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Topic: So you want to be a PSG player? |
Stuart Legg
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Posted 25 Jan 2013 5:25 pm |
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You won't get anymore money than the tone deaf guitar (with real frets) player who uses 20 stomp boxes for crutches and borrows a pick from you.
And he’s considered higher up on the food chain than you in the band.
Meanwhile back at the ranch you have to push the correct pedals and/or knee levers with your feet and knees completely to the stop sometimes perfectly half way to the stop, hear that your bar (your only real fret) is exactly at the right place on the strings to be in pitch, pick the right strings with your fingers and thumb.
All the time block strings that need blocked and leave the strings unblocked that need to be unblocked.
At the same time use the volume pedal for accent and noise gate.
You will also be expected to play with very little f/x just pure clean sound. Which shows up every little thing you do that is not perfect.
You have to practice until all this becomes natural without thinking about it.
Now you’re ready to tackle what other PSG players are playing who have progressed to the point that the bar has been set higher than the moon,
After you get all that done you can now start to work your butt off just to try to keep up.
Most times you will spend your breaks tuning because of a club with poor climate control.
Meanwhile the guitar player is having a beer. |
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Bent Romnes
From:
London,Ontario, Canada
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 25 Jan 2013 6:44 pm
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Damn!! I should have become a drummer. Oh wait. I started out as a drummer, then decided to become a musician. 
Disclaimer: I still love the drums.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Chuck Huffman
From:
Sonora, California, Now Living in Siloam Springs, Ar. USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2013 9:11 pm
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This makes me want to just stick with a kazoo ! 
_________________
ZumSteel SD-10 5-8, GFI Ultra SD-10 3+4, Goodrich V/P, Boss DD3, FenderFM, Vegas 400. Learning to play for my Savior, Jesus...... |
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Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 26 Jan 2013 12:11 pm
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You forgot the part about having to lug 150lbs worth of gear around, the eventual slipped disk/ back surgery by age 55, and the persistent questions of what the he!l is that thing youre playing.
Oh, and the fact that while the rest of the band is making google-eyes with the gals, you have your head buried down and end up missing all the action.
_________________
'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 26 Jan 2013 2:14 pm
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You have to be twice as good as the six-stringer.Fortunately it isn't difficult.
Yup,it's true that while you're tuning between sets the guitarist is hanging out with the drummer and the banjo player swilling away and chatting up the floozies.But after the gig the guys doing the swilling will likely get stopped by DUI enforcement.If they don't,they'll likely get from the aforementioned floozies the gift that keeps on giving-or a summons from Paternity Enforcement on behalf of said ladies and another one from Child Support Enforcement on behalf of some seriously PO'd wives.
My experience during my now long-past but delightfully misspent single years was that the more steel I played,the classier the women I had access to.   |
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Sam White R.I.P.
From:
Coventry, RI 02816
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Posted 26 Jan 2013 5:41 pm
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I know how you can go up to the bar and have some drinks with the rest of the band. You put a set of Sid Hudson,s Live Steel String on that steel and you will not have to keep tuning your steel.You have to tell them they have to practice at least 4 hour a day seven days a week and not get board and keep at it.You also got to tell them if they want to play Steel Guitar that they won't be getting good until they keep trying to play for about 14 years like myself. I never played a Instrument in my life until 14 years ago and I think I'm close to being able to say I can play Steel Guitar. It has been a long hard road buy I' very close to being there.
Sam White
_________________
Dynalap lap 8 String Lap Steel Fender frontman 25B speaker changed Boss TU-12H Tuner.Founder and supporter of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association Founder of the New England Steel Guitar Association and the Greeneville TN Steel Jams and now founder of the North Carolina Steel Guitar Jams. Honorary member of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association,Member of The New England Steel Guitar Association.
Member of the Florida Steel Guitar Club,and member of Mid Atlantic Steel Guitar Association |
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Mike Daly
From:
Tennessee
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 10:25 am
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| Wa, Wa ,Wa...Stop whining. You either love it and do it or you don't... |
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Craig A Davidson
From:
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 11:13 am
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| Jerome Hawkes wrote: |
You forgot the part about having to lug 150lbs worth of gear around, the eventual slipped disk/ back surgery by age 55, and the persistent questions of what the he!l is that thing youre playing.
Oh, and the fact that while the rest of the band is making google-eyes with the gals, you have your head buried down and end up missing all the action. |
And don't forget dealing with sound people that won't bring you up in the mix to be heard. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 12:23 pm
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If someone uses the gig to get free drinks and a night's companionship rather than treating it like a real job,there's not a lot you can tell them.I worked(briefly)with a guy who got snot-slinging drunk on every gig and by fourth set there was a row of empty beer bottles across the top of his amp cab.Since he drove a fuel truck during the day.I was soooo tempted to ask if by the end of his daily run he had a similar row of empties across the dashboard of his truck cab.
