names for the pedal steel

[Roger Rettig]

I like 'The Devil's Ironing Board'.

[Wayne Brown]

I always told people when they ask what i am doing. I'd say I'm working on a steel guitar...they would ask what's that
and I would answer the cryie thing in country music no one likes. they usually walk away satisfied...hmmm youngins
thanks
wayne

[Bill C. Buntin]

When I was playing an MSA d10, a guy came up in a night club in Fort Worth and stood in front of me and pointed at the MSA logo and said “Maurice S. Anderson “…. I said “yea….do you know what the “s” stands for? He says “yep, that’s your middle initial “. LOL…I told Reece about it. The guy evidently thought I was Reece….Reece said “did you tell him who you were?” I say, “yea but he didn’t believe me.” LOL…the guy thought he had met the one and only Reece Anderson..I told Reece then I expected to get his pay for the gig instead of mine….Reece cracked up…I miss ole Reece. He was a good man and a good friend. And he had a lot of stories like these.

[Landon Johnson]

Yeah - Satan's ironing board. I've told drunk people some tales when they ask tho - "Our guitar player breaks a lot of strings so my job is to stretch them out for him"

[Bob Watson]

My friend Billy Wayne, who was a great C&W singer that I had the good fortune to work with, called it an “Electric Pineapple Machine”.

[John Larson]

The 88 fingers Eddward Instrument
https://youtu.be/xjOfPNhOipY?si=BqgIv9qCtrZK9IZ0

[Joe Shelby]

Down through the years I've been told that "it's" a "twangin' wireboard" and a "rural synthesizer."

Joe

[Jeff Peterson]

When loading or unloading I refer to it as ‘that heavy sob’!

[Bob Sykes]

I go to a local blues jam sometimes. Usually I'll take a 6 string or lap steel but whenever I take a PSG and happen to run into a good friend (& seasoned bass player) who knows exactly what to call it; he will ask me if I brought the Rube Goldberg contraption. Still makes me chuckle even though I know it's coming...

[Barry Yasika]

I always get asked what is that "Piano Looking Thing", even when I try to describe to someone they'll usually refer to as a Piano Looking Thing" that sits on the floor.

[Jim Cooley]

Keyless piano, table mounted industrial cheese slicer, pedal (peddle) console slide guitar

[Greg Tudor]

My personal favorite: “The Sad Machine” - Daniel Romano, when introducing Aaron Goldstein.

Below are my favorite descriptions of the pedal steel, ones that I have been collecting for the last few months:

• “I don’t know anything about it: It starts life as a card table then goes into some other place I don’t understand.” - Michael Nesmith to Roger McGuinn, explaining to Roger that he didn’t play pedal steel.
  
  “It's like a Rubik's Cube of a musical instrument that's not unlike driving a stick-shift truck through a landmine.” - Steve Fishell.
  
  “My little church in a suitcase.” - Daniel Lanois.
  
  “The magic sauce in country music, the frosting on top of the song cake.” - Chris Shiflett.
  
  “The sound of toffee.” - BJ Cale as relayed by Spencer Cullum.

[Gil James]

For a while I played this one out at some of local nursing homes. When I would show up without it, there would always be someone ask, " Where's that " Carter Bone Thing " you play?

[Randy Brown]

"Math problem with legs" - Ryan Adams

[Jon Irsik]

Great thread.

Hank Sr used to call Don Helm's guitar a "two neck biscuit board" on the Mother's Best shows.

[Gary Wessels]

"The thing"

Keith Davis played the Dave Letterman Show with the Eli Young band around 2011. After they played “Crazy Girl”, Dave walked onstage and said to Keith: “Way to go on the thing, buddy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-76LIzJcn4c

That guitar eventually became mine. It is indeed a wonderful thing.

[Kendell Scott]

Dale Watson calls it the Honky Tonk Iron Lung is the lyrics of the Don Don Boogie. That’s probably my favorite.

[Michael Luxem]

"A pedal steel guitar by any other name would sound as sweet." -- Shakespeare

[Pete McAvity]

Electric Sawhorse

[Austin Tripp]

The one that use to bug me the most was when someone called it a slide guitar. But now, my trigger is “steel pedal guitar”. The most common that I’ve noticed on the road is stringed keyboard.

[Don R Brown]

Electric Sawhorse

I'm going to remember that one!

[Thornton Lewis]

Can I put my beer down here for a second?

[David Wisson]

Hi All. Back in the 70s our front man used to introduce me on Knitting Machine. Dave

[Rex Wiseman]

Just last week, a lady asked me if "that thing" was an electric dulcimer ?!?!?!

[Clyde Mattocks]

"That slidey thing." Ten string woman repeller.