So, there you are...

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

So, there you are, sitting in the front row of the audience, when someone on stage recognizes you, and beckons you on stage to play with the band.
The steel guitarist, whom you've never seen before, but who recognises you, stands up with a smile and offers you his seat.
The band starts playing something you've never heard before, but doesn't bother to mention to you which key it's in.
Suddenly you realise the steel is tuned to some weird A#min7 tuning, and none of the pedals do what you expect them to. So you muff it.
Then comes the instrumental break, everyone turns to you and smiles, and you do what you can sliding up and down one string, afraid to pick any adjacent strings because you have no idea of how they're tuned.
The audience applauds. They wouldn't know the difference if you played a tuba solo anyway.
The tune ends, and you disappear back into the audience, cheered by the band. The steel guitarist resumes his seat, thinking to himself that he's not that bad after all.
You sink into your seat and pretend not to be there.

Has this happened to you ?

Eddie Cunningham · From: Massachusetts, USA

No thanks , sorry , I would NEVER go on stage to play someones else tuning !! I play non-pedal steel now and even when I did play pedals my 8 string tuning was different and even tho I am old and a little slow I do have enough brains to know where I don't belong !!! I sit back and enjoy the other guys music !! He can probably play a lot better than me anyway !!! These are my "sit back and enjoy life" years !!! Old Geezer , Eddie "C"

Charles Davidson · From: Phenix City Alabama, USA

No, I NEVER sit in and play someone's guitar, For that reason. Years ago I was working a club Lynn O came by and every one wanted him to sit in,my guitar was set up different than his,He still played GREAT, but I could tell he really had to keep his mind on what he was doing. I'm not that GOOD. YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.
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Jim Lindsey (Louisiana) · From: Greenwell Springs, Louisiana (deceased)

Kinda, sorta, a very similar thing. My band had been on the road for awhile and I had not encountered another steel player in weeks. I was starving to hear someone else other than me play steel.

We finally did a show where we were going to be at the same hotel for a couple of days off and some of the band and I all went out to listen to a local group. I was thrilled to see they had a steel player, so we chose a table right up front near the band stand so I could see and hear him well.

From here, it's pretty much a very similar scenario to your description (I tried to bow out gracefully, but the band on stage and my own band members kept urging me on, so I complied). I lucked out on the steel because it wasn't a strange tuning or anything.

This one was E9th, all right, but it was a 12 string instead of a 10 and the pedals & knees were exactly reversed to what I used. So, I was an Emmons setup player suddenly playing on Day pedals, which usually wouldn't be an issue, but the knee levers proved to be my undoing ... I raise/lower my E's on my right knee (raise RKL and lower RKR), and my left knee lowers 2 & 9 on LKL, lower 6 a whole VKL and raise 1 a whole, lower 7 a whole on LKR. The guitar I was playing raised & lowered E's on the left knee and all other pulls on the right knee.

Although the setup on the guitar I was playing was, I think, a more commonly used setup than what I play, I wasn't used to it at all and thinking in "reverse" on everything proved to be an interesting difficulty for me.

They made me play three songs and all the time I could see members of my own band looking at me like I was a three-legged chicken while I struggled on that guitar which continued to eat my lunch.

Getting back to my table, I tried to look as invisible as possible while enduring some rather interesting comments from my own band members. Shocked

This was my lesson learned ... thereafter, I never sat in on anyone else's guitar.
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Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Joachim Kettner · From: Germany

Playing a pedal steel with a different set up, for the first time is more complicated, but not as risky as riding a motorbike where the clutch and brake pedals are reversed, like on the italian ones.

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Well, if I could figure out that it was an A#m7 tuning I'd realize that C6 is Am7 and I'd do the best I could to remember every C6 lick I knew without pedals -- and there are A LOT of them. I wouldn't try to play A Way to Survive but I could come up with something to play for fills and even a solo if push came to shove. If the pedals didn't make sense to me I'd just not use them.

