The British Steelies Society

I have always loved the sound of pedal steel guitar, but always managed to convince myself that I'd never be able to learn how to play it. Then last week I saw one listed in an auction catalogue and put in a bid... and now I have to learn how to play a pedal steel guitar. But first I want to make sure that I can set it up right.

I have totally bitten off more than I can chew here because it's not a starter model, it's an MSA Classic with two necks, eight pedals and three knee levers. I've put it all together and all the mechanical parts seem to work, as in the pedals and levers all raise or lower the pitch of strings when operated. But it's clearly not been used for a while as it's quite dusty and missing some strings. So, first of all, what should I look out for on the maintenance front? And secondly, is there a standard as to what each pedal and lever should do, or is that purely down to player preference?

Thanks in advance for all your help, this is going to be a long journey.

Hi Rigby and welcome! Yes there are some "standard" set-ups that you need to know about. But there are choices as to which pedal/kneelever to use for each pitch change. The neck furthest from you should be the "E9th" neck (mainly for country music) and the three leftmost pedals and the kneelevers should work on that neck. You will often see guitars with one neck only and it's that one.
The other 5 pedals plus at least one of the K/Ls should work on the back (C6th) neck. That neck (standards, jazz, western swing etc.) is often ignored in favour of the front one so we can come back to that later.
The E9th is generally set up in one of two ways, at players preference, (each roughly a mirror image of the other) and you need help to get that sorted out
So this is the point where I ask whereabouts you live and try to put you in touch with someone local who can help - otherwise subsequent messages get very complex

Hi Tony,

Thanks! It's great to meet everyone. I would certainly love a bit of hands-on guidance -- I'm on the Cambs/Suffolk border, between Cambridge and Haverhill.

thanks
Sam

I'm sure that help will be on the way as soon as John sees your post

Ha, yes, it was a bit of a risky buy given that the auction house only put up one photo. The price didn't seem quite as good once they'd added their enormous premium...

Fingers crossed there doesn't seem to be anything terminally wrong with it or missing. It was definitely a mistake on my part to assume that it would come with a case, though. Also not the wisest choice to bring it home on public transport, but it's here now.

Thanks for the offer, that would be super helpful. Let me know when is convenient for you and I'll bring it on over!

If we're talking evenings then Monday to Thursday should all be OK with me, or I could probably do Thursday daytime. Are you gigging locally?

Tony Russell Davis wrote:I'm sure that help will be on the way as soon as John sees your post

Told you so