As for pedal steel, not a good instrument for a married man to take up. It requires total devotion. Mine was a single-neck with 7 pedals and three knee levers. There are a zillion ways to get the same note and you have to learn all the possible combinations of chords. It was fun to play, but I never got past the basics.
To be honest, I'm having just as much fun (and frustration) learning to play my lap steel. I chose a C6 tuning because I like Hawaiian music, altho there's an A-C#-E-A-C#-E tuning that works for Hawaiian too. But the C6 works with the string gauges that came with the instrument and you all know how I hate to change strings.
On that subject, I just ordered a set of strings for my 12-string. I broke the 12th string yesterday during rehearsal and I was lucky to still have the one from the last set I had on there (yes, Martha, I save my old strings). But I decided that the current set has enough corrosion to qualify for changing. Also, I want to try a medium gauge - I'm not getting the punch out of the light gauge strings I put on it 5 years ago. LOL!
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