Playing when you are old...

Tom Quinn · Posted 14 Nov 2024 1:27 pm

I played during the '70s and early '80s. Doubled on guitar and pedal steel. I got started late in life but became proficient enough to get the job done. But life changes things and I pretty much stopped playing after 1990. Now, at 79 and in pretty decent health, I want to play again. I'm rustier than an old tin can in a cornfield. I have a nice old guitar, still have my '74 Session 400.
Question: anyone still picking at pushing 80? Any tips? Thanks guys.

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I need an Emmons!

Joe Bill Moad · From: Oklahoma

Tickled to Death that you are still picking! Keep it up!

Respectfully

Joe Bill Moad
Oklahoma
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Don’t Worry About The Mule! Load The Wagon!

Samuel Phillippe · From: Douglas Michigan, USA

Keep picking Tom. I'm 86 and am still playin guitar, lap steel and learning Pedal steel. I just stopped giging last year but still jam with a couple of guys every now and then.
My advice is to pick it up and strum anything to get your fingers back in shape. The pedal steel is very relaxing for me and I'm positive it will be for you. Just sit down and be amazed as to what you can do.It will come back.

Have fun and remember "you're still just a kid"

Sam

Raybob Bowman · From: S. Lake Tahoe, CA, USA

I'm older, not really old yet, ten years behind you at 69. I play every Saturday and Sunday at Bucket of Blood in Virginia City, NV. As I get older, one thing I found important is a good lightweight folding hand truck for load-in/load-out.

Used to always use Dual Showman Reverb but recently got a Quilter tone block. 3.5 pounds instead of 45 pound DSR head.

As for your '74 Session 400, if it's been many years before powering it up, have a tech bring up voltage slowly on a Variac or those old filter caps may become toast being that old. If it's been powered up recently and works with oo noise, don't worry about that.
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Sierra U12 4+5 / 1933 Dobro / homemade Tele B-bender

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

I 70 and still playing after 54 years.
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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.

Robert Murphy · From: West Virginia

I am 75. Lately I have focused more on style, intonation and simplicity. Fast and furious belongs to someone else.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Hook up with some younger players who will help you handle your gear. That's what I'm doing. They will come get me, load me in and out and get me back for the few things I do. I couldn't do it without their help.

Brooks Montgomery · From: Idaho, USA

My old bandmate Bill Hanna (RIP) said about steel guitar:

“That’s what I’m going to play when I get old. Every country band wants one. And you get to sit in chair all night and drink for free!”
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first.

Terry Wood · From: Lebanon, MO

Congratulations! Hang in there like a Pit Bull.

Play as long and as much as you can, it's good therapy and you might inspire many others to play music and steel guitar.

Best to you!

Terry

Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

As Terry says, play as long as you can. Get lighter gear, maybe, but still try to carry and load it. That's physical exercise. And playing with bands gets you out of the house and being social.

I'll be 81 next week; I am playing with 4 groups, one of which is especially challenging--and gratifying. In fact I am off in a few hours to a gig on Cape Cod!

Larry Allen · From: Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii

Ok 81 here, still on 3 bands, amps seem to get heavier every year! Wheels and hand trucks rock! Very Happy

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Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I'm not compromising my gear. I'm still playing D10s, when it gets where I have to give them up, I quit....or at least a Universal if available. If I can't get help with it, I quit and just play my stuff in my music room.

A single neo BW 15 in. cabinet and a 2 spc. rack is the extent of downsizing I'm doing. Still got a seat and possibles bag, so you just can't get away from the weight and bulk associated with playing a pedal steel guitar.

Carts etc. may help, but you still have to pick it up and put it in the vehicle...same with unloading.

I've about given up handling the big stereo rig and keep it at the jam barn, but never compromising gear for playing out any further than the aforementioned.

