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Topic: Why I chose a 6 string pedal steel |
Jeffrey McFadden
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2024 9:27 am |
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I don't know if this will be of interest to anyone, but on the off chance...
I have a GFI Expo, 10 string pedal steel, but I have never become at all proficient with it.
I'm 77, and although I understand the instrument at a theoretical level, the string spacing has been a major obstacle. I haven't been able to consistently hit the string I'm aiming for, and often not the correct pedal either.
Eventually I put it away and went back to my home made, 7 string, C6 lap steel. The lap steel is a good instrument for me, but there is no denying that it has a limited range of emotional color as an instrument. It sounds *so* Major Scale, with limited inversions available.
So, I bought a 6 string Sho Nuff from Growler in NC.
The biggest advantage will be string spacing, plus there are only two pedals, A and B, and two knee levers, LKL and LKR.
Add to that the burden of carrying a full pedal steel, the weight difference, and the tradeoff seemed worth it. 6 string E9 tuning is equal to strings 3 through 8 on a ten string.
Growlers and Sho Nuffs are pull release system. I've decided I can work with that.
It will obviously not offer the full range of a 10 string like my GFI, but a lesser instrument played better will still sound better.
Just my reasoning.
It's not here yet. If there's interest I'll follow up when it arrives.
_________________
Well up into mediocrity
I don't play what I'm supposed to.
Home made guitars |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 26 Jun 2024 12:55 pm
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I played a six stringer for a while. I also had D10s at the time. I only sold it due to economic stress.
There is a lot of music that can be played on a 6. It's just a different approach to finding the notes and chords in another way.
Simpler too, yes, I like the string spacing too. If you look at it in terms of the standard 10 string E9th tuning, limitiations are obvious but if you approach it in terms of just playing music on the instrument you have, it works just fine.
I don't view it as a lesser instrument just a different one.
Yeah, let us know how you get on with it after you've had some time to acclimate to it. Good Luck. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 26 Jun 2024 2:32 pm
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Nothing wrong with a 6-stringer! Chris Glass, who sounds as good or better than a lot of forum members with far more elaborate setups, proves that it's the player, not the guitar, that makes the music beautiful!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIB4dfWoMHI |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 26 Jun 2024 2:34 pm
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| I'll be curious how you like the Sho-nuf. hard to get first hand reviews. Please let us know how you like it. |
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Jeffrey McFadden
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2024 9:28 am
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| Bill McCloskey wrote: |
| I'll be curious how you like the Sho-nuf. hard to get first hand reviews. Please let us know how you like it. |
I will. They're building it now, so it will be a few weeks.
_________________
Well up into mediocrity
I don't play what I'm supposed to.
Home made guitars |
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Dean Gray
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 29 Jun 2024 4:32 am
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I play a D8 psg which I was lucky enough to get from forumite Tom Wolverton.
The E9 neck is like a 6 string E9 with the standard 2 chromatic/re-entrant strings up top. The big plus for me is the wide string spacing. I appreciate that more than I miss the other 2 strings. I think you’re going to love playing 6 string pedal steel!
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If it’s on the ground it can’t fall down. |
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Shea Stevenson
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2024 6:09 am
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| Jerry Overstreet wrote: |
I played a six stringer for a while. I also had D10s at the time. I only sold it due to economic stress.
There is a lot of music that can be played on a 6. It's just a different approach to finding the notes and chords in another way.
Simpler too, yes, I like the string spacing too. If you look at it in terms of the standard 10 string E9th tuning, limitiations are obvious but if you approach it in terms of just playing music on the instrument you have, it works just fine.
I don't view it as a lesser instrument just a different one.
Yeah, let us know how you get on with it after you've had some time to acclimate to it. Good Luck. |
I have sort of heard this idea implied before so… I gotta ask what limitations are you talking about? I’m totally green but 10-12 strings and all those pedals and levers seem to provide every option possible…. Does it not? With my lap steel and slants/open strings I can play most anything I’ve tried thus far. I transcribed Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie last night and am working on Clair De Lune. It is certainly different than guitar but I don’t know that I would think of it as limiting. Sax is a monophonic instrument but has made an indelible mark. I’m sure the issue is with my lack of experience btw not your quote. Just curious…. Because I’ve heard others say that.
