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Topic: Does anyone take their steel out already set up? |
Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 8:50 am |
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I would also recommend to all you lazy-ass steel players... and I consider myself a charter member of the club, if not one of the officers  ... to get a double case set for your guitar. Fender had the right idea.
I have a set like that for my Bigsby, one for my Fessenden, and I'm getting two sets for my two road Emmonses.
One thing about transporting the steel upside down is that when you put it in the case in the back of the SUV/van/whatever, you have to lift the guitar past the existing rack/legs slot. With the dual case system, the guitar slot is easily accessed and another possible danger spot... placing the guitar incorrectly and possibly damaging a tuner... is avoided.
Hey, I've put some thought into this stuff.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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Farris Currie
From:
Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 9:03 am
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| BOYS,i usually have to buy used steels,something some one else has already put thru the wringer!! WELL,i'm taking NAMES of some not to buy!!!haha,,,MABE BOBBE want say it belong to so and so no more either!!! farris |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 9:32 am
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| I know several guys that haul their guitar around without a case and for the most part their guitars look like they do. Maybe I'm a geek but I never ever do that - I always pack up. To me it's worth the extra little bit of effort to keep your ax pristine and plus - it keeps you in touch with the mechanical condition of your undercarrige,knee lever adjustments,loose parts that need tightening from time to time,etc. -MJ- |
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Farris Currie
From:
Ona, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 9:39 am
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| YEA,and what about the people who come up and look!!wow,whats all that??then you get to show them how it works,and try to explain it to them!!!!man thats half the show!!!! |
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Dave Van Allen
From:
Souderton, PA , US , Earth
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 10:58 am
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| Quote: |
| all you lazy-ass steel players... and I consider myself a charter member of the club, if not one of the officers |
I am about the laziest sack of, er, uh, let's say 'bones' on the planet, yet I, without fail, pack up my guitars for transportation. They are just too valuable to me to risk damaging them. For a long time lack of discretionary income dictated this level of equipment care. Now it's force of habit.
I'm a careful driver- it's those other bohunks out there... I worry about some jerk rear ending my van with my stuff in the back IN CASES- I can't imagine transporting NAKED equipment...
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 12:11 pm
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| What's a "gig?" |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 12:24 pm
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......(quote) "I know several guys that haul their guitar around without a case and for the most part their guitars look like they do."......
My guitar should be so fortunate! 
www.genejones.com |
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Roger Edgington
From:
San Antonio, Texas USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 2:01 pm
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| I always pack my Zum but we often play out of town and ride 3 or 4 of us in a van or SUV or our buss if it's running. On the rare occasion I take the pp Emmons,(my practice guitar)I take it all set up. I have a case for it somewhere but I don't like setting it up. |
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James Cann
From:
Phoenix, AZ
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 3:52 pm
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For the hell of it, take a look at a picture on the back of John Hughey's On and Off Stage Album.
You'll see John's famous shy grin as he sits on the tailgate of his Chevy half-ton(?), his guitar ready to go.
Now, did he just get through setting it up or not?
James
Sho-Bud LDG (one which will always be packed!) |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 5:15 pm
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| Hey Herb:I'm so lazy I don't even take my steel out of the case anymore. |
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Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 5:25 pm
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| Tommy - you might want to consider Bob Dell wheeled cases. I have one for my Zum and it's a beauty, very robust but not heavy, and it has good quality wheels and hardware. Perfect for me cos I travel and fly a lot, but it's great for local gigs as well. |
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Logan Wilkerson
From:
Fairview, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 9:13 pm
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i always put mine in the case. :)
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sho-bud proII custom
session 400 b/w series
american deluxe tele
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Gregg Thacker
From:
Pasadena, Texas, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 10:36 pm
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I learned from the get -go to disassemble my guitar and put it in the case for transportation. I can't fathem (sp) anyone NOT doing that (either Pro or Amateur Player). I would think IMHO that not dissambleing your guitar for transportation is just an accident looking for a place to happen and just another bad habit that you will need to break. As expensive as Steels are I personally would not want to take any chances. I would think that common sence would also have a roll to play in your decision. Loading Amps is another story. Not much of a chance that they would get damaged if you lay them on their back.
I also tend to be on the lazy side in the fact that if I can do a particular task an easier way I'll do it...But when it comes to learnig to play the Steel the RIGHT way and transproting my Steel...NEVER 
Not nit-picken'...Just my thinking on the matter.
Gregg
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If it don't have a Steel, it ain't real!
[This message was edited by Gregg Thacker on 12 October 2004 at 11:38 PM.] [This message was edited by Gregg Thacker on 12 October 2004 at 11:42 PM.] |
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Russ Wever
From:
Kansas City
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Posted 12 Oct 2004 11:46 pm
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I had always thought it to be a 'Mortal Sin of Steeldom' to haul a steel not properly in it's case - until I saw Buddy Emmons arrive in his van near St Louis for a Darrel McCall gig with his steel set up in the rear. I then thought 'that's good enough for me', and have been hauling it on occasion uncased, but secured, in my minivan.
