Is it a good idea to carry a JUST IN CASE STEEL?

Stuart Legg · Posted 21 Mar 2011 6:42 am

Bo's Sho-Bud broke before he even got started at the Key Largo.
He used the Stage One PSG for the show and it sounded great with no amp., just thru the board from his Tubefex.
So carrying a small cased light weight like the Stage One as a spare can be a life saver and this situation certainly proved the merit of carrying it as a spare.
Saturday nite March 19th at the Key Largo in Springfield Mo.
You know me I just couldn't resist making a cartoon out of it.

Barry Blackwood · Posted 21 Mar 2011 7:12 am

That's kinda like saying, "Is it a good idea to tow an extra car behind you in case the first one breaks down?" At $1000 for a Stage one, one would have to work twenty $50 bar gigs to buy one. Personally, I'd rather lose the $50 the one time the (regular) steel breaks, and keep the other $950 ….. Oh Well

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

I carry two of everything to the gig, with the exception of my guitar. I even drag an extra amp to the venue, just in case. So far, I've never had a guitar fail me.

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

I think carrying a spare amp is a higher priority than carrying a spare steel (unless you're playing fly dates and there's a chance your steel will not arrive at the gig at all, etc.) Usually all that happens to a steel is a broken string or (rarely) a broken KL. Bring extra strings, of course, and you can probably figure out how to play one gig acceptably without one of your KLs. But if your amp craps out on you, it's a bigger deal, IMO.
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Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

That's one reason why I started playing through two amps again, after several years of 'single amping it'.

I think you'll find most steel players who gig much will think carrying a spare guitar is waaaaaaay overkill. Rarely will a guitar be totally out of commission. Getting around a missing pedal or lever can be a pain, but we've all done it from time to time; it ain't the end of the world. I could play all night with just E9 and and A and B pedal, but no amp and you're dead in the water.
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Ken Pippus · From: Langford, BC, Canada

A D-10 is an "attached spare." It'll probably make you rethink everything you haven't done on the "other" neck.

KP

Jon Jaffe · From: Austin, Texas

Interesting, as I had my guitar go out Saturday night. It was the second gig of the day, and the first song. I had the same problem about eight years ago. After repairing it, I purchased a spare part. However, the part was 45 minutes away at best. So with my A and C pedal out, I just packed up.

I suppose I could have played out the evening, but that would have been too annoying. I have a similar guitar at home, but carrying two guitars for a local gig seems a bit much. I do have a small preamp to use and go direct if my amp quits, as well as a back up volume pedal.

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

I don't generally do so but IF it is a high-profile gig with a major artist I always carry a back-up guitar. It's not all that hard to run something through the PA if and amp goes down, but if a major component of the guitar fails there is no other recourse.

I remember working a big outdoor festival here in Portland some years ago with Desert Rose as the headliner. Tom Brumley was playing with them at this time and when the band arrived we found that the airline baggage manglers had dropped his guitar on its end and cracked the wood on the changer end wide open so that the guitar would not tune. Both Larry Behm and I had our guitars nearby but of course ours were not set up the same as his. We ended up having to drill a hole and insert a very long wood screw into the end of the guitar to hold it all together so that he could make it through the gig, not a pretty piece of work and it may even have ruined the guitar forever, but there was really no other option for him at the time. BTW he did have two amps with him, but only one guitar.

Ryan Barwin · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I wouldn't bother bringing a second steel...I do bring extra parts and tools in my pack-seat to fix most things that could go wrong with my guitar.
I've had problems before, and I can get through songs I'd usually play on E9 on C6 instead, and vice versa...and most problems aren't too hard to fix during a set break if you've got the right tools...
I bring extra of everything else (volume pedal, cables, power adapters, etc.) and I could play through a DI if my amp fails, which hasn't happened yet...
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Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Here is my Letter to the Editor in Steel Guitar World Magazine, Issue #31, Feb-Mar 1997:

As we all know, there are thousands of double-neck pedal steel guitars set up with the standard E9/C6 tunings. What percentage of those guitars actually have a fresh set of strings on the C6 neck? More likely than not, the back neck has become a convenient arm rest while playing the E9 tuning. It occured to me that with a little bit of effort, that back neck could be converted to another E9 neck. Why not have a double-neck set up with E9/E9 tunings?

The guitar could be set up with the first three pedals operating the front E9 and the next three pedals operating the back E9. All knee levers would work on both necks. When that pesky third string pops, just flip a switch, change necks, and keep picking. A different type or brand of pickup could be installed on the back neck, in order to get two distinct sounds out of one guitar. In fact, each neck could have its own output jack. Each neck could then drive its own amplifier to further diversify the tone options. This would be quite nice for those of you who use a Dobro simulator.

For those of you who get tired of your arms turning green from those old, corroded strings on the C6 neck, you might want to try it out. It seems to me that it would at least give you some peace of mind. Just think. No more nightmares about breaking a string in the middle of a song. The back neck can become your "back-up" neck.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

the problem with this whole concept is 'where do you stop?'.
carry an extra steel and amp ...and when the extra ones break you'd better have another set and hope it doesn't break so you'd better carry more. now as for your car, you'd better tow at least 5 behind you in case the first 4 break down on the way to the gig, which by the way you should have several options for in case they don't have a safe place for you to store all of your back-up equipment at the first gig.
paranoia can be eased by having a well maintained basic set of tools.

Larry Robbins · From: Fort Edward, New York

I carry a small "extra" amp just in case something happens to mine or someone else's in the band cause you never know but, it stays out in the car so its there if I need it and not too far away. I do usually carry a lap steel or a dobro ..just in case.. so I can get through the gig but, an extra pedal steel would just be too much IMHO Smile

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