will do my best to upload a video in the next few days. Can't promise an exciting background or rhinestone troos though...

I've got a 2nd hand pair of Rhinestone troos on ebay at the moment if you're interested, only used once

Looking forward to hearing it Simon. I wish more players would post up their renditions whatever stage they are at. There some great players on this forum who I would love to listen to more. And it's good to listen to relative beginners and listen to them progress. It's a hard instrument to tame but the rewards for perseverance make it all worthwhile

BTW Haddock is an old friend of mine, I've known him for the best part of 40 odd years, and I'm still trying to figure out something he told me 20 years ago

[Haddock]

Another interesting and thought provoking post! Once again its nice to see so many different approaches to the instrument. For me, exploring the copedent is one of the joys of the machine and from the word go, I just couldn’t help myself tweaking. As soon as I saw a you tube video on using the vertical lever to drop the B’s I knew I had to have one and a quick mail to Bob Adams and the parts were in the post! Something you cant do with the half pedal A method is drop the B’s without the pedal. This turns the lower 8 strings into wholetone mode and while you’re not going to find this scale at your local pub session, it is pretty good fun to play with!
I think a personalised copedent gives me much more chance of sounding like ‘me’. I don’t think there is ever such a thing as the ‘best’ player as its too tied up with taste and there will always be someone faster or more accurate or whatever. But if your playing can be recognised just by the way it sounds, I reckon you have achieved something important. Having said that, I’m still at the moment!
Back to the practice......

Cheers
Calum

[Haddock]

I am an idiot! You do of course need to press A as well to get the whole tone thing! Thats what happens when you try to be clever when not at the steel! Still easier with the vertical though....

[simon_f3]

For me, exploring the copedent is one of the joys of the machine

This is something I have found too - there is a lot of intrigue not just in playing the steel guitar, but also in understanding the complexities of how it does what it does! I really try hard to avoid getting sidetracked into too much tweaking, as I am still at the very early stages of learning to play. One thing I find fascinating is the way that the same passage can be played in several different ways, and I am currently trying to work through this on a couple of tunes - certainly there are many more options than on a 6-string guitar to play the same lick. I think the 'sympathetic' tones of the unplucked strings still covered by the bar make a big difference, and it is really inspiring to see good players pick the 'sweet' way to play certain passages. I guess this comes with experience...? My technique at present is just to copy what the good players do - I figure in a few years I'll have enough moves under my belt to improvise without having to think too hard

[Danny Mitchell]

One thing I find fascinating is the way that the same passage can be played in several different ways, and I am currently trying to work through this on a couple of tunes - certainly there are many more options than on a 6-string guitar to play the same lick.

I completely agree, Sid. Even on regular 6 string there is a choice of positions to play the same notes, but on steel this is taken to the max. We must be musical masochists
Oh, for the simplicity of a piano, where you always find the notes where you left them.