Audience first time viewing a pedal steel

[Craig Schwartz]

Now I try my best to look the part so that I dont give people a wrong impression at any gig that comes my way, In fact I try NOT to stand out, but it seems like I`m explaining the same thing over and over and I`m getting callased to it just a little,
I gotta remember to keep smiling, Heres only a couple of remarks.

What the heck is that thing...

One woman said it looked like I was sitting in a wheel chair and had braces on my legs , (Black spray will fix that)
I thought Chrome was cool

Any other Don Rickles statements out there ?

[Erv Niehaus]

I just tell them that it's a combination Singer sewing machine and an electric cheese slicer.

[Chuck Lawson]

I tell them its my electric ironing board.

[Joe Miraglia]

I tell them it's my MACCORINI MACHINE( Rotini).
I wonder if Bassoon players are asked the same thing? I could see someone asking a Bag Pipe player " Is that a Octopus your playing".

[Dennis Manuel]

Someone asked if it was a new style xylophone.

[Rick Schmidt]

When someone asks "Is that thing difficult to play?", I say "Yes....it's impossible!"

[Malcolm McMaster]

Here in Scotland it is often referred to as a knitting machine.One player got fed up with it and got hold of an old wool blanket, tied it up under his steel and gradually lowered it down on a piece of string during the gig.There were a few confused faces in the hall.

[Tony Glassman]

I vas collate between telling people it's either:
an oakie organ
.........or a loom

[Henry Matthews]

A guy I work with calls it a floor fiddle. Now where he got that, I'll never know.

[Roual Ranes]

Back in the 70's, I was playing the Plano Elks Lodge and a couple came up and bent over to look at the underside of the steel. I told them it was a console harp......seemed to satisify them.

[John Cadeau]

Mine has been called a table guitar, and a keyboard.

[CrowBear Schmitt]

Appalachian Tone Bender ?

[chris ivey]

i tell everyone it takes a genius to play one!

[Aaron Goldstein]

"Hillbilly string section" is what I've taken to calling it.

I can't count how many times I've gotten "you were great on the keyboard tonight".

But I CAN count how many times I've heard, "you were great on the sitar tonight" - twice! Two separate occasions, two different people. Weird.

I'm also often asked, "how hard is that thing to play, really?" as though there is some scale by which I can quantify exactly how hard it is to play. I usually tell people it's quite hard but can be achieved if you set your mind to it and give it lots of time.

[Damien Odell]

I always tell them it's a pedal steel guitar, and that always confuses them....

[Robert Daniels]

I used to call them "redneck tear machines"...with love.

[Michael Haselman]

When they ask what it is, I always like asking them what they think it is. Some interesting answers. Zither was one.

[Jack Ritter]

I always tell them," you don't have to be crazy to play one of these things, but a little bit helps"!
Jack

[Mike Perlowin]

"Table top string thingy."

[Olaf van Roggen]

...I once heard someone praising:"great stringbox instrument!"

[Daniel Morris]

I don't know who originally coined it, but I always like "electric ironing board".
However, my favorite was when I was playing in a country covers band, and a guy came up to my side of the stage. He said, "Man, you really play a great sitar!" You can't make these things up....

[Howard Steinberg]

I've been asked if the thing that I was playing is a glockenspeil. My favorite, however, "is that a keyboard with strings?"

[Bud Angelotti]

Cheese slicer. Standard 10 stringer makes 9 thick uniform slices. Deluxe model, two people can operate simultaneously. There is also a model that can do 11 slices.

[Josh Rossow]

One guy called it a " Sit Guitar "

[Joey Ace]

Ten Manually Controlled Monophonic Oscillators.



Actually, I always appreciate the interest, and answer politely, no matter how much it get's old.