~Russ |
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Jim Hinton
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 13 Oct 2004 4:56 am
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I'm sure Buddy gets his guitars and amps for free though!
It only takes a couple of minutes to tear the guitar down and set it up, and for a couple of thousand bucks, I think I'll keep putting it in the case.
If you saw what a freakin' mess my case is you'd agree that you don't want to subject your guitar to that kind of abuse! |
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Jim Smith
From:
Midlothian, TX, USA
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Posted 13 Oct 2004 7:13 am
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| Quote: |
| I'm sure Buddy gets his guitars and amps for free though! |
No he doesn't, and has stated so on this Forum. 
I vote for the Rock-N-Roller cart, partly because I'm using a multi-part rack system. The guitar goes in and out of the case while it is laying on the cart. The Stereo Steel speakers and two rack cases go on top of that, and my seat on top of those. One trip in and out, and easy on the back. So far I've been luck and only had one gig where stairs were the only way in. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 13 Oct 2004 8:09 am
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| I'm actually shocked by this thread, I can't believe that so many of you who really love your guitars are taking such chances. I'm guessing maybe you don't play too many shows where you have to hike a half mile through muddy fields from one festival stage to another, or through three greasy-floored kitchens and up two service elevators to a Hotel Ballroom. The other night the bass player in a band I was playing with was watching me assemble my steel and asked something about it being a pain to put together. I thought about it and said, no, really it's not that bad. And as usual I had all my gear up and tuned before the gutarist was finished plugging in his pedals. What is the logic for this tragedy waiting to happen? Are they just too heavy in the case? Or is that two minutes of assembly time needed somewhere else? Enlighten me, please. |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 13 Oct 2004 8:38 am
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Mark
The vast majority of the time, my guitar is dismantled and rides in the case the conventional way, especially when on bus trips or when stagehands are loading and unloading the bus. But if I've worked on the guitar in the garage in the afternoon, taking it to my 6pm gig, and then to a 9pm gig, I'll usually just place it in the case upside down with the rear legs off. It's not an everyday occurance with me.
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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
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Mike Bowles
From:
Princeton, West Virginia, USA
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Posted 23 Oct 2004 5:12 pm
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| I vow never to haul my black sd 10 mullen without first breaking her down and putting her in the case I saw a friend of mine get hit in the back of the head with an amp once |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 23 Oct 2004 5:34 pm
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| I simply put a vinyl cover over the body and lay the steel fully assembled, on it's side in the trunk of my car. (I made sure it would fit before I bought the car.) I've never had a problem as a result. |
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Pat Kelly
From:
Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 24 Oct 2004 3:17 am
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| I appreciate all the responses but: My baby (ZB D11) ain't goin' nowhere further than ten feet from my bed if it is not in the case. And the case must be half of the weight! Last time I took it out , it nearly killed me carrying back in the house! |
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Jerry Warner
From:
Charleston, West Virginia, USA
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Posted 24 Oct 2004 7:28 pm
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| I BET YOU GET TIRED AFTER TEARING THAT DAMN THING DOWN OVER THE YEARS YOU BEGAIN WHAT THE HELL AND STARTED THROWING THAT THING IN THE VAN OR WHAT AND WHO IN THE HELL AFTER YOU GET THRU PLAYING FOUR HR'S WANT TO PUT THAT THING IN A CASE AND GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE, I BET THERE ARE SOME THAT DO THAT. |
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Duane Becker
From:
Elk,Wa 99009 USA
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Posted 25 Oct 2004 8:09 pm
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| 99% of the time I travel with my steel put away in the case. I set it up and then tear it down after every gig. I've be playing full time since 1968. If I'm playing a in a house band, then I leave the steel. I have several steels and I will leave one in a house band that I could replace faily easy. My 68 Emmons push pull is never left under any condition, and that particular pp, aways rides put away in case next to me on the passenger seat. My wife has to sit somewhere else. But there are occasions when I dont travel far, maybe a gig that is close to the house, that I will set the case open in my vehicle, and set the steel upside down in the case, leaving it set up, but in the case. I would never, never take an assembled pedal steel in a vehicle without turning it upside down in the case. Duane Becker |
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Ken Thompson
From:
Great Falls, Montana, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2004 6:10 am
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| I always tear it down. We travel in a bus to the gigs and I tear it down even to travel to practice a few miles away. I can't imagine the condition it would be in if I didn't as absent minded as I can be some times. It would probably get left on the bandstand. |
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Wally Davis
From:
Belleville, Illinois, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2004 6:52 am
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| There was a guitar that was called a Ren-Kiser(I think that is the correct spelling) that I saw at the convention in St. Louis many years ago that was built already assembled. The legs were permanently fixed to the guitar as was the pedal rod. The rear legs were adjustible as we are accustomed to. The case was actually made for the guitar to be placed in an upright position with handles on the sides and top and with wheels on the bottom for transport. It also was made in the shape of the guitar with it being somewhat wider at the bottom which made it very stable when in the case. I thought it was an interesting concept. |
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