Steel Guitar Terminology For New Players

Andy Sandoval · From: Bakersfield, California, USA

For those that don't get Bobbe Seymour's news letter. I thought new players might benifit from this info.

A steel guitar changer is the part at the pickup end of the guitar than can raise
or lower any string, depending on the pull rod that goes through it.

A triple raise, double lower changer refers to how many rods can be put through
the changer to raise or lower an individual string. This may bore some of you
experienced players, but just remember, we need to help all those that ask for
it.

An Emmons setup is the standard setup of the day, so if somebody says standard
setup, they mean an Emmons setup. This setup is as follows. First pedal on the
E9th neck raises the B’s to C#. The second pedal from the left raises the G#’s
to A. This is strings three and six. The third pedal raises the E string to F#
and the B string again to C#. This is the Emmons setup which is standard for
all steels.

The knee levers are as follows. Left knee lever pushing left raises strings
four and eight from an E to an F note. The left leg going right lowers the same
strings to Eb. The right knee lever going right lowers the second string a
whole tone and the ninth string a half tone, or one fret. This is the standard
setup that even Buddy Emmons uses to day along with 98% of professional players.

Most people will have another knee lever or two that is setup to do about
anything they want it to do which are more known to be licks than to be of great
importance in playing chords. This is the standard Emmons setup which is
actually the standard setup the world over.

A humbucking pickup is a pickup that is really two smaller pickups side by side,
one with the wire being wound in one direction and the other being wound in the
other. These two coils counteract any hum that a normal pickup would send to
the amplifier.

A keyless steel guitar is a steel guitar without standard or common tuning keys,
but instead has a mechanism that connects directly to the string and can pull it
up to pitch by turning a threaded bobbin. This makes the guitar able to be
built shorter and sometimes even lighter. It can also help in tuning and pedal
action if the tuning mechanism is built with good quality.

The scale that we refer to on a steel guitar is the measurement from dead center
of the pulling finger in the mechanism to the dead center of the roller at the
keyhead end of the guitar, which we refer to as the roller knut. So
technically, the scale of a steel guitar is the actual length of the vibrating
string that is used to make music, the length from nut to bridge.

The ball and socket are on the end of the pedal rod that connects the pedal rod
to the pedal. The upper end of the pedal rod connects to a cross shaft on the
guitar. On this cross shaft are pieces called rod pullers or turn-buckles. A
small rod goes from them through the changer to activate raise or lower action
on the string.

Nylon tuners are the little hex nuts which thread on to the end of the little
pull rods, go through the changer and are used to adjust how sharp or flat a
string is activated, raised or lowered.

Timbre refers to the quality or beauty of the note. Tone refers to the amount
of treble or bass that is being produced.

Cabinet drop is a term that refers to the flexibility of a steel guitar.
Sometimes when a pedal is depressed, not only does it actuate a string on the
guitar directly, but also can bend the guitar ever so slightly and make
unaffected strings drop in pitch slightly. It’s referred to as cabinet drop but
is generally overall too minuscule for anyone listening to detect.

Bobbe also invites those with steel guitar questions to email him.

David Doggett · Posted 30 Jul 2009 6:36 pm

Just to add a little detail, the pedal rod goes up from the pedal to the cross-shaft linkage. The pull rod goes from the cross-shaft to the changer. The connection of the pull rod to the cross-shaft is called a puller or a bell crank. Only a few pedal steels in the past have had actual turn-buckles.

Larry Bressington · From: Nebraska

Thanks dave for clearing that up, that will help identify rods which sometimes sound confusing when talking on line. Smile

_________________
A.K.A Chappy.

Gregg Laiben · From: Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Thanks for the info - it helps us noobies a lot!!

Dustin Rigsby · From: Parts Unknown, Ohio

so...Timbre is in the hands and tone is in the amps ? ..... LOL ! I just couldn't help myself ! Laughing

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