Steel Guitar OR Alcohol?

Todd Monroe · Post by **Todd Monroe** » 22 Feb 2016 11:00 am

Here's a light-hearted hypothetical question:
Would you rather have, say $100,000, to ONLY spend on steel guitars for the rest of your life, and abstain from alcohol? Or the vice-versa of an unlimited bar tab but you must never pick up a steel guitar again?
bOb's definition of "anything played with a bar" stands.

Also, music is not the same as steel guitar. So you could be manning the still with a banjo.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 22 Feb 2016 12:13 pm

You answer first, Todd.

Todd Monroe · Post by **Todd Monroe** » 22 Feb 2016 12:18 pm

If I were on a desert island, and had to choose between beer and a C6 lap? Beer, knee slaps, and working on my beat-boxing technique sounds like an excellent way to pass the time... Also, I've always needed an excuse to work on my whistling (or Tuvan throat singing). But I'm not an alcoholic. Those dudes go to meetings.

Ben Elder · Post by **Ben Elder** » 22 Feb 2016 12:18 pm

I've already abstained from alcohol (medical reasons) and continue to be surprised at how little I miss it. And, on the rare (holiday, family) occasions where I do raise a glass, the buzz is either negligible or slightly ugly. Not really ugly, like hearing myself play steel guitar, but certainly not exhilarating enough to be the foundation for a robust addiction.

Easiest money I ever heard of.

Todd Monroe · Post by **Todd Monroe** » 22 Feb 2016 12:29 pm

But the steel guitar provides neither hydration, nor caloric intake...

Tony Smart · Post by **Tony Smart** » 22 Feb 2016 12:30 pm

Ish iszzzz a shilllly cweshunnn,......

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 22 Feb 2016 12:37 pm

When I started I needed lots of coffee to learn to play. Now it's beer to keep me patient. As sad as it is alcohol and music go together well.

Larry Carlson · Post by **Larry Carlson** » 22 Feb 2016 1:11 pm

Neither.
My steel playing has driven me to drink so they basically support each other.
It is neither one or both for me.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 22 Feb 2016 1:20 pm

This is an easy one for me. I drink very little, maybe three beers a month, never at home, only on gigs, and I don't drink hard stuff at all. Never did. I'll take the steel and I couldn't care less about alcohol.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 22 Feb 2016 1:22 pm

I used to drink. Then I noticed that getting drunk made me grumpy. And I prefer to be my cheery, if slightly sarcastic, self. So I don't have more than one or two a night.

Wesley Medlen · Post by **Wesley Medlen** » 22 Feb 2016 4:13 pm

Medicaly I'm not supposed to embibe. A couple of beers a year IS About it. But I have as much fun as I.ve always had but feel fine the next day.

Donnie Southers · Post by **Donnie Southers** » 22 Feb 2016 7:06 pm

Yep Lane. maybe 3 or 4 if I've heard a song that I really want to get into... LOL But in the end my Steel will always win out !

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 22 Feb 2016 7:26 pm

life is one big party to me,
i voted for free sex and free energy!

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 22 Feb 2016 7:59 pm

What is this - national false premise week?

admin · Post by **b0b** » 22 Feb 2016 8:42 pm

The choice for me was life or alcohol. Easy one. I chose life 20 years ago and I still have my steel guitars.

Skeeter Stultz · Post by **Skeeter Stultz** » 22 Feb 2016 8:58 pm

40 years ago this would have been a tough question. But sometime in Sept. 1982 the booze stopped but five years before that the steel playing stopped. Started back playing in 2008.

Frank James Pracher · Post by **Frank James Pracher** » 22 Feb 2016 9:23 pm

Easy for me.. I'm 40 and I've had a total of 8 or 9 alcoholic drinks in my life... Taste like cough medicine and it gives me a stomach ache. Never understood the appeal. Coffee would be a tougher one....but I would still choose steel.

Dustin Rigsby · Post by **Dustin Rigsby** » 23 Feb 2016 12:59 am

I gave up heavy drinking and drug use 24 years ago because my girlfriend wouldn't put up with it. I loved her and besides that, she had a good job lol ! We're still married and I know I made the right choice !

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 23 Feb 2016 1:36 am

I'm another who had no choice but to give up the booze, so I didn't vote. Pedal steel is easier (or at least less hard) with a clear head, although I've maybe just swapped one addiction for another. The neighbours? Maybe they preferred it when I drank, but they're too kind to say.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 23 Feb 2016 4:50 am

I've never had a problem with alcohol,Haven't had a drink since April 10th 2000,I have been taking a friend to AA meetings lately.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 23 Feb 2016 4:53 am

I didn't vote because one of the choices wasn't "Hmmm... need to think a minute...."

Seriously, it's a no-brainer (tho I'm not sure what that means).

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 23 Feb 2016 6:26 am

I chose alcohol.

Doug Clark · Post by **Doug Clark** » 23 Feb 2016 11:16 am

I gave up drinking almost 23 years ago, and I don't really miss it.
If the $100-grand deal included lessons as well as gear, that would make it a real "no-brainer" for me.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 23 Feb 2016 11:49 am

For some members, a choice between pot and steel guitar would be harder.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Steel Guitar OR Alcohol?

If you had to choose between steel guitars and alcohol for the rest of your life...

Steel Guitar OR Alcohol?

(What's the dilemma again?)

One or the other...