switching steels

Dave Biller · From: Texas, USA

i just got myself a nice Emmons p/p that i've wanted for a while. now that i have it i realize i don't want to quit playing my old sho~bud, which is a very special instrument to me. do any of you guys switch around on different steels with different setups, pedal spacing, etc.? i know that Johnny Cox can sit down at any steel guitar with any copedant and sound like a million bucks.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Dave, there's no reason why your new Emmons can't be set up with a copedant similar to that of your Bud. Just send it to a P/P mechanic and tell him what you want.
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J Fletcher · From: London,Ont,Canada

I put the same pedal and knee lever set up on my three steels, though none of them came with my set up. Otherwise it would be too confusing when I switch between them, which I do every six months or so. It's confusing enough as it is...Jerry

James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

OR go ahead and learn different set-ups. Ricky Davis plays anything you throw at him, too, like Johnny Cox. When Ricky finishes a refurb, he likes to take it out and gig with it---a final test before he sends it home. So he's played about every set up out there.

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

David
As you know, I'm a man of many guitars. All are set up the same way, for the basic 8 peds and 6 knees. Where they differ is in the setup of the vertical levers, which I rarely use and are more experimental for me by nature.

One thing that is an issue is the pedal spacing on C6, where I have to bounce my foot position around. It generally takes me a few days to reposition my left leg for quick, accurate pedal work.

What kind of PP did you get, incidentally? Jim L. told me you were seeking one.
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Dave Biller · From: Texas, USA

Herb I bought a '72 off my buddy from Chicago. because i'm such a newby and not too set in my ways, i can get used to having the knee levers on the other side in an afternoon. the tough part is just the feel and response of the pedals and their spacing like you said, Herb. it's a great axe, though and i'm anxious to get it out on a gig. just a different animal altogether.

Steve Waltz · From: USA

Dave,

I've only been playing for a few years and I use two different guitars. The only difference on set up is the E lower. It is LKR on one and RKL on the other. I'm thinking of changing them to the same set up. It's possible to do it but it seems to always take me at least one really imbarasingly bad chord at a club before I remember the difference. There are also differences like white to Black fretboards, different scale lengths and markers. It all adds up to minor yet existent differences that cause me to not play as well as I could. I've been leaving one at home to practice and taking the other out to play and it doesn't seem to be doing me any good. Maybe when I get better these issues won't be a big deal but for know I'm goig to try to stick to one.

Unrealted but... I'm glad that you suggested to Danny Sanots that he do his song on the Cari Lee record. It's my favorite song on that record. I've played your steel part for him a few shows. And your steel tracks were what, six months into playing?

Steve

Brian Henry · Posted 7 Mar 2007 10:59 am

Hi Dave, I have a Carter sd10 and an MCI sd10. Both have identical set ups. I rotate every month and this month it is the MCI's turn Regards, Brian
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Dave Biller · From: Texas, USA

Yes different color fret boards, different scale length, string spacing, that stuff is much trickier to deal with for me than knee lever arrangement. i'm gonna try to devote equal time to both guitars even if it means i have to practice twice as long! HA!
Steve