How hard is it to set up a pedal steel?

Barry Yasika · From: Bethlehem, Pa.

I've seen quite a few post about different guys and how well they rebuild pedal steel guitars. How well, they're able set them up, how much better the tone is on this or that after paying to have them set up But the only difficult part in my opinion is the changer. If something goes wrong there you need to do some homework.

I've only ever seen a steel as wooden plank, with or without the aluminum neck/s and strings stretched across it. The rest is linkage, levers, the changer and a thing called a clevic.

I do calibration in the pharmaceutical field and have to pin point adjustment to within +/-.001 volts, milliamps, inches or centimeters for instruments that inject something into peoples hearts. So I know what exact precision is, although the first rule of metrology is all measurements are wrong. It comes down to "What close Enough" Lets face it, it only gets just so good, the rest is either history or cosmetic.

As far as I'm concerned if your guitar is in tune, the pedal and knee lever action is pretty good. WHat more do you want? I've talked about Joe Hart before and he had the ugliest Emmons 60 something I ever saw or played. It was horrible but he sounded as good as anyone I've ever seen or heard included guys like Emmons, Wallace and Franklin to name a few. He finally got it refurbished after using it for years on the beach bars in Daytona and honestly it really didn't feel or sound any better to me. Looked whoever did for him awesome but looks don't play guitars.

I mean I understand the "collectable" narrative. But im my opinion it's largely imaginary. I have a 68, a 79 and a 2014 Les Paul and yes there are some subtle differences in the way they all play but the bottom line is that when I play them on gigs, To me they all sound about the same. Guess which one is worth the most Smile

(Not Hard). It's exactly like Jeff Newman's "Tone be or Not Tone be" article which I strongly recommend looking over. You sound is in your head, and and your hands. Some guys excel at that and it make no difference what guitar they're playing. Herbie Wallace proved that to me back in the 80's by using a Nashville double neck. Doug Jernigan had been playing it and he had his sound (awesome by the way)and with out touching a thing except using his own finger picks and bar, Herbie made the sound completely change. I mean it was like he was playing a whole different rig.

I'm not knocking collecting classics if ya got the money but you better have a lot of money, cuz man your gonna need it. I don't know who dictates which year, make, model or rebuilder are the best. What I'm saying is that if all your looking for is a guitar that stays in tune, you don't have to fight to play and you can sound like a pro on, most anything modern steel will do the job made after maybe the early 80's. The rest is academic, don't fall into the classic sound trap. Your sound comes from you, not your guitar, amp, volume pedal, preamps or effects.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I agree that your sound is in your head and comes out via your hands. The best instrument is the one that enables you to get that sound most easily and it is likely to be a modern one.

I used to have a 60s pull-release D10 with single-coil pickups. Classic sound that made the hairs stand up, but ungiggable on many levels.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

I love this topic. Good players can make a bad instrument sound great and bad players can make a great instrument sound bad. My main concern other than my bad playing is a quality guitar that stays in tune and plays easily. Donny and Barry addressed what I firmly believe in both pedal steels and guitars. I tend to hang on to the ones that sound good, play easy and cause the least amount of fuss to maintain.

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

To add to what I said above, you need a reliable playable instrument so when it sucks, you know for sure it's you!
Smile

_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I'm reasonably good at mechanical stuff but I never do anything to a guitar unless I'm reasonably sure of the outcome.
I guess not everyone is as cautious.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

I dunno, I've owned PSGS that:
1. Didn't have as much sustain as others.
2. Had a boring, pure tone with little to know harmonic content.
3. Had hysteresis or cabinet drop to the point it really bothered me.

These examples don't inspire me to play as well as I can.
Additionally, no amount of setup or adjustment improved the three examples I have in mind. Some guitars do sound and play better than others to myself and that's important, and more often than not it's inherent in the design.

Ron Pruter · From: Arizona, USA

I'm always surprised at how much time it takes to set up a steel. I just re-rodded a PRP D-10 Mullen that someone rodded for a quicker, stiffer action. I also reinstalled original pick ups, lubed, re-strung, timed all pulls, changed some pulls. Adjusted everything I didn't like. It took me about 20 hours. And BTW, my back is killing me. This black, wood neck, lacquer guitar will soon be for sale here on the forum at a very good price. Local pick up only.
_________________
Emmons SKH Le Grande, '73 Fender P/J bass, Tick tack bass, Regal high strung, USA Nashville 112.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I'm not sure what the point is here. If the point is to state that a well set up guitar is not very important, I totally disagree. The difference between a well set up guitar and a poorly set up guitar is night and day. Of course, playability is one big issue. But in my experience with several, the tonal difference between, for example, a well set up push-pull Emmons and a poorly set up one is very, very pronounced, esecially in the upper register. I think that also goes for the all-pulls I've had, but I think a push-pull is especially sensitive to setup issues.

On the other hand, if the point of the thread title, "How hard is it to set up a pedal steel?" is that it is essentially trivial to set up a pedal steel - I guess that depends on who you're talking about doing the set up. I have received enough poorly to very poorly set up pedal steels that I'd say that it must not be all that easy. And when I get one that has been well set up, it is very, very noticable.

I really don't understand why anybody would want to make it even more difficult to play this fairly arcane and relatively hard-to-play instrument by settling for a mediocre to poor setup. YMMV, but this just seems to be another one of those, "The guitar doesn't matter, everything is in the hands of the player." Sure, a great player can make do with a mediocre guitar - that goes for any instrument. But it seems to me that some around here are arguing that the instrument doesn't really matter. Well, I think with pedal steel, that is not true.

Forum Index > Pedal Steel		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: