Pedal steel is one of those things that have some things that are tough to pull off. You get small tone to 1 1/2 tone regular bends, but then, every now and again, it does a big fifth to an octave swoop or dive (along with a volume pedal fade in or out) so it's tough to set ONE bend depth that works. Set up for the octave, and those tone bends are hard to do accurately. It's one of the things I like my K2500 for, because I can set the wheel for the small bends, and use the big ribbon for the big slides.

Then, there's the issue of one note bending against another, which some keyboards can do (by only bending held notes, not sustained ones) but it needs a lot of forethought and non-natural technique. Then there is the swell pedal technique, which is critical to the sound working. It's definitely a handful to pull off, and I wouldn't DREAM of doing it one handed except on the simplest of parts!

One of my little 'secrets' for a lot of emulation is my little Yamaha KX5 keytar... Just the way the strip falls under your hand (SO much better than the awkward Roland keytars) is very natural feeling, and a strip can do so much more than just bends. Hammer on's and off's, trills, non tongued note jumps, it really is amazing how easy this makes things that are next to impossible to pull off with just a wheel.

If you see one of these in a pawn shop, don't hesitate! Not the best MIDI by modern standards, but a better keytar has never been made!