Art Kaufman is a GNW reader and Pedal Steel Guitar player, he asks where to find info on Pedal Steel Guitars...

Try these sites:

Brad's Page of Steel
Steel Guitars, Tuition, Resources, Biographies - a great resource!

This site has been on the Net for years, and is a great resource!

Brad says: "The Lap Steel Guitar The steel guitar differs from a regular guitar in the way that it is played. The lap steel guitar is held in your lap facing toward you. The strings are raised above the fretboard; rather than pressing them to the fretboard, a steel bar is pressed against the strings. Typically the lap steel guitar is tuned in one of several "open" tunings rather than standard guitar tuning. Steel guitars were originally invented and popularized in Hawaii. Legend has it that Joseph Kekuku, a Hawaiian schoolboy, discovered the sound while walking along a railroad track strumming his guitar. He picked up a bolt lying by the track and slid the metal along the strings of his guitar. Intrigued by the sound, he taught himself to play using the back of a knife blade."

Brad goes on to say: "Steel guitars were originally invented and popularized in Hawaii. Legend has it that Joseph Kekuku, a Hawaiian schoolboy, discovered the sound while walking along a railroad track strumming his guitar. He picked up a bolt lying by the track and slid the metal along the strings of his guitar. Intrigued by the sound, he taught himself to play using the back of a knife blade."

Other persons who have been credited with the invention of the steel guitar include Gabriel Davion, an Indian sailor, around 1885, and James Hoa, a Hawaiian of Portuguese ancestry.

Hawaiian groups were a big hit at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. From there the sound of the Hawaiian guitar spread throughout the United States. From about 1915 to 1930, a large number of Hawaiian guitar methods and songs were published by the major music publishers.

The sound of the Hawaiian guitar was picked up and incorporated into blues and country music. From there, the steel guitar slid its way into rock, pop, African and Indian music.

More information about Hawaiian steel guitar may be found on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association web site.

see also:

Slide & Steel - a GNW site summary
The slide guitar is typically a standard guitar, held the usual way, and fretted with a piece of metal or glass, typically a tube worn on one finger. The sound of the slide guitar can be quite similar to the steel guitar. Famous slide guitarists include Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt and Muddy Waters

Carter Steel Guitars
Pedal Steel Guitar Manufacturer selling direct to the public worldwide. Lots of educational information about pedal steel guitars.

The Steel Guitar Information Resource
Non-commercial educational resource with tutorials, slide shows, and information on steel guitar maintenance and care for the Beginner through Professional. Includes assembly, teardown, packing, tuning, adjustments, lubrication, rodding, changing and gauges of strings, and many other topics of interest to steel guitarists such as polishing, volume pedal pot noise, related links, and more!

Love that Pedal Steel!
Pedal Steel Guitar builders manual. One-of-a-kind book shows in detail how to construct a 12 string, 3 floor, 2 knee pedal steel guitar for about $100. The site claims that: "Almost anyone can do it with this book and just a handyman type of home shop."

THE RESONATOR GUITAR By Lee "The Guitar Man"
Have you ever played a Resonator Guitar? It was invented in the early 20s before The Electric Guitar Came into being. Many of the Guitarists in the 20s and 30s use this Guitar so they could be heard better when playing in a band. Hawaiian Guitar Players loved the Resonator Sound as a Slide Guitar. The Blues players would do their bottle neck style on the Resonator instrument, and the Guitar gave them a very special sound they loved. Before the Electric Guitar was invented, all genres of popular music used the Resonator Guitar.

LEARN HEAPS MORE ABOUT SLIDE GUITAR HERE...
or just go to the bottom of any page on GuitarSite.com, look for the "search" slot, and type "steel"