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Topic: Why is the pedal steel a 'cult' instrument |
Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 8:39 am |
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| I have read so many times that the pedal steel is a cult instrument. Some of my musician friends agree with this sentiment and say that there is definitely a certain 'mystique' about pedal steel. Is it because not many people play it in comparison to most other instruments? |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 9:05 am
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lets see:
a small group of obsessed fanatics practicing arcane and complex ritual in relative isolation from the rest of society....
yup we're a cult alright. Ive gone and drank the kool-aid. |
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Fred Nolen
From:
Mohawk, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 9:20 am
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Ken,
I don't care for the term "cult" when referring to steel guitarists. A cult has the negative connotation of being a false religion with a "less than upstanding", charismatic leader. When it comes to steel guitarists, I perfer the term brotherhood, to which some of the finest people I have met belong. I am proud to claim them as my brother, and you are no exception.
Please don't take this as a "slam" - it is certainly not intended as such - it is merely my opinon.
Good luck,
Ol' Fred |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 9:47 am
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I would have to agree with Fred Nolen..it's more like the "WaterBuffalos" from the Flintstones.
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:06 am
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| I was thinking more like the 'He-Man Woman-Haters Club' from Spanky and Our Gang... |
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Joe A. Camacho
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:18 am
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| If it was easy everyone would do it. |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:31 am
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Jim,That's the wimmin hater's club..Stu
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:33 am
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dont forget the stonecutters
I like the Waterbuffalo analogy, with Buddy Emmons as the grand poobah. (he does have the unusual headgear) |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:51 am
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Ben..I'm with ya' Stu
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Dennis Schell
From:
Shingletown, Shasta county, Kalifornia
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:59 am
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| Joe A. Camacho wrote: |
| If it was easy everyone would do it. |
I agree. And since PSG is difficult to learn, relatively speaking, and not many folks care to put in the required effort to become pedal steel players, the few who do are perhaps viewed as "out of the mainstream"......Cultists! 
Pass that Kool Aid please,
Dennis
_________________
"Bucks Owin"
Last edited by Dennis Schell on 6 Apr 2007 12:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Pat Goodbla
From:
Longview, Washington
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 11:35 am
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Ben, you nailed that one! 
_________________
Patrick Goodbla
Pre-RP Mullen D-10 10/10 |
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Michael Douchette
From:
Gallatin, TN (deceased)
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 3:16 pm
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Cult:
Brainwashing...
Cut you off from friends and relatives...
Take all of your money...
Cause you to drink weird stuff...
Demand extemely weird behavior...
Make you feel inferior and submissive..
Yup, fits the specifications to me...
By the way.... Where is that "cult following" they talk about? Are any of them... ah, you know, like, admirers? |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 3:20 pm
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"Ack Ack Adack".
EJL |
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Brad Malone
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 3:22 pm Steels are women
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| Hey MD, you hit the nail on the head, that's why most women hate Steels, they do not like another woman in the house, especially when that other woman is getting more attention then they are. |
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Al Collinsworth
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 4:06 pm why is the pedal steel a cult instrument?
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edit
Last edited by Al Collinsworth on 22 Apr 2008 10:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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James Cann
From:
Phoenix, AZ
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 5:45 pm
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| Gee, I always thought cult was the word used by any prevailing faith when referring to others. |
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A. J. Schobert
From:
Cincinnati, Ohio,
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 6:54 pm
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| Is that what you call it over in England? |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 9:52 pm
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| Quote: |
| Why is the pedal steel a 'cult' instrument? |
Ahhh ... lemme see - special ring, special handshake, arcane language usage, special tuning methods, special tools required, special seat required, special tab music used by most players, referred to as a "brotherhood" regardless of actual player sex, requires years of dedicated practice many hours a day to have a clue what it's all about, high entry fee, special conventions to meet and greet, can't go to Wal Mart and buy one, the number of competent players in most towns is vanishingly small, people genuflect when you tell them you play it, most people who see one think it's a keyboard or automatic cheese slicer ... am I missing something? |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:00 pm
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| Eric West wrote: |
"Ack Ack Adack".
EJL |
Pardon my ignorance, but... 
Is this a reference to some CULTural phenomenon I'm not hip to, or just evidence that Eric has finally lost it???   |
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Ron Brennan
From:
Orlando, Florida, USA; Formerly, Edison, NJ
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:33 pm
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Ummm, Dave,
Dave Mudgett Quote
"am I missing something?"
Learning how to fly a Helicoptor....on a rainy, stormy night out of LGA!! TX
Rgds,
Ron |
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C. Christofferson
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 10:41 pm
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| Nah, he's just being diffiCULT. |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 6 Apr 2007 11:38 pm
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| Ken, we have cults within the cult. I am in the ZB players cult. Others are in the Emmons push/pull cult. It has to do with the difficulty of the instrument. |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 7 Apr 2007 2:23 am
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| Quote: |
Ken,
I don't care for the term "cult" when referring to steel guitarists. |
Fred N - I wasn't referring to steel players, just the instrument. Also the word cult in this case doesn't apply to strange sects or organisation. Some guitar mags have described the pedal steel as a cult instrument in the past, and I can't make out why. I think it is just down to the fact that pedal steel players are a relatively small band of people overall, and that the instrument is regarded by many (rightly or wrongly) as difficult to play.
Michael Douchette - I did make sure I had the spell checker on when I wrote the post.  |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 7 Apr 2007 2:30 am
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I didn't really know I was in a CULT, but now that I know it explains many things 
This is very diffi-CULT to comprehend... |
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