Are there pedal steel Tele's w/pedals?

I had read that there were Telecasters built back in the day that used Pedal Steel pedals. Has anybody seen one?

I have been learning to play pedal steel for a few months now and its making me want to build a hybrid.

I already have a B&G bender made by Forrest but I would like to try building one that is actually a pedal steel.

Use an open tuning variation of the E9 steel tuning and then have a pedal setup on the floor with cables running into the guitar. Use a slide and bam! a Pedal Steel Telecaster.

I'm thinking the break cables from a motorcycle would work. I just to figure out how to keep it from looking like a tentacled space monster. I have a Tremor Bender I think would work for a bridge. Attach my cables to the back stop where the adjustment screw is on the Tremor so as to avoid making any sharp angles the cables would not like. Then run them down to a setup on the floor using something similar to B-bender hardware to add tension and throw length to the pedals.

There have been Gretsch guitars with bigsby pedal attachments and I can't think of the guy's name right now but he played a peavey guitar with pedals while sitting to great effect. I think it's a bit cumbersome but doable.

Phil Baugh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX6J0mgX4bc&feature=related

Funny! I was just on the Steel Guitar Forum, and someone was asking something similar. I linked him to the Buck Trent thread here. I've always done double duty in my bands. I had a Tele with a Hipshot, B and G benders and three toggles. But when I wanted to sound like pedal steel, I just put the Tele down, and sat down behind my Kline Universal 12 string steel.

This one always fascinated me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vALAYxUpZC8

were probably the original the Clarence White had which is now owned by Marty Stewart and the one owned by Bob Warford. They weren't exactly "pedal steel Teles" but both those guitars featured part of the changer mechanism of a Fender 400 pedal steel. They were meant to be activated by pushing down on the strap like most benders such as Parsons/White, Parsons/Green, McEwan, Glaser, etc.........JH in Va.

This one always fascinated me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vALAYxUpZC8

i've got one of those that i haven't used in several years. every time i see that video, i almost, but not quite, get the urge to drag it out of it's box in the garage and find a tele to put it on. it IS a nifty unit, but i personally found it somewhat bulky and a PITA to haul around, hook up the cables to play. then unhook everything to load it up after a gig.

but they work great, and unless someone is totally deaf, the "sounds" and licks that can be done with one does get some people to looking around and wondering where the pedal steel player is hiding.:lol:

for my "once i a while" playing situation these days i suppose a HipShot with B/G/A benders and drop D is much simpler to use....

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix0808/1111_PBguitar2b_1.jpg

Here's what we're talking about...

...well, in my case Palm PEDALS, but pedals, none-the-less...:grin:

Set up for slide..started out with E9 tuning, since went to C6...

Wow, Lerb! Looking at that Peavey with that rack of pedals makes dizzy. Think I'll stick with just the B-bender! Gotta admit though, you guys are adventurous!

Ahh, Lerb found a pic of one.

And ya, over at the steel forum a guy was talking about putting a Bigsby on a steel and I was the guy wanting to turn the Tele into a pedal steel.

That peavy is exactly what I was thinking about.

Wow, Lerb! Looking at that Peavey with that rack of pedals makes dizzy. Think I'll stick with just the B-bender! Gotta admit though, you guys are adventurous!

actually, i think what Lerb is showing a pic of is the actual rig that belonged to Phil Baugh. i have the rollers to the system (made by MSA, i think) and SOMEwhere in all the mess out in my garage i have the bridge plate for one, but $$#!^% if i can find it. i have the stuff promised/sold to a fellow forum member if i can EVER find it..??!

i don't know just how many of those floor pedal systems were made and are even still in existance, but i would have to assume they are very, VERY rare. someone here on the forum told me that Phil's original system was so unreliable for tuning issues that he trash-canned it fairly quickly.

Several years ago, someone had a Tele with the MSA unit for sale in Vintage Guitar. I contacted the guy. Just didn't have enough scratch at the time.

Well, here's my take.
I bought a Telecaster B bender to get that "pedal steel guitar" sound.
That lasted for a while, until I went to a Portland Oregon Pedal Steel guitar jam. Imagine 25 pedal steels of all kinds, played all in tune, with a variety of age groups.
Met some great folks, who encouraged me to buy a pedal steel. I found a used Rittenberry 10 string, took some lessons and am now playing in front of people ( enough to coax some cool licks)
IMO... if you take time to learn the pedal steel, you won't look back. They are incredible instruments and its much more than "country."
Still have the Tele.

h-man
Made my living for 30 years playin' pedal steel, Kline U-12. Played a Tele with a bender on stage that whole time, but seldom used the benders, just sat down behind the Kline.

h-man
Made my living for 30 years playin' pedal steel, Kline U-12. Played a Tele with a bender on stage that whole time, but seldom used the benders, just sat down behind the Kline.

Those Kline U-12 are sweet guitars!

Very sweet! Solid as a rock too. There's a nice D-10 for sale on The Steel Guitar Forum right now. I'd love to get it, but I'm a Universal Tuning guy now, and have no desire to go back to two necks.