I have 3, but I have a unique situation. I live on a hillside and have to climb stairs to get from my house to the street. I keep one at home for woodshedding, one in my studio the basement, and one in the garage at the bottom of the hill, along with my amps and paca-seat, which I use when I play out.
Steels and stairs do not mix well.
Neither do stairs and amps.
I also keep a 35 year, old first generation, 20 watt Crate 1 at home for practicing. I keep it because I like the way it looks, but it also sounds really good at low volume. It distorts horribly if you turn it up though.
I used to have 2 and thought I didn't need the 2nd one but now that I have been with only one for many years, I would like another to have something different but I only play at home anymore so unless I get some great deal on a good one then I'm a one steelguitar person. I do have a ten string,no pedal practice steel that I take on vacation to keep the mind and hands in shape. RS
Franklin D10 Stereo - 8 and 6 - Black Box-Zum Encore 4 and 5 Nashville 400,Session 400, DD3 for delay ,also Benado Effects pedal.
Steeling with Franklin's..and Zum Encore
I'm kinda weak when it comes down to the practical aspect of having too many. I just bought a Fessenden SD10 4-5 last night. I already have a perfectly good 4-5 MSA Classic at home. I've had a ZB and two Dek's also. My MSA is great for my level, but it seems like I spend a lot of time underneath tweaking it vs playing it since it's 30 years old. I really want a Rains but the Fessenden also appealed to me when I clicked the PayPal button.
Now the task is to get the thing through the front door and past the wife. She already know my weakness but will probably question my judgement.
I grew up in boat yards & marinas in Queens, NY. I always had a boat since I was 8 years old. In 1994 I retired to the Ft Lauderdale, Florida area, a mecca for boating & fishing, so I thought. I wanted to buy a 25ft center console loaded fishing machine only problem was storage, back in 1994 it would have cost me $2,500.00 per year. Add it up over 2 years and I could be buying a steel every 2 years. So the boat went & pedal steels & all the equipment was my new shopping list.
Since 1994 I have owned at least 6 steel, today there's 4 of them, two out of the case & two sitting inside cases, plus amps all over the house.
Cool post, There is nothing like musical instruments nowadays. They never complain, charge rent, they sometimes bitch when I play them. I could not survive along with my wife who has two guitars, Martin and Gibson, my kids have multiple stuff, I hate to admit this but I have two banjos which are my main instrument.
Two or more is good IMO. Chris
In a previous posting I mentioned that a player really needs at a minimum two steels and amp setups: one always set up for practicing at home and another ready to take to gigs.
A gigging player with only one steel doesn't practice. The guitar stays in the case unless its at the job. A 6-string player can pull his instrument out of the case and be practicing in a minute. A steel player without a home setup has to spend a minimum of 15-20 minutes getting ready to practice.
I have a lot of guitars. For as long as I can remember I've been unable to turn down virtually any good deal on vintage gear. Part of the reason is my experience that most of it retains its value. That's why I have 10 push-pulls and several select all-pulls. Push-pulls will never be like their vintage Strat and Tele counterparts, dollar-wise, but they will never go down in value. Grab yourself a push-pull now. Their cost will only rise.
Do I "need" all of those steels? No, of course not. Like I mentioned above, as a player I really only need two pedal steels and two amp setups. I am fortunate to be able to purchase vintage gear but I hasten to add that many of my buys are due to persistent and concerted "hound-dogging" on my part. I look for and find gear in both the usual places and the unusual, too. It's second nature for me to always be on the lookout.
May I ask those of You who have a gigging giutar in the case and also a guitar set up at home,
Are the copedants of both guitars identical?
Are the guitars different brands?
Are the pickups identical?
Billy
For my personal taste, two is the perfect number of steels to own. I have owned as many as 3 in the past at the same time but have finally just decided to stay with two vintage Emmons Push Pulls. One for practicing and one ready to go out the door.
If you own more than that, they usually end up sitting in the closet and you can't remember when you last changed the strings on which guitar.
The exemption to the above statement would be that if one plays continuously and tours, then an extra "setup and ready for the road" guitar would not be a bad thing to have.
RD
Last edited by Ray DeVoe on 16 Jan 2011 2:31 am, edited 3 times in total.
Zum SD 10 Hybrid, Zum D 10 Hybrid, Emmons SD 10 P.P.
SMS: Revelation & Classic Preamps: Furlong 12" & 15" Splits.
Telonics 500 C: Quilter-T.T.12": Fender T.M. Twin
Billy Murdoch wrote:May I ask those of You who have a gigging guitar in the case and also a guitar set up at home,
Are the copedants of both guitars identical?
Are the guitars different brands?
Are the pickups identical?
Billy
My 2 MSA Millenniums are identical in every way except for the color. I doubt that I could tell which one I was playing if I was blindfolded.
My older green one shown in my avatar feels different, but has the same copedant. And the mica one I sold a year or 2 ago was as close to the green one as possible.
The Millys both have Tone Aligner pickups. The Classic has a George L 5 position one.
Herb Steiner wrote:
Ultimately, it's all just "stuff" that we use to make our lives more pleasant and to anesthetize ourselves briefly from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that inhabit much of our everyday existences.
Herb, WOW!
If you don't believe this, just ask Michael Jackson's doctor.
Seriously, no truer words have ever been uttered.
TC
I've owned one steel at a time for 20 years and I routinely set it back up as soon as I got home from practice or a gig (or the next morning), but the older I get, the harder it is to motivate myself to do the physical part and unfortunately find myself practicing less than I should. Now that I go to practice once a week for our church worship band, and play on Sunday, I have to buy another steel so I can physically keep up with the routine. Part of my justification is the wear and tear on the equipment and the other part is the wear and tear on my back. I wouldn't part with my D12, just to save my back, but can justify having another D12 or even an SD10 to leave set up at my church. I just have to save up some $$$ and I'll be shopping soon. For me, at least now, two is the perfect number.
I had five recently. Pain in the butt to keep track of when to change strings, and the ordering and $ for string sets got to be a real drag! I rotated each week, so they all got played. I don't care to own any guitar that stays in the case too long. I do like to keep my stuff reasonably clean and maintained, and that was a time consuming adventure also.
Got down to two, then bought another one, so back up to three, and wanting to cull one more out of the livewell.
The older I get, the less I want of everything....except the little Mrs!
i have 2 and that is all that i need. anything beyond that is just a procrastination tool. when i dont feel like practicing i tend to shop for new gear
I have too many, but I did sell several in the past year. But then, I bought a few more! Right now the number is six. I have 2 listed for sale at present. I would like to get down to just 2. But I think 3 would probably be ideal.
I have three. (2006 GFI Keyless, 1999 Carter, 1970 Emmons)
All set up the same, except the PP has no Vertical KL.
I once had four, but realized that was too many for me because one was rarely used.
One is usually in a rehearsal studio, one is set up at home, and one is in a case ready to gig. The assignments for each change at my whim, usually determined by weight/reliability/look/position of the moon.
RS
-- although my dobro and my tele are setup differently !! 
