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Topic: Keeping my Pedal Bars looking good, I give up! |
Nick Reed
From:
Russellville, KY USA
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Posted 10 Nov 2003 7:52 pm |
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I'm a fanatic about keeping my Steel Guitars clean and looking as close to new as possible. But it seems the Pedal Bars always get the abuse with scratches and nicks just from playing out on gigs. No matter how hard I try to keep them polished and looking good, there always seems to be that instance where a fellow band member or maybe a spectator requesting a song comes up and bumps up it with their foot. About 3 years ago, a Drummer we had let his cymbal stand fall and it put a small gash in the Pedal Bar of my Legrande III (BOY WAS I MAD AS HELL ABOUT THAT) but Bobbe Seymour looked at it and said a re-buffing job could fix the damage fairly easy. I'm lucky that cymbal didn't hit the guitar body. Now I've noticed some fairly deep scratches on the pedal bar of my '66 S-10 P/P, and it was just re-buffed about 2 years ago.
Just wondering if any of you guys run in to this problem where it bothers you like it does me. Fortunately, we have a guy here in Nashville that does a super job at re-furbishing aluminum parts on steel guitars so it's not the end of the world. I just like to bitch once in awhile. NR |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 10 Nov 2003 9:22 pm
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Nick
It's a material possession, not your health or physical well-being. Get past it.
At a gig earlier this year, a drunk woman fell onto the bandstand, hit a mic stand, and the mic fell into my Emmons #18, putting a small gash in the front mica and a gouge in the top trim strip. I was hot for a day, then I got over it and replaced the trim strip. The dent in the mica is still there.
Put it this way, I'd trade the guitar in an instant if it would spare my wife one moment of pain or physical sickness.
Of course, if it really bothers you, I'll play it big and take the guitar off your hands... heavily discounted for the dents, naturally.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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Rick Collins
From:
Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 10 Nov 2003 10:38 pm
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| Quote: |
| a Drummer we had let his cymbal stand fall and it put a small gash in the Pedal Bar of my Legrande III (BOY WAS I MAD AS HELL ABOUT THAT) but Bobbe Seymour looked at it and said a re-buffing job could fix the damage fairly easy. |
I hope you presented the bill to the drummer. How did pots and pans ever become a part of music?
Rick |
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David Deratany
From:
Cape Cod Massachusetts
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 4:51 am
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| My Martin D 41 was just a few weeks old, and I let someone play it and he banged it pretty good against the arm of a chair. I was not happy. He said: "You don't want it to be new forever, do you?" True, I guess. What a sad testament it would be to a fine instrument for it to be new forever, as that would indicate it hadn't been played much. BUT that didn't excuse his carelessness or his attitude about it. |
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Roger Kelly
From:
Bristol,Tennessee
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 6:32 am
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I have the same problem Nick, where I play.
Unless you are on a Stage or Riser, there's nothing much you can do, short of putting up some type of barrier in front of you, which I wouldn't want to lug around.
How about when someone comes up to tell you something with a drink in their hand and leans over and is just a millimeter from spilling it on your guitar, or actually does. That makes for a good night doesn't it?  |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 6:44 am
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"How did pots and pans ever become a part of music?"
They still haven't. Saddest day ever was when the GOO ever allowed the sapsuckers. It has gone downhill since. In come cases they have two of them behomoths and NO steel player.
"Bah humbug!!" 
carl |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 6:56 am
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Herb's right, of course, but I'm very protective of my instruments, and get pretty grumpy if someone is careless around them.
Five years ago I took delivery of my new Olson SJ acoustic - I'd waited nine months for it and paid $4700. As beautiful as it was, I never quite got used to the wide shallow fingerboard, but the real problem was my obsessive protection of the guitar. I'd rarely have it out of the case, fearing that something would happen to mar it's pristine beauty!
Well, I 'got over' that by selling it two years later for $7000! Now I play a $2000, two-year-old Martin 000-28 - I take good care of it, but I'm not afraid to leave it on stage on it's guitar-stand. It's my earnest hope that the new owner of my SJ actually plays it as James Olson intended.
A few months ago I discovered that the C6th 10th string machine-head on my LeGrande was bent quite badly - I can only imagine the heaviness of the blow that wrought this damage (from a careless stage-hand, I expect), and I'm thankful that I wasn't there to see it happen!
Maybe I'm a bit fussy, but I hate to see anything needlessly abused (the lazy man's bookmark is a pet peeve of mine), but the tools of our trade are on the 'front line', and a knock here and there is inevitable....
As for my pedal-bar, it's got a few 'dings', but I don't recall how a single one of them got there!
