| Author |
Topic: I Suck Again |
Gary Shepherd
From:
Fox, Oklahoma, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 9:12 am |
|
I used to be a decent pedal steel player. I'm not Paul Franklin but I could hold my own.
I haven't played in several years. Had a chance to sit in with a group last night at their practice... mostly just to listen to some songs they want to record.
I can't play pedal steel anymore. About all I could remember was where the chords are and a few licks. I couldn't pick the strings I was trying to hit, my intonation was terrible, etc.
It wasn't my guitar and the setup was different than mine, with only 3 pedals and 2 knee levers but still....
I've heard "if you don't use it, you lose it."
It must be true. I was planning to record some tunes this summer, some of which would have pedal steel tracks. Looks like the steel tracks will have to wait.
_________________
Gary Shepherd
Carter D-10 & Peavey Nashville 1000
www.16tracks.com |
|
|
 |
Drew Pierce
From:
Arkansas, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 11:44 am
|
|
Don't give up so fast. I took a pretty long hiatus a few years ago and was really rusty when I started playing again. What I did to get my chops back was get on YouTube and play along with a bunch of songs I'd played many times over the years. Once those came back to me it was pretty easy to transition to new material. Of course it helps when you only play maybe a dozen or so grips and licks in different positions. What Buddy Emmons called "all my cliches".
_________________
Drew Pierce
Emmons D10 Fatback, S10 bolt-on, Zum D10, Evans RE500, Hilton volume and delay pedals. |
|
|
|
Dave Morrison
From:
Whbg Ohio Usa
|
Posted 22 May 2018 12:06 pm
|
|
| I feel your pain brother!I'd been away from mine for just 2 weeks and felt like I was starting all over at a gig last weekend. |
|
|
|
Roger Childress
From:
South Carolina, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 1:14 pm
|
|
| I understand your pain. I’ve been away for over 30 years and just started back playing about a month or so ago. On top of that, I was injured several years ago and my right hand has a lot of limitations. Really only my thumb and index finger work right, so I’m relearning with a built in handicap. My middle, ring, and pinky fingers are virtually useless. I’m learning to rake my index finger across 2 strings as simultaneously as possible to get 3 string grips. But, I guess I’m developing my own style! Lol |
|
|
|
Michael Castellana
From:
Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 1:20 pm
|
|
| I remember needing a steel in Tx and getting Lloyd Maines' number from our label owner who lived down there ... anyway called Lloyd and soon discovered he plays Day setup so no dice there but we started gabbing and somehow we got to a place where I asked him if he had any difficulty getting back to IT after time away from the steel? ... he paused a few seconds and was like "nah, no problem there" |
|
|
|
Glenn Demichele
From:
(20mi N of) Chicago Illinois, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 1:58 pm
|
|
I've been playing steel at least an hour a day for the past 30 years with no breaks. I'm slowly getting better so I thought, but I listened to a tape of my band I recorded last Saturday and I suck again too. Maybe the bar keeps moving.
_________________
Franklin D10 8&5, Excel D10 8&5. Both amazing guitars! Homemade buffer/overdrive with adjustable 700Hz "Fender" scoop., Moyo pedal, GT-001 effects, 2x TDA7294 80W class AB amps, or 2x BAM200 for stereo. TT12 and BW1501 each in its own closed back wedge. Also NV400 etc. etc... |
|
|
|
Kevin Fix
From:
Michigan, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 4:52 pm
|
|
| After 35 years playing PSG once in a while I get into a rut. I get down on myself. The next thing I do is record a gig and then I listen to it the next day and I go, "Wow", I did a pretty fair job after all!!!! Can't beat the Tascam. It's like a good slap in the face that says, wake up!!! 2 necks, 20 strings, 8 floor pedals and 6 knee's and I know how to use them. That is a accomplishment in itself. |
|
|
|
Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
|
Posted 22 May 2018 5:05 pm
|
|
| Quote: |
| It wasn't my guitar and the setup was different |
this is probably where the biggest problem was...
_________________
www.steelguitarsonline.com |
|
|
|
Roger Childress
From:
South Carolina, USA
|
Posted 22 May 2018 5:43 pm
|
|
| Damir Besic wrote: |
| Quote: |
| It wasn't my guitar and the setup was different |
this is probably where the biggest problem was... |
A little story relating to the above quotes.