On a strange guitar you will never play your best but it's important to look for the similarities and steer around the differences. Once you find that A#m7 chord you need to find where the root is and it's probably 1 3b 5 7b in A# open. Also, realize that a sixth chord is also a minor seventh (C6=Am7 or C#6=A#m7), so you are also in C# open and, in that key, you should expect a MAJOR triad with an added sixth tone. So now you have major chords, minor chords, and the familiarity you MAY already have with the C6 tuning.

And, yes, doing that on the spot is both difficult and stressful.
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Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

I have always followed the protocol that a musician would never ask another musician to do an unannounced guest appearance unless a personal agreement had been agreed to do so. To my way of thinking, it is very rude to do such a thing to another musician.

On the other side of the coin, we had a very well known female vocalist who more or less invited herself to the stage and would not get off.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

If the E9th is too strange, I'll switch to the C6th neck and play without pedals. Most people have a standard C6th on the back neck.
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Dave A. Burley · From: Franklin, In. USA

I recall years ago in Muskegon, Michigan, Buddy Emmons was with one of the Opry stars at the local auditorium. We talked him into going out to the Town Tavern, after the show, where local steel player, Louie Thompson was playing. Louie was playing a double neck something or the other. Everyone wanted Buddy to sit in. At break time, Buddy tipped Louie's steel upside down and with Louie's permission, proceeded to change everything underneath. Buddy did a fantastic job but when Louie got back on it, he couldn't hit a lick. Louie told me months later that he never could get that thing back right but he was just tickled that he got to meet Buddy and to have Buddy play his guitar.
Dave A. Burley

Bent Romnes · From: London,Ontario, Canada

I seen Jeff Newman cross the pedal rods to get the Day tuning on ABC. I remember him doing this more than once and one time I asked him to try my MSA D10 sure no problem.. he crossed the rods and away he went. After he was done he remarked Man, that steel has a bite to it!!
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J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

I for one would be really ill prepared for an offer as described by the OP. So I would really try to come up with a good mess of excuses before allowing pride to drag me on a stage I don't belong on.
But then, IF I'd have no way out. I would stick to ONE string. Just try to play a nice little melody by ear maybe in harmonics, smile, thank and hand that bar back to the owner. That's something you can do on any tuning/setup on any song, known or not if it's not to fast.

... J-D.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

I nearly got myself into that one once. On a trip over to England I turned up at a Bob Brolly C&W concert where Basil Henriques was playing steel. During the interval I mentioned to Basil that I wouldn't mind playing with the band. He pointed out that his copedant was like nothing I'd ever encountered, so he saved me the embarrassment of discovering that in public. Rolling Eyes

It would have been a catastrophe... Shocked

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

I'd NEVER sit down at another's guitar to play on stage.

I went against this long held rule while at the Texas-2009 show and attempted to play JERRY BYRD's
"FENDER" guitar. I was miserable! No additional
proof needed..........as to why I have honored that self-imposed rule.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I dropped in at the Nashville Nightlife sometime in the mid-1990s. There on stage was my old friend, Andy Reiss, and he waved me up saying: "Come and play some steel!"

When I saw the the resident player was none other than Steve Palousek I politely declined (I probably said I was wearing the wrong kind of socks that night Very Happy

)!!! I did play Andy's Fender Strat for a bit, even though it had strings that were more like ship's ropes!!! No Nancy-Boy light-gauge .010"s for Andy.

That's okay - I did get to play with Steve P. for a few tunes!!! He was simply amazing!
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Bill Dobkins · From: Rolla Missouri, USA

In 06 My wife and I went to a Vince Gill, Patty Loveless concert. We had VIP tickets and sat in the first row. J.D. Maness was on Steel and seen me. He yelled somthing to Vince, Vince Picked up one of his Tele's and waved me to the stage. Thats when I woke up. Laughing

Truth is, it was our anniversary and we won two VIP tickets and did get to set in the front row ,and JD did recognize me and after the show we visited a while and got Vince to sign my Tele for me. The best concert I've ever been to.
BD
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