FAQs
Yes. FAQs.
On most websites, the FAQs always feel like questions no one really ever asked. They’re just a way for a company/owner/person to package the information they want you to see in a way that purports to be information people have asked for.
Even with the content already on this website, the following questions seem to keep getting asked. These are questions that really have been sent to us. Really. So, here you go.
I would like to buy one …
As we are currently still in the Beta prototyping stage, there is no product to buy. You can sign up for the occasional update email for the latest news. And of course you can check this website periodically to follow our prog.
How does this thing work? MIDI? Some kind of synthesized sound?
There is no MIDI here, not for sound production, not for control.
Sounds are not synthetically generated.
The sounds come directly from the same kind of metal strings any traditional pedal steel guitar has. String vibrations are sensed by magnetic pickups.
The strings’ analog signals are temporarily converted to digital signals, just like your CD player and audio interface use and, just like those, the signals are converted back to analog before they reach your amp’s speaker and your ear.
By the way, the Alpha an the Beta Prototypes are built with 10 strings, 5 pedals, and 5 knee levers. They are, however, built with the capability to support 12 strings.
What about latency?
The Proof of Concept instrument, with its rat’s nest of cables, earlier slow microprocessor, audio interface, laptop computer, etc. (see the blog entry: First Meeting) had some small latency to be sure. Even so, everyone became comfortable within just a few seconds.
As for the Alpha Prototype, only one player out of the eight A-list players who tested it even mentioned the latency; pretty much short enough to ignore. This, on the first prototype in this project. And as of 2024, the Beta is under development.
The pitches coming from the amp are not the same as the actual strings’ acoustic sound. Isn’t that distracting?
Watch the intro video and/or the video of`Buck Reid playing the Alpha Prototype. The acoustic sound of the strings is effectively inaudible. Only the amp’s output can be heard.
And yes, (just like some guitars that can digitally change tuning) to hear what the OnePSG outputs, you’ll need to either plug into an amp or use headphones. With even a small amount of amplification, you won’t be notice the strings acoustically. (And of course on stage, you’ll have enough trouble hearing yourself over the guitarist anyway. ;) )
What’s the tradeoff? A super lightweight pedal steel with as many instantly changeable and editable tunings as you can imagine; up or down capoing; tuning adjustments; per string volume, EQ, and distortion; no string fatigue; in tune splits; pickup envelope adjustments; ….
Why are there tuning keys? Is tuning even necessary?
Since the OnePSG uses standard metal strings and magnetic pickups (for a true pedal steel sound), the strings do have to be tuned, as on any electric stringed instrument. Also, like any traditional PSG, the physical open strings’ notes are are the starting points for pitch-shifting.
A regular tuning key head was built into the Alpha Prototype. For the Beta, we’re going with a keyless tuner/nut to experiment and to reduce the weight of the guitar.
How did you determine the pitches (and therefore gauges) of the strings?
The starting point was the string notes for an E9 and a C6. We shot the difference so that the pitch shift interval of any one string wouldn’t have to be terribly large either up or down. Then of course we chose gauges based on the “averaged” string pitches.
A deviation from that plan was that since pitch detection takes longer for lower frequencies, and wanting to keep latency to a minimum, the lowest string, for example, is not necessarily a note exactly halfway between the low B on an E9 copedent and the low C on a C6.
Note: check out the blog post about Copedents. for a related question.
Why isn’t the display a separate unit?
It most certainly could be. And it would be nice for the form factor in that only a single-wide body could be used (even less endplate and wood weight!). However, …
Though the idea of a smart phone or tablet screen might have its allure, consider having one’s pedal steel guitar at the mercy of OS updates. No thank you.
How about a display that attaches to a leg with cables for power and communication back to the instrument’s electronics? Of course possible. For now, we would prefer not having a delicate item like that on stage ready to be bumped into by a rockin’ band member or careless stagehand. This is absolutely still on the table for later designs, but in the prototype stages, the touchscreen is on board.
