a strangers steel

Larry Robbins · From: Fort Edward, New York

Anybody else have problems playing someones else's steel even when they are set up the same? I met a fellow who lives in the next town and he plays a set up simaler to mine. We checked out each others steels and I cant seem to hit myself in the a$$ with both hands on his,though he seems to have no problem switching from his to mine. I have always had this problem, weather its playing steel or six string ,Dobro, whatever. I do fine on my own,but I am totaly lost on someone else's. But other folks seem to have no problem sitting down at my steel or picking up my whatever and doing just fine. Anyone else
or am I justan odd-ball?

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Sonny Priddy · From: Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA, R.I.P.

Yes It's different For Me Too. SONNY.

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Winnie Winston · From: Tawa, Wellington, NZ * R.I.P.

It's not JUST the set up.... There are many factors that will keep you from "feeling at home"....
for example:
Joe Kline built me a steel to play in St. Louis. I sent him the exact measurements of where I had the knee-levers, and how high I had the body, etc.
So he does ALL that and brings it to St. Louis. And I sit and play it. And it just doesn't feel right. So I e-mailed my wife in NZ and asked her to measure the heights of the pedals from the floor. She did. Well, the new Kline's pedals were about 1/4" lower than mine! When I got them raised, it started to feel better. THEN I noticed I was having problems with the 1st pedal. Evert time I had a bad note it was the first pedal. I realized that MY guitar does NOT have a pedal stop on the first pedal, but this new one did. So we backed the stop off about a half turn, and everything felt just perfect.
It can be very small things that get youi to feel "not right." And some folks are more sensitive than others.

JW

Jim Phelps · From: Mexico City, Mexico

I've never been able to play well on anyone else's steel, though I've sat in a few times on other guy's steels anyway. Pedal height is a big one for me, I have to have mine set right for me.

Then there are some guys...

I saw Paul Franklin walk up to a steel he'd never seen before, sat down and played the %#& out of it as soon as he laid his hands on it.

[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 01 October 2004 at 10:17 PM.]

Ted Solesky · From: Mineral Wells, Texas, USA

Other pickers guitars do feel odd at first, but, what's strange is, when I play the set up with the "A" pedal as the first pedal for a while (I use the Day set up), it takes a few minutes for me to get used to my guitar again. Another strange feeling is that when I play a guitar that I sold to someone else (a different brand),it feels awkward after being away from it a few yrs.

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Normally I am relatively fearless, just picking up something and playing it.

7/8th vs 3/4 upright bass, any electric bass made, a different mandolin, most any guitar, most drum kits, etc. no problem.

But to sit at another steel in front of an audience of strangers,
when I ain't EVER explored it... nope no chance.

Not to mention it likely missing a few elements of my own I now depend on being there.

Then when you get to the little things,
it can get les scarey, but not so's you're comfortable ;
as Winnie noted with a steel built... in theory to his exact specs.
There is always a tuning in for these babys for sure.

I did play John O'Keefe's new Zum at ISGC in front of the room, but mostly in C6.
Having re-learned a few things minus several levers I have on mine.
So I never was able to sound like me anyway.

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 02 October 2004 at 12:26 AM.]

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 02 October 2004 at 12:32 AM.]

Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

Its funny how things work out sometimes! . I just turned the computer on to post this EXACT topic. I have my Carter apart,the pickup is with Jerry Wallace being rewound. I got offered a few crap gigs and told the guy I can't play... steel guitar is down. He begs me and says "i'll find you a steel".Sure enough he finds me a moldy old LDG... not bad though. Now my standard setup is 5 and 5. I use EVERYTHING I have. A LOT. So now I'm playing a guitar missing two pedal changes and EVERY knee lever is BACKWARDS from mine. I use- RKR E's down 1/2..RKL E's up 1/2... LKL 2nd string down full tone in two steps[I also tune my 2nd string to an E not Eb]...LKR 1st string up a full tone. LKV raises 7th a half and lowers 5th a half.. As you can see,thats off kilter. Everthing ass backwards by todays standards,but thats how I learned centuries ago. I SUCKED on that LDG... BAD!!! ., I felt like a soldier going into battle without a gun and naked. Try getting through even 1 set[THANK GOD that's all I had to play}with your kness all backwards... REAL tough but I got by... Poorly].. I was 100% amateur grade for certain. I can't play anyone else's steel EVER and they CAN'T play mine because of my odd setup... I REALLY need a backup I think. Sold all of mine. Time to start looking!!! bob

Bob Blair · From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Over the years I have sat in on unfamiliar steels quite a few times. I find the hardest thing to adjust to is the other player's stage sound - usually there's no time to fiddle with the settings, and I don't feel right messing with them anyway. So you are really shooting in the dark as far as how the stage volume translates into volume out in front and stuff like that. I don't have much trouble adjusting from my knee setup (RKL lowering the E's) to the more common setup, but of course you have to think about it a bit more. And to take account of the different feel of the instrument, I try not to get too adventurous. But I usually have a good time anyway.m Comfort is a funny thing - of all the guitars I have sat in on, I probably felt most comfortable on Smokey Fennell's old P/P, even though it is set up differently than my guitars and is a very different feeling guitar.

Paul King · From: Gainesville, Texas, USA

Every steel I have played had a different feel to me. I would venture to say you could order 2 guitars, the same brand, with the exact pedal and lever setup and both guitars would feel different. One problem is the majority of people do not realize this and expect you to sit down and tear it up. In my experience a steel is much more different than playing a guitar, bass guitar,etc.

Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

As Winnie says, it is just minor differences in feel , pedal height, knee lever feel, etc.

Even though the setup may be the same, the guitars are not all exactly setup alike.

So theoretically, I will do better on my own guitar. But again, that is not 100% true either.....al

.

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Wayne Franco · From: silverdale, WA. USA

Man I will second this emotion. I always come back from the steel guitar conventions feeling like no matter how hard I practice I can't seem to play a different and sound close to what I know I can do. In fact, the more I practice the more I can't play a different guitar. I just bought a Fessie to go along with my Legrand. After a week of setup, lever adjustments, etc I finally am happy with it even though it doesn't or never will I suspect feel like my Emmons. I now for the first time in a month am feeling more comfortable playing 2 different guitars. That is after a few of my too few hairs on my head have fallen out. Next time I think I'll just try a couple swigs of bleach or have 3 teeth extrated. It may be easier on me.

Larry Robbins · From: Fort Edward, New York

Thanks guys,
It feels better to know Im' not the only one!

Travis Bernhardt · From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Hmm. I have trouble if I'm playing with unfamiliar fingerpicks, but if the picks are my own, I've never noticed a problem moving to another steel. Certainly not a non-pedal steel. At the ISGC, some of the guitars felt easier to play than my own.

It usually takes me a few minutes to get into the groove when I sit down at any of my own guitars. My fingers need to get stretched out, or something.

-Travis

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

There are a number of guys who completely rock at this. The first that comes to mind is Johnny Cox. He is freakin' amazing at this. He can sit down at any steel with any copedent and sound completely at home. This probably has to do with a) the way his brain is wired. He can do an immediate mind map of a copedent. I think he might be part Vulcan.
and b) He has played many, many copedents, from universals to every flavor of E9th and C6th to E13th (and everything in between).

There are a bunch of other players (mostly out of Nashville or Texas) who are also good at this.

I've gotten pretty good at sitting in on lap steel, but I suck pretty bad on unfamiliar pedal steels.

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www.tyack.com

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