Carter Starter

These are the tuning pegs at the far end. You turn them to bring each open string up to its correct note. Always tune the open strings here first, before you touch any of the pedal/lever tuning nuts.

tip: When you change strings or the guitar drifts, work the pedals up and down a few times while tuning so the strings settle and stay in tune.

These little nuts, reached with the supplied tuning wrench, are how you fine-tune what each pedal and lever does. Press and hold the pedal or lever, then turn its nut until the changed note is perfectly in tune. Turning it one way makes the string move more, the other way less.

tip: There must always be a little slack in the system. If you crank a raise nut too far clockwise, the string won't return to its open pitch when you release — back it off counterclockwise until it stops affecting the open note.

You operate this by nudging your left knee sideways to the left while your foot works the pedals. It raises both E strings a half step to F, a common move for adding tension or leading tones.

tip: LKL and LKR are opposites acting on the same two strings — one raises the Es, the other lowers them, giving you a full range of vocal-like bends from one knee.

Nudge your left knee to the right and both E strings drop a half step to Eb. This is the go-to lever for minor and bluesy flavors and for smooth downward bends.

tip: Combining LKR with the A and B pedals is a well-worn path to gospel and ballad chord changes.

Operated with your right knee moving left. It drops the string-5 B down to Bb, a small but very useful single-string change for chromatic runs and chord tweaks.

tip: Because it only moves one string, RKL is great for adding a subtle passing note without disturbing the rest of your chord.

Right knee moves right, and the second string drops from Eb to D. This changes the top-end color of your chords and opens melody notes on the high strings.

tip: This lever is handy for turnarounds and for grabbing a leading tone up top while your pedals hold a chord below.

This is the rightmost pedal your foot reaches. Pressing it makes those two B strings climb up to C#, which is the classic pedal-steel 'lift' — the sound you hear on the front edge of a country lick.

tip: Pedals A and B (1 and 2) are almost always used together — pressing both at once is the single most iconic pedal-steel move and gives you the big major-chord swell.

The middle pedal. It bumps those two G# strings up a half step to A, reshaping your chord. On its own it's a subtle color; combined with pedal 1 it delivers the signature country change.

tip: Practice pressing pedals 1 and 2 in perfect sync — any lag between them creates an out-of-tune smear on the way up.

The leftmost of the three pedals. It opens up different chord voicings and passing tones, letting you slide into jazzier or more melodic phrases than the A+B combo alone.

tip: Pedal 3 paired with the A pedal is a favorite for getting sweet, close-harmony movement in the higher strings.

This is the heart of how a pedal steel bends notes. It's not something you 'set' during normal playing — it just needs occasional oil, and it's what makes the strings snap back to pitch after you let go of a pedal.

tip: If a string doesn't return to its open pitch, first check lubrication and look for a string ball-end jammed in the mechanism before ever touching the return springs.

These are set at the factory and you should basically leave them alone. Only if a string stubbornly won't return after a lower — and you've ruled out everything else — do you unhook the spring, snip one coil off, and re-hook it to increase tension.

tip: The manual is emphatic: do NOT adjust these until you've exhausted lubrication and mechanical checks. Cutting a coil is permanent.

This is the little bridge-like piece at the tuning end. Its rollers stop the strings from binding when the pedals stretch them, so notes come back in tune. It just needs a drop of oil now and then.

tip: NEVER use WD-40 here or anywhere on the guitar — it evaporates into a gummy residue that eventually seizes up moving parts. Use light machine oil or turbine oil instead.

If a pedal feels too high or too low under your foot, loosen the lock nut, screw the joint in or out until it feels right, and re-tighten. It's a comfort/ergonomics adjustment.

tip: Set all three pedals to a consistent, comfortable height so you can find them by feel without looking down.

These let you shorten or lengthen how far your knee has to travel to get the note change. Back the screw out for more movement, in for less — but you'll have to retune the affected tuning nuts afterward.

tip: Always leave a SMALL amount of slack before the lever starts changing pitch, and don't back a stop screw out so far it interferes with the knee-lever cross shaft rotating freely.

If the guitar rocks on an uneven stage or floor, twist this screw to lengthen or shorten that one leg until the instrument sits rock-steady.

tip: Level the guitar before you tune — a wobbling instrument throws off both your playing and your bar accuracy.

These let you snap the pedals on and off for transport without tools. The number on each tells you which pedal it belongs to (pedal 1 is farthest right).

tip: These ball-joints are intentionally NOT lubricated. Only if one develops a slight squeak should you add a single small drop of light oil.

This is where your guitar cable plugs in. Run it to a volume pedal and then to your amp for the classic pedal-steel swell-and-fade sound.

tip: A volume pedal isn't optional for real steel playing — it's how you create the instrument's signature volume swells that hide pick attacks and make notes 'bloom.'