I'm a huge fan of pedal steel, but I come from a different angle than more traditional, country-based steel. I'm more interested in atmospheric stuff like Daniel Lanois and more indie-rock stuff like Japancakes (whose song-for-song cover of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless album is amazing!) and Faye Webster. John Rauhouse is also another great steel player who I found through his work with Neko Case.
I bought an old 70s Sho-Bud Maverick 10-string a decade or more ago, swearing I would master it someday as a studio tool (I work as a producer), but it's alluded me. I finally signed up for online lessons last year with a great teacher named Eric Haugan and together we realized that my pedals/knee lever were screwed up and not connected to the correct strings for traditional E9 tuning. I haven't had time to go back to it since last summer, but I might just cut my losses and buy another one that's set up properly at some point.
It's so different from the way I play guitar. There's way more thought for me, because I don't think when I play guitar, usually. My brain is on autopilot and my fingers just do their thing, whereas with the pedal steel, I need to conceptualize what I want to do and figure out what pedals to press to make that happen. I will get back at it. It's such a beautiful sounding instrument.
Roger
I bought an old 70s Sho-Bud Maverick 10-string a decade or more ago, swearing I would master it someday as a studio tool (I work as a producer), but it's alluded me. I finally signed up for online lessons last year with a great teacher named Eric Haugan and together we realized that my pedals/knee lever were screwed up and not connected to the correct strings for traditional E9 tuning. I haven't had time to go back to it since last summer, but I might just cut my losses and buy another one that's set up properly at some point.
It's so different from the way I play guitar. There's way more thought for me, because I don't think when I play guitar, usually. My brain is on autopilot and my fingers just do their thing, whereas with the pedal steel, I need to conceptualize what I want to do and figure out what pedals to press to make that happen. I will get back at it. It's such a beautiful sounding instrument.
Roger