Ron Funk · From: Ballwin, Missouri

Tommy Auldridge · From: Maryland, USA

Tom: I guess you don't still have that black Emmons D-10 I sold you. I'm sure you remember me. We talked on the phone many times. I suggest you turn on youtube and play along with it. You'll get back in shape in no time. Just don't stop. Thanks, Tommy..... P.S. I'm 81 and still working in four bands somewhere every weekend.

Lee Rider · From: Fort Bragg, California, USA

Tom: If I can do it, you can do it. You are a good musician. Pedal steel is something that keeps us young and our minds fertile.

Gene has that Peavey 112 that you sold me years ago, his main pedal steel amp now.
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Bowman SD10 push pull 3x5, Modified Hudson PedalBro, Sarno Tonic preamp, Evans FET 500. with Altec 418B, Standel Custom 15, '67 Showman with D-130F in cabinet, Ganz Straight Ahead, custom Wolfe 6 string dobro, '52 Gibson Century 6.

Charlie Hansen · From: Halifax, NS Canada and Various Southern Towns.

I'm 82 and didn't start until I was 75.
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I don't know much but what I know I know very well.
Carter S-10 3X5, Peavey Nashville 112, plus Regal dobro and too many other instruments to mention.
Bluegrass Island CFCY FM 95.1 Charlottetown, PE, Canada, on the web at cfcy.fm.
A Touch Of Texas CIOE FM 97.5 Sackville, NS, Canada,
on the web at cioe975.ca.

Bob Sykes · From: North Carolina

Post 70 and still gigging every weekend. It's not as easy as it once was, especially if more than one show. A power nap is essential most of the time. The roadies do the heavy lifting.

I'm a life-long guitar player but started PSG in 2009 so I'm still striving for being at least mediocre on it. I'll keep playing out as long as the pleasure/effort ratio is favorable.

Susan Alcorn · From: Baltimore, MD, USA

I am also over 70. Tips, advice - if you haven't been playing in a while, go slow and be kind to yourself. Play the easiest stuff first. As we get older, it takes more time to learn and to get back that touch, but, easy does it, it will all come back, and wisdom will add to the mix.
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www.susanalcorn.net

"So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray."
- Mary Oliver

Rich Arnold · From: Tennessee, USA

I have a more difficult time remembering things, what key I play a song in, but my ability to improvise has increased quite a lot.

Don R Brown · From: Rochester, New York, USA

Samuel Phillippe · From: Douglas Michigan, USA

Bill Galvan · From: California, USA

I just turned 88 on Nov 2, 2024. A stroke in 2018 seriously damaged my hearing. I still play for my own enjoyment using a Quilter Tone Bloc 200 and earphones.
No more jam sessions or bar bands but I won't quit.
I just purchased my original 1956 Bigsby and the two of us are going to play to the end.

Lee Rider · From: Fort Bragg, California, USA

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

If y0u can do it, do it as long as you can.

I'm 86 (be 87 Dec 18th) started playing Pedal Steel in 1969. Due to back problems (I couldn't carry equipment), failing eyesight and Parkinsons I had to give it up last year. I played in bands until 3 years ago but looking back I started going downhill with my playing around 82. I couldn't do a lot of the fast picking I used to do which is probably when Parkinsons started.

I still have an Ibanez solid body guitar but I couldn't (wouldn't) play in a band.

Nigel Mullen · From: Cassilis, New Brunswick, Canada

I'm 84 and still playing all the time. I have an Emmons single 12 that I've been using for years. I use split cases for my steel and the legs. I use a Nashville 112 with wheels on it and I use a hand cart to take my gear from the stage to the car. I have my own band that play regularly and I sit in with other bands every chance I get. I did have handles installed on both sides of the amp so if I have to carry it very far, I can get someone to help me out on the other side of the amp. I also have fender type legs on the amp so I don't have to lift it up on a chair etc. on stage. I just tilt it back and it works real well that way for me anyhow. I think I'm playing as good as I ever did and I want to keep going as long as possible. Keeps me feeling young again especially playing traditional country and a few old rock and roll songs. Having a ball!!!!

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