How about a display that connects via WiFi or Bluetooth (or pedal sensor output for that matter)? We don’t want the instrument to be at the mercy of a bad WiFi system or subject to random environmental interference.
Everything on board, self-contained.
How much will the OnePSG cost? It’ll be less expensive than a traditional PSG because there’s less machining, right?
As of this writing, the ultimate price of any future product is unknown for a number of reasons. There has been an enormous effort in electronics design, software development, not to mention wood and metal design and manufacturing.
Now, you might think that without the effort and cost of machining the traditional mechanisms, the OnePSG should certainly be less expensive.
However, it won’t come as a surprise to anyone with knowledge about the technical complexity of such electronics and the development of embedded systems that the design and manufacture of the main printed circuit board (PCB), the pickup PCB, and the multiple sensor PCBs is not cheap and are easily as costly as all the machining and installation of physical parts. Add the cost of the software development and maintenance efforts and ….
We’ll know more after the Beta Prototype is built and tested.
Look over the table of costs on this page: Embedded Systems Pricing
One Forum poster wrote: “I would like to see this technology used to make a student model guitar that is in the $500-$750 dollar range. ... I doubt these are the ambitions of the builders however.”
The builders would love to afford that ambition. That of course presumes that it were even possible in this particular universe.
What about the life of this pedal steel guitar?
This from a post on the Forum: “Electronic components will never have the service life of mechanical devices. (Pedal steels made 70+ years ago still work fine today.) Glitches, programming bugs …”
All true. All known.
The OnePSG is an embedded system; that is, there are circuit boards with microcontrollers in the “product.” Your audio interface; your electronic keyboard; your guitar effects pedal; your company’s laser printer; your Roku box; your car with its touchscreen, tire air pressure notification, digital mileage readout, your microwave oven, etc.; they are all embedded systems.
Software can have bugs, just as pull rods can bind up on each other or a return spring can get out of whack. Things sometimes need fixing. (Also, embedded systems are usually built to allow firmware updates for new features and bug fixes. This capability is of course being built into the OnePSG.)
Just as a 10-, 15-, or even some 30-year-old PCs can boot up and run the software they have installed, and just as an old audio interface or electric keyboard or effects rack or old DVD player can still run, the microcontrollers and other components of a properly designed embedded system can and should perform for a good long while.
A OnePSG may not last 50 years, like a traditional pedal steel (that’s probably had some major work done on it along the way) but it will last years.
What’s the tradeoff? See the FAQ above about string pitches.
This question is from a Steel Guitar Forum post of 11/14/2023, about the lack of recent news of the OnePSG and its inventor:
The OnePSG Prototype was showcased over two years ago... What happened? Or as another poster put it: “Is the guy even alive?”:
As of January 2026, most reports have Alan as being alive. You may consider the fact that these words you’re reading right now were recently written by Alan himself proof of life.
So the real issue is: why so much time between iterations of the design, between updates? Well, for some time early on, Alan had a day job (see the Onion article). Then he retired. Then, there was a global pandemic. Then, after the Alpha Prototype was shown, other aspects of life got in the way (no need for details). And so, work is now on the Beta Prototype (see the blog post: “It’s Getting Beta All The Time”).
The plan is for the Beta Prototype to be built by the end of February, 2026.
Is the OnePSG similar to Jeff Snyder’s Electrosteel?
Both instruments are played with picks and a bar. Both instruments use DSP to pitch shift notes. In fact, the Jeff Snyder’s open source audio DSP C language library for embedded systems (LEAF) is used in the OnePSG software. However, the Electrosteel synthetically generates the sounds it outputs whereas the OnePSG uses strings and magnetic pickups just as a traditional PSG does. Each of these approaches has its plusses and minuses. They really are different instruments.
In essence, the Electrosteel is an electronic instrument with an interface that shares quite a bit with that of a pedal steel, while the OnePSG is a pedal steel with digital pitch shifting taking the place of pullrods, bellcranks, and changers.
Perhaps some time in the future we can post a comparison.
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