Y'know,Mike D has some good advice...Those who love it do the job.Those who don't love it do the partying. Of course that stricture,while mandatory for a pro sideman,is often optional for the frontman. |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 1:02 pm
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| Never wanted to be a PSG player, just wanted to play PSG. |
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Ray Anderson
From:
Jenkins, Kentucky USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 1:52 pm
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| I'm with Georg on this one, I'm a firm believer in the fact that if you don't use it, you lose it. This challenges your mind and coordination skills. Which I think will be helpful later on in life. Far too many become idle and just sit down, most of them just fade away. Not me. Cause I ain't giving up til the sun goes down. |
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Bill Moran
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 4:17 pm Re: So you want to be a PSG player?
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| Stuart Legg wrote: |
You won't get anymore money than the tone deaf guitar (with real frets) player who uses 20 stomp boxes for crutches and borrows a pick from you.
And he’s considered higher up on the food chain than you in the band.
Meanwhile back at the ranch you have to push the correct pedals and/or knee levers with your feet and knees completely to the stop sometimes perfectly half way to the stop, hear that your bar (your only real fret) is exactly at the right place on the strings to be in pitch, pick the right strings with your fingers and thumb.
All the time block strings that need blocked and leave the strings unblocked that need to be unblocked.
At the same time use the volume pedal for accent and noise gate.
You will also be expected to play with very little f/x just pure clean sound. Which shows up every little thing you do that is not perfect.
You have to practice until all this becomes natural without thinking about it.
Now you’re ready to tackle what other PSG players are playing who have progressed to the point that the bar has been set higher than the moon,
After you get all that done you can now start to work your butt off just to try to keep up.
Most times you will spend your breaks tuning because of a club with poor climate control.
Meanwhile the guitar player is having a beer. |
Stuart, I guess I'm a bit slow. It took me 40 years to figure this out. The last straw was a band leader that put a extra $500.00 in his pocket after a 4th of July gig. If I had done that, on the jobs I booked, over the years I could of retired a long time ago ! LOL
I will have to say it has been the only hobby I ever had that paid it's own way.
_________________
Bill |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 27 Jan 2013 6:55 pm
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I love when drunk ladies come up and make small talk pretending they know something about steel guitar.
I have two answers for every question depending on how they look.
Usually they’ve heard some famous steel players name and ask you if you know them.
Do you know Jerry Birdy?”
If she looks good I say “yes Jerry and I get together and play about every week”
If she don’t look so good I say “Yeah I know he’s dead”
Do you know Buddy Edmons? “Yeah I use to give him lessons”
Or “Lady do I sound like I know Buddy Emmons?”
I’ll be honest. The only reason I’ve ever put up with all the crap playing in clubs all these years is strictly because of the ladies.
I find as an older musician I spend more time talking about those wild days and nights with the ladies than I ever do talking about the pickin’.
The older I get the better I was! |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Posted 28 Jan 2013 11:41 am
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| Mike Daly wrote: |
| Wa, Wa ,Wa...Stop whining. You either love it and do it or you don't... |
I'm with you, Mike.
And what's with all the guitarist bashing? I'm a guitarist, wouldn't be a steel guitarist if I wasn't a guitarist first. I'm sure there are many here who would say the same.
I find myself quite inspired by every lead guitarist I get to work with. Maybe the complainers are associating with the wrong musicians. Whose fault is that? |
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Don Drummer
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2013 11:58 am
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Oh, I get it. It takes effort, patience and tenacity.
Ditto Mike Daly and Chris Walke. |
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Robert Gifford
From:
Venus, TX, USA (DFW Area)
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Posted 28 Jan 2013 7:08 pm
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| I think all real musicians have stories and issues like this when they play, it's not just limited to steel players. I've played pretty much everything under the sun and no matter what I play I always seem at one point in time or another to have an issue. Only thing you can really do is just get with a good group. |
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Bob Grado
From:
Holmdel, New Jersey
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Posted 29 Jan 2013 4:04 am
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Last edited by Bob Grado on 29 Jan 2013 3:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stuart Legg
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Posted 29 Jan 2013 1:12 pm
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| Don Drummer wrote: |
Oh, I get it. It takes effort, patience and tenacity.
Ditto Mike Daly and Chris Walke. |
Oh, I get it "self-righteous" |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 29 Jan 2013 2:05 pm
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The biggest problem I see for small stage club gigs is that there seems to be an unwritten law that the drummer must set up exactly in the middle of the stage.
I’ve not found one drummer that wouldn’t look at you as if you were crazy if you were to suggest they might move over a little to compensate.
In a 5pc band you are going to have 3 amps in the same amount of space on one side that you only have 2 on the other side.
You are sitting down and cramped up with 3 amps blaring in your ears just so the drummer can set up in the exact center.
I dream of pushing a drummer off the bus at 80 miles an hour and slow down so I can watch him bounce up and down on the pavement and slide for another 100 yds.
Then tell everyone how I lost all respect for him due to his whining , oh’s, ouch’s and screaming like a sissy. |
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Alan Tanner
From:
Near Dayton, Ohio
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Posted 29 Jan 2013 2:38 pm
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| Well, don't forget that you can make train whistle and truck horn sounds until everyone wants to puke.... |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 29 Jan 2013 3:43 pm
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I always bring some old unwound wire hangers and marshmallows with the hopes that Marshall amp just flashes, smokes and fire bellows out back of it.
I love the smell of roasting marshmallows late in the evening. |
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