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Topic: in the case |
Stephen Winters
From:
Scobey, Mississippi, USA
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Posted 29 Oct 2003 10:05 am |
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Do any of you guys hit times when you put the steel in the case and put it in the closet? I haven't touched mine in about four weeks. I did this once before, and when I got it back out, I played better and it felt new again.
Just wondering if this happens to anyone else. I also play a telecaster and have never felt the need to put it down. Is it something about the steel?
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Stephen Winters
Carter Starter
Peavey Deuce
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Ben Slaughter
From:
Madera, California
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Posted 29 Oct 2003 10:45 am
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I've had similar experiences with guitars, PSG, and bass. Lately I've been playing PSG a lot at home and gigging on bass, so it's really refreshing to get out the Tele and honk on the old twin.
I think there may be some elements of finger dexterity (sp) and ear fatigue in this. Of, course it could just be all mental too. I don't know, but it happens. |
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Terry Edwards
From:
Florida... livin' on spongecake...
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Posted 29 Oct 2003 11:30 am
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The same thing happened to me and my wife. I had to relocate for a new job until the house sold. We didn't see each other for months. When we got together and "took it out of the case", it was incredible! 
Terry |
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David Deratany
From:
Cape Cod Massachusetts
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Posted 29 Oct 2003 12:35 pm
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Whenever I had been off an instrument for a period of time, I would lament the erosion of my skills and technique. But when I returned, I would invariably find myself playing at a much more musical level.
While I rarely ever played the same thing twice, it would nonetheless be in the same rut in the same mode. But the hiatus would erase my memory banks, so to speak, and all I would have left in my head is the song. And that is what I would then strive to play. Not licks. Fewer notes, more music. What a concept.
I think all my great advances came after periods of not playing. |
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David Cobb
From:
Chanute, Kansas, USA
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Posted 29 Oct 2003 6:00 pm
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Sounds like you'd reached a plateau.
I often get the same feeling from listening to the same steel player too much. Me!
Add to that the frustration of trying to cop licks from [insert name of your steel hero here] and it's not surprising that one would feel like stepping away for a few days and coming back when you're ready.
Coaxing the sounds you want from a steel seems like hard work compared to what you can knock out on a 6 string.
Getting away from it all for a few days and/or hearing something fresh or "outside the envelope" are things that can get me enthused again.
Not trying to come across like I know anything, but just MHO.
Right now I'm trying some improvisation on a blues album from the Kentucky Headhunters and Johnny Johnson.
The neighbors may hate it, but it's fun.  |
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Winnie Winston
From:
Tawa, Wellington, NZ * R.I.P.
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Posted 31 Oct 2003 8:55 pm
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because of health problems I stopped playing for about a year.
When I got it out again the brain circuts were gone. I almost had to re-learn stuff. Still don't remember where "that lick was" but, overall, my playing is better now than it was when I left it.
JW |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 31 Oct 2003 9:04 pm
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The long era of Elvis Presley, about ten years, as I recall, nearly put me out of biz for life. I had to learn everything all over and lost a lot of the great two guitar arrangements we had worked out real tight.
Yet, shorter term, lay-offs, have seen me coming back to the steel with a new zest for playing, ability to play rapid single note runs that I haven't played for years and also the ability to discover NEW stuff that had been lying there for decades. A mental break from time to time, I believe, is great for one's playing. DON'T HOWEVER, PUT THE GUITAR BACK IN ITS CASE!!! |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 2 Nov 2003 1:10 pm
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Like Ray, Elvis in the 1950's put me on bass with an R&B group for a couple of years before going back to steel.....
....then one morning in 1970, after years of working clubs and getting up in the morning to go to my day-job, I looked at that stranger in the mirror and told myself: "This is it, I'm through playing".....
....in 1983, nearly 14 years later, when I no longer "needed" to work anywhere, I bought new equipment and started playing again, but only when and where I wanted to....
....it's been a lot more fun this time around!.....
www.genejones.com |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Nov 2003 1:27 pm
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My guitar hasn't been in a case for 20 years.
The times it was before that were the sorriest of my life.
I've been recently entertaining thoughts of getting another case. I hope this time for baggage.
I guess we'll see.
Not to change the subject but what IS the state of the art nowadays? I see some decent looking ones on the SGN site.
EJL |
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