Where: Scotty’s International Steel Guitar Convention St Louis, MO
When: August 29, 1985 ( I remember the date because that’s my mom and dad’s anniversary)
As a 16 year old, I entered the talent show. Unfortunately, Dad decided not to take the Sho~Bud Super Pro I had been playing. So, he borrowed a guitar for me to play on stage. The guitar was set up different than the one I was used to playing. It was missing the vertical knee lever and had me completely lost. I can’t remember the brand of guitar, but that doesn’t really matter. Suffice to say, I made a complete mess. A friend of my Dad’s that went out with us made this comment to my Dad, “I’ll give him this, he’s got balls.†The two songs I played that night, Steel Guitar Rag and Way To Survive, I could burn down on my guitar, but couldn’t play Survive worth a flip on the borrowed guitar. |
|
|
|
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 23 May 2018 11:40 am
|
|
Gary,Try again on another day,I've never been in the "Paul Franklin"class myself but after my stroke in May 2011 I couldn't even tune my guitar with a tuner didn't know which way to turn the pegs ,my bar hand had a mind of its own,So I left my guitar set up and didn't touch it for six months I was done and I've been at it forever,I started visualizing stuff in my head one day I got out of my funk and walked over to my pedal steel guitar sat down and just started playing nothing great but not embarrassing,Every now and then a lick from the past will just pop into my head like an old friend.
Good luck Hang Tuff!
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
|
Skip Ellis
From:
Bradenton, Fl USA
|
Posted 23 May 2018 7:19 pm
|
|
Going through it now - I haven't played in a couple years (I can't afford to keep a guitar around if it's not earning $$$ and I'm not a bedroom picker) and got called to do month's worth of 8 shows a week of "Always...Patsy Cline" so I went out and bought an old BMI from a friend, rearranged the knees and started rehearsals last night - I DOUBLE SUCK! Slow, wrong grips, bad intonation and the musical director keeps wanting me to play stuff that I just can't get under my fingers. After close to 40 years of messing with these things, I think this will be my swan song - it's supposed to be fun and this just isn't.
_________________
2013 Brook Torridge, 2014 Martin 000-18, two homebrew Teles, Evans RE200 amp, Quilter 101R head, understanding wife of 45 years. 'Steeless' at the moment but looking...... |
|
|
|
John Goux
From:
California, USA
|
Posted 23 May 2018 11:50 pm
|
|
Never judge yourself on equipment that is unfamiliar to you. That is crazy-making.
When you’ve been on your own guitar for a month, then you can say “I suckâ€, with relative confidence.
J |
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 24 May 2018 3:12 am
|
|
Gary, I took a break from trombone a few years back. Now I'm back into it I'm better than I was before.
When God created trombone players he was then faced with the problem of making an instrument simple enough for them to play; luckily he was rescued by some stuff left over from creating the bathroom.
The pedal steel is at the other end of the complication spectrum, so bearing in mind what others have said about whether someone else's rig gives a fair test, you could end up better than you were. Trombones have all been the same for 500 years.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
|
Posted 24 May 2018 5:32 am
|
|
Gary, I took a break from trombone a few years back. Now I'm back into it I'm better than I was before.
When God created trombone players he was then faced with the problem of making an instrument simple enough for them to play; luckily he was rescued by some stuff left over from creating the bathroom.
The pedal steel is at the other end of the complication spectrum, so bearing in mind what others have said about whether someone else's rig gives a fair test, you could end up better than you were. Trombones have all been the same for 500 years.
[Don't know how this double post occurred. I thought I'd deleted one but they're both still here. And it was from a PC not a phone. Hey ho.]
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs
Last edited by Ian Rae on 25 May 2018 12:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
|
Posted 24 May 2018 5:56 am
|
|
I’m still trying to get good the first time. 
Trust yourself, and what others have said about giving it some time and due diligence. Even professional athletes go through pre-season training every year. You’re coming out of retirement. |
|
|
|
Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
|
Posted 24 May 2018 4:48 pm
|
|
| Fred Treece wrote: |
I’m still trying to get good the first time.
|
Fred, I may just have to have a plaque made of that quote, to hang on the wall above my steel! 
_________________
Many play better than I do. Nobody has more fun. |
|
|
|
Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
|
Posted 2 Jun 2018 4:46 pm
|
|
NEVER GIVE UP! Sit down to your old faithful familiar setup and it will come back.
_________________
Lawyers are done: Emmons SD-10, 3 Dekleys including a D10, NV400, and lots of effects units to cover my clams... |
|
|
|
Stuart Legg
|
Posted 13 Jun 2018 10:30 pm
|
|
Bo expecting redemptive contradiction "boy I've never played as bad as I played tonight"
I patted him on the back and replied "No! I've heard you play worse"
I like to help out all I can. |
|
|
|
