Should I add 'Ralph Mooney changes' to my new steel?

Mark Hershey · From: New York, USA

I ordered a new Encore and I'm on the wait list.

A friend has pretty much convinced me to go standard and I understand there's good reason why this is standard:

ABC standard Emmons

LKL raise E's to F

LKV lower both B's to Bb and split to C

LKR Lower both Es to Eb

RKL raise 1 to G#, raise2 to E Lower 6 to F# and split to G

RKR lower 2 to D at the feel sop then to C# at the terminal lower. Also drop 9 to C# on the back half of the feel stop.

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I'm on board with almost all of this. The areas where I'm very tempted to deviate are:

RKL raise 1 to G, and raise 7 to G (make it a traditional "G Lever"

Adding a 4th pedal located after the C pedal - not interested in the Franklin pedal. Thinking either lower G#s to G or raise the 4th string to F#. Definitely after the Mooney thing with this pedal.

What about making LKV to lower 3 and 5 to G? and using the 4th pedal to raise the 4th string to F#?

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I like old school country, I like the blues and I love the west coast picking - Mooney, Brumley, Sneaky Pete, Leo Leblanc, Jerry Garcia, Clarence White B - Bender type stuff replicated on the steel. I'm really mostly just interested in the traditional pedals but with all the bells and whistles offered I'm tempted to experiment in some of the more modern offerings on the steel. Any new ideas are welcome as well.

I will hang up and listen. Thank you!

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

I'm not sure that the 1&2 string raise would be considered one of the standard changes. A lot of people seem to have it but looking at copedents, just as many seem to have just the semitone raise on string 1.

Also, if you decide to go for the proposed copedent, the 1st string semitone raise is about the easiest one to do as a behind the bar bend.

I got my first proper steel last year and it had much the same setup as the one you describe and I spent a lot of time agonising over whether to make a few changes but in the end I decided if I spent that time learning the setup I already had I'd make much better progress.

In the end, it's swings and roundabouts and whatever you go for there will be certain things you can't do and other things you can do that others can't with their setup.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Your "standard" is what is on my Franklin. One addition, on the RKR I also raise 7th string F# to G.

The Carter factory standard 3P 5K setup was the same as my setup (minus the 7th string raise) and your standard.

Same way the factory standard 3P 4K on the GFI S-10 is your standard, minus the LKV lever.

Probably the next most popular is the old "Sho-Bud" setup with the E lowers on the RKL.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

I raise 1 to G and drop 6 to F# on my RKL, and the 1st and 2nd string raise goes on a zero pedal, so the A pedal is on P2. That way, I can have the unison of 2 and 4 peel apart to E and D (split with the RKR whole string drop)
See this video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XUykptG6DBQ
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Mark Hershey · From: New York, USA

Greg Milton · From: Benalla, Australia

Another pedal that will help with Mooney stuff (apart from the E-F#) is a pedal at Pedal 0 position that raises string 6 G#-A and lowers string 3 G#-G and used in conjunction with the A pedal. It is what Norm Hamlet used first as a knee lever then as a pedal to cop all the Mooney licks playing for Merle Haggard.

I've had this change on my steel a fair bit and it's great. Of course, you can do most of what Mooney does using 7th chord and scales with the string 1 raise F#-G but this has it's own cool sound!

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

Steve Leal · From: Orange CA, USA

Hi Mark. Glad you are thinking all of this through before receiving the guitar and changing your setup afterwards as much as I have. I have finally made peace with my setup. I am into the same influences as you are and wanted to make my single neck E9th steel as versatile as possible while maintaining good feel and playability of the instrument.

Here is what my final setup has become. Maybe some of these ideas will help you a bit. Note: My guitar is actually left handed, but I will reverse everything when noting my setup for easy reference.

Pedal 1 = lower 5th and 6th whole step. This Franklin change is actually very useful and musical. Keep in mind that when you step on pedal 1 and 2 together, the 5th string should be unaltered which gives you the 6th string drop alone - that you can use together with lowering your E strings. Eliminates the need to lower 6 by itself!

Pedal 2-4 = ABC standard raises

LKL = raise Es to Fs
LKV = raise string 1 whole step, raise string 2 half step, raise string 7 half step ( which acts as a feel stop to raise 1 half step. I like these changes on the uplever because easy to get the 7th tones while steping on AB pedals. Also note that by not lowering string 6 with the string 1 and 2 raises, you will be able to maintain more chords with strings 456 when activiting the string 1 and 2 raises. Much better!

LKR = lower string 2 whole step, lower string 9 half step. I wouldn't recommend raising 7 with this change as it will interfere with your bluesy petatonic runs two steps down from open position.

RKL = Lower Es to Eb. Much more musical to have E raises and lowers on separate legs, for slow swoops

RKR = lower Bs to Bbs. Feels much smoother here for me than on up lever. I like using this along with A pedal and raised Es to get your 6 minor chord 1/2 step up from AB position.

I personally would recommend against lowering string 3. Just seems to quicken the breakage of that string. Save yourself some cuts on your finger, lol. I like the lowering of 3 and 6 to get the Brumley licks, but plenty of other ways to get these chordings elsewhere on the neck. I wouldn't raise string 4 alone a whole step. I do like that sound, but you can also get that voicing elsewhere on the neck.

Hope this helps, Stephen

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