Thanks! |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 29 Jun 2024 6:14 am
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| Quote: |
| I gotta ask what limitations are you talking about |
I think they are referring to the limitations playing the standard licks associated with the E9th pedal steel, not that it is limited as music making device. Chris Glass has certainly proven the point that 6 strings, with a G tuning and pedals, can be a powerful instrument no matter what genre of music you are playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2AXAY4AWwQ |
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Carl McLaughlin
From:
St.Stephen,New Brunswick,Can
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Posted 29 Jun 2024 2:18 pm Delete
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Delete
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I have a Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic. Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider, and an Allan tailpiece .Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD, using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal, set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it. Recently got a Sho-NUFF 6 string pedal steel in open G.Still learning.
Last edited by Carl McLaughlin on 2 Jul 2024 2:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jeffrey McFadden
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2024 8:47 pm
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| Shea Stevenson wrote: |
...I gotta ask what limitations are you talking about? I’m totally green but 10-12 strings and all those pedals and levers seem to provide every option possible…. Does it not? With my lap steel and slants/open strings I can play most anything I’ve tried thus far... |
I'm speaking of specific nameable limitations of a 6 string pedal steel with 2 pedals and 2 knee levers relative to a ten string with 3 and 5.
But to compare that back to the instrument I know best, a 7 string C6 lap steel with an extra low G at string 7, here are some specific limitations:
To change from the I chord to the IV chord I have to move my bar 5 frets. With either pedal steel I don't have to move it at all. I get my IV chord by stepping on 2 pedals.
By dropping one of them I get my choice of 3 inversions of my VIm. C6 gives me two inversions. It's a little bit tighter envelope.
But with a 10 string 3 pedal, I can also get my IIIm chord there, without bar movement, and several 4 note chords.
On top of that I have direct access to chords and voicings, via the in-play changing of individual strings, which I find more fulfilling and interesting than the static arrangement of 3165315 at every fret all the time.
Yes, I can make music on my C6. I play it better than I play any other instrument. In terms of expressing myself with that tool you could say it's unlimited - I have all 12 tones over and over and arranged for easy chord acess. I'm particularly fond of the instrument. But there are voicings and movements on an E9 pedal steel which are simply not available in physical reality to a lap steel.
The reason pedal steels evolved as they did was to open new horizons to players. I'll never be one of the greats, but the pedal steel gives me options I don't have without it.
I only play to satisfy myself. Two or three friends. It's a reason to keep learning in my old age.
Limitations aren't a bad thing. Music is an art that exists within complex agreed-upon limitations. It's just a matter of choosing the instrument which best serves your voice and ear.
_________________
Well up into mediocrity
I don't play what I'm supposed to.
Home made guitars |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Jun 2024 6:05 am
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| Quote: |
| But there are voicings and movements on an E9 pedal steel which are simply not available in physical reality to a lap steel. |
In C6 tuning, I'd agree, but I spent many years studying the Alkire tuning and with that tuning you also have your 4 chord on the same fret, in fact 50 some chords available on any fret. |
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Jeffrey McFadden
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2024 6:42 am
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| Bill McCloskey wrote: |
| Quote: |
| But there are voicings and movements on an E9 pedal steel which are simply not available in physical reality to a lap steel. |
In C6 tuning, I'd agree, but I spent many years studying the Alkire tuning and with that tuning you also have your 4 chord on the same fret, in fact 50 some chords available on any fret. |
I'm not familiar with that tuning at all. In fact, this is the first time I've heard of it. Could you post a link or two?
_________________
Well up into mediocrity
I don't play what I'm supposed to.
Home made guitars |
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Bill McCloskey
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Jeffrey McFadden
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2024 8:27 am
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Thanks
_________________
Well up into mediocrity
I don't play what I'm supposed to.
Home made guitars |
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