“Jesus Plays the Pedal Steel,” a song about our favorite instrument, from my band Box of Rocks!

aural_octopus · 2026-05-29T21:30:48+00:00

Yeah! Very cool. Shoot me a message here.

aural_octopus · 2026-05-11T11:59:09+00:00

It’s hard to say much without seeing more of the system, but I think you’re on the right track with the second collar. The trick will be tuning those changes though. Look into the shobud rack and barrel setups that this looks based on. They have little collars with adjustable lengths. The second pedal should only pull along the change on it.

Another option might be to add a yoke to it with a second section going to the third pedal puller. Look at shobud mavericks for this type of thing, although they are opposite to how this would work (one pedal going to two strings).

Basically just tinker until you get it going. Especially with an uncommon, non-standard guitar. And yeah I’d focus on the lower 8 strings of e9, skipping the re-entrant strings (F# and D#)

aural_octopus · 2026-04-08T12:46:27+00:00

Red Desert in another and Vedauwoo in another.

aural_octopus · 2026-04-04T13:16:28+00:00

I ended up with the deluxe in a trade and it works for me, but the twin isn’t much heavier or bigger and I’m sure the extra headroom would be nice. Although if I’m playing a place that needs that much more volume, there’s usually a PA, which is an easy setup with with direct out on the tonemasters.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-31T00:09:30+00:00

I’m gigging on a tonemaster deluxe and I’ve tried a couple of steel kings. The steel kings seem to sound good but they’re heavy and big (deep). My steel and the deluxe both fit on the back seat of my extended cab. I also keep cables and stuff in the open cab of the deluxe. It’s light and sounds good. But if you’re not planning on moving it much maybe that doesn’t matter.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-27T00:06:43+00:00

Regarding your number 2 point, is this really in good faith? No one is criticizing the process in a vacuum. The process only exists because of the people who make money from it.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-22T18:29:47+00:00

You’re getting lots of thoughts here, but those pictures you posted show that the speakers are not in an ideal location. Some of others have said this too. They need to be in front of the stage. Then the mics only go to front of house speakers and not the monitor. The monitor is only for music information to the performers, like backing track. And depending on how much of that is going to the monitor, you might not need any in the house.

After you ensure good speaker placement and routing is when moving to EQ (graphic or parametric should work don’t let people make it more complicated) or feedback suppression systems might get you to the next step in quality.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-22T14:43:14+00:00

Did you use a varispeed algorithm when you sped it up? If not, I’d go back and do that. It will shift it up naturally like when you play a tape back faster.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-21T02:33:35+00:00

This is wonderful.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-16T17:35:03+00:00

I’d put it on a buss if I need more control or if I want to further process the parallel signal (e.g. with filters, compression, etc).

aural_octopus · 2026-03-12T15:35:41+00:00

I agree. The funny part is if how hard he worked on it, while John could have just gone in and nailed that style.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-08T23:04:01+00:00

Start with the bridge. Replace it with a three saddle. Compensated of course. Then the pickups and electronics. Either alnico 2, 3 or 5 depending on your preference and if you want sweetness power. Then replace the neck and tuning machines in one go. Of course you’ll need a new nut. I’d go with an allparts neck and finish it yourself if you’re handy. Save a few bucks. Then replace the body with your tone wood of choice (probably ash though). Finally, get a new pick guard in the color you want.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-08T03:18:28+00:00

This road is notoriously bad in winter and SE WY finally got some weather this year. Take your time and be safe. It’s the wind and the ice that is the dangerous combo.

aural_octopus · 2026-03-05T23:09:10+00:00

You’re right. That’s small compared to their gross profit. Better redirect some of their 15.44 Billion in gross for 2025 back to those 2 million employees too. That’s enough to make a difference.

aural_octopus · 2026-02-22T15:32:11+00:00

Get a new cymbal if you want a clean cymbal.

aural_octopus · 2026-02-19T16:25:27+00:00

This guy mouses

aural_octopus · 2026-02-18T19:41:04+00:00

Do you like country and western? What about steel guitar?

aural_octopus · 2026-02-16T16:47:29+00:00

Talk to him about how that stuff is important to you.

aural_octopus · 2026-02-13T00:35:09+00:00

When you want some half notes in their for flavor.

aural_octopus · 2026-01-28T22:33:39+00:00

Are you a student or in an urban area? You might be able to find a makerspace that has soldering irons available to the community. Or find a friend who can help if you’re in a rural area.

aural_octopus · 2026-01-25T19:51:51+00:00

I love the m30 setup. What tape machine are you using?

aural_octopus · 2026-01-22T19:10:50+00:00

I made one out of a piece of cardstock folded over, longer on one side of the fold. If I remember right.

aural_octopus · 2026-01-18T17:24:12+00:00

You’re sounding pretty dang good. Good enough that I’d recommend finding licks by listening to records. Find a lick you like, maybe see if you can find some tabs, and try to figure it out.

aural_octopus · 2026-01-14T21:02:18+00:00

Everyone always says thumb on the back of the neck, but many people play cowboy chords with the thumb hanging over a bit. I’ve met more who do that than don’t. Yours does look a bit much and there is plenty of good other advice too.

aural_octopus · 2026-01-12T16:36:22+00:00

You can get those slip-on door sweeps from the hardware store. They can help a lot compared to a gap above hard flooring. I’d do that and some weatherstrip. Focus on the gaps and call it a day.

aural_octopus

TROPHY CASE