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Topic: Request for Information Regarding a Link II Pedal Steel |
Matthew Maier
From:
Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2018 8:03 pm |
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Hello Forumites,
I've wanted to play pedal steel for several years now and stumbled upon this here forum. After a bit of debating, I decided a lap steel was a bit more entry level and price friendly so I ordered a lap steel from Bob about two years ago. Though it took me several months and a few different tunings to get to a place where I was happy with my sound, the quality of the instrument was top notch and the price was great.
However, it only highlighted my want for a real pedal steel. Using a volume pedal and behind-the-bar bends only got me so far. I only have a few music stores in my city and they only carry a couple different models (Long and McQuade in Canada). Recently, however, a local store received a trade-in for a Link II pedal steel priced at $1500 CAD (much cheaper than the other $3000 and up models they carry).
I took it for a two week rental and initially loved it. Despite not knowing the E9 tuning, I picked it up much, much quicker than the C6 or A6 tuning of my lap steel. I quickly found a few chord shapes and began using the first, third, and fifth pedals quite fluidly. Obviously I have a long, long way to go but I was very encouraged with my first few hours of playing.
The $1500 CAD price tag comes with a case, two bullet tone bars, a Link volume pedal, a handful of patch cords, extra strings, finger picks, and a tuning tool. It has 5 pedals and 4 knee bars. Other than that, I do not know a whole lot about it. I tried doing a bit of research but couldn't find much. The employees at the store (including their resident steel player) told me it was a professional level instrument, but I haven't seen or been around enough to really know. Their steel expert kept comparing it to other more famous models, but it was basically just letters and numbers gibberish to an inexperienced guy like me.
When I got home, I found the cords and volume pedal to produce quite a bit of hum. I swapped them out for my own cords and my VP Jr. and a lot of the hum disappeared but when I have the volume pedal set to 75% or more, the noise level is what I would consider unacceptable. I am playing through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
Additionally, I don't completely understand how the thee-way pickup switch works. There is definitely a change in tone (and volume) between the three positions, but I do not know exactly what is happening. And should there be a tone knob on the actual instrument? I use the tone knob on my guitars, bass, and lap steel all the time and it seems like the pedal steel should have it. Should I be plugging it into something like a BOSS Fender Bassman pedal to play around with the tone?
Anyways, I have a few pictures of the instrument so hopefully someone here can let me know if this is a good price or if there are some other alternative instruments and/or fixes to the noise issues.
Below is a link to an imgur album:
https://imgur.com/a/J8yIKHd
Thanks,
Matt |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 10 Jul 2018 7:02 am
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Hi Matthew
Sounds like you have a "Linkon" pedal steel , made by Wayne Link , who lives somewhere in Western Canada. You could do a search on the Forum and find numerous posts regarding Linkon steel guitars.
Best of luck. |
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Dave Campbell
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 10 Jul 2018 7:09 am
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cool! wayne link is still around and still has parts for these guitars.
it sounds like the pickup has a coil tap switch...basically using only a portion of the wraps on the magnet instead of all of them. it usually results in a brighter tone.
some steels have tone controls, but lots and lots don't.
what do the pedals do? you mentioned the 1, 3 and 5th, but that doesn't allow for some of the big combinations (typically 1 and 2 and 2 and 3.).
1500 canadian is pretty cheap for a pedal steel these days. considering that the bulk of steels are in the states and cost us canadians pretty close to a grand just for shipping, fees and tax, i'd say you're looking pretty good. |
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Matthew Maier
From:
Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 10 Jul 2018 8:21 am
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Thanks for the replies. It definitely helps knowing the brand is Linkon, there seems to be quite a few posts about them on this forum.
Does anyone know what options I have for trying to fix or reduce the buzz and hum I get while playing? |
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Matthew Maier
From:
Saskatchewan, Canada
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