RR[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 11 November 2003 at 06:58 AM.] |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 9:36 am
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| has anyone considered a barden bumper pedal rack attachment? |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 10:25 am
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I don't know about the rest of you; but here's how I do it down in Texas...ha
Ricky[This message was edited by Ricky Davis on 11 November 2003 at 10:25 AM.] |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 10:28 am
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Cattle prods, anyone? Quite a few years back, a gal who had come up to ask for three or four requests strolled up and heaved all over my steel. She seemed somewhat apologetic. I took it as an apt comment on my playing for the evening, and washed the steel off with a hose in my back yard. I bet it would rather have had a dent...
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 10:36 am
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Nick,
I bought from McMaster Carr a length of the same aluminum channel used for pedal racks on push pulls. I could not find the stock at my local metal supply shops. I had to make a rack for a guitar for my little boy. The stuff was cheap and you probably end up with enough for three pedal racks.
If you are concerned over the welfare of your original rack then just make one for stage use and use your original innards. Those aluminum blocks that capture the legs are a pain to make. |
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Colm Chomicky
From:
Kansas, (Prairie Village)
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 11:07 am
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| If someone heaves on your guitar, just clean it off with "The Steel Guitar Rag" |
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Ken Lang
From:
Simi Valley, Ca
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 8:33 pm
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While not a psg, Wille Nelson's guitar apparently has a big hole it just from the pick scratches for so many years.
Would it be worth any more if he kept it pristine?
Like a new car, that first ding is a heart breaker but as the years go by, the dings represent a pickers life and the memories that go with it.
I've got a 40 year old dry guitar that I was thinking of refinishing to make it look like new. My son said, "Why pop? It would never be the same, and it wouldn't represent you, or us."
So I pick it up and play it and say, "We're both old and ugly now, but we're comfortable with other. Maybe that's the way it should be.
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Jerry Roller
From:
Van Buren, Arkansas USA
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Posted 11 Nov 2003 8:42 pm
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Go to the hardware store and get a 3 ft piece of split foam rubber insulation pipe and carry it with you and stick it on the pedal bar when you think you might be in a dangerous environment.
Jerry |
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DJ Sillito
From:
Lethbrige, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 12 Nov 2003 9:58 am
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Ricky's "Texas gate" should keep the animals out :)
I like to keep things lookin, shiny too. A few scratches etc. are bound to happen once and awhile. My (new to me) Mullen has a pedal bar where the front plate is a brushed?or a textured? finish. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first however, I think it was created that way maybe to minimize the appearance of scratches etc...Not sure??
I use to chase my kids away from the guitar but now as long as they have an interest and I'M SUPERVISING they can pluck away etc.
I certainly protect my guitar as much as possible...it is a big investment for most of us.
Good luck
DJ |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2003 10:58 am
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Ha...that's a good one Herbster...ha >LOL..and I do think the Fessy is a fine fine steel...so promoting it is not a prob.
Unfortunatly someone stole that little "Longhorn" stage that Don and Dale and myself built...so it's long gone and probably in somebodys Fraternity as their drinkin' party stage..ha
So now when I'm playing there...I'm back to starting a fight with anyone that bumbs into me...>which was the reason behind the stage in the first place..ha(I'm gettin' to old the throw punches anymore..but it's still fun.).
Ricky
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John Borchard
From:
Athens, OH 45701
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Posted 12 Nov 2003 1:49 pm
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I like your idea, Ricky, but remembering my time in Austin, I can't help thinking that people would just use that thing to rest their drinks on while they two-stepped the night away. Maybe some razor wire across the top?
In all seriousness, Nick, you might consider a plexiglas barrier like drummers or loud guitarists use. 'Course it is one more heavy thing to lug around. Perhaps some biohazard stickers strategically applied to your guitar?
John Borchard[This message was edited by John Borchard on 12 November 2003 at 01:55 PM.] |
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John Cox
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2003 2:17 pm
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Nick,
You might want to try a stage monitor in front of your guitar,it usually keeps people and unwanteds at an arms reach.
J.C. |
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Jerry Roller
From:
Van Buren, Arkansas USA
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Posted 12 Nov 2003 8:01 pm
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| Nick, how about an electric fence? |
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Nick Reed
From:
Russellville, KY USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2003 5:21 pm
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Hey Jerry,
I like that electric fence idea! Wonder if it would keep those BAD female guest singers away from the stage. You know, the ones who don't know what key they sing in, jump time, and only know the words to "Crazy" & "You ain't Woman Enough to take my Man". It's alway a never ending battle. But I still get mad when drunks and wantabee amateur Country Stars bump my pedal bars with their Cowboy Boots. Nick |
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Willis Vanderberg
From:
Petoskey Mi
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Posted 16 Nov 2003 8:03 pm
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Hey Nick:
I'm with you on my equipment,I try and keep it clean and polished and set up with new strings.Of course in my case ,its my lack of talent so I dazzle em with my equipment.
On the serious side..it took my a lot of years to get the best equipment and I wouldn't feel right if I didn't take good care of it.
Bud
[This message was edited by Willis Vanderberg on 16 November 2003 at 08:05 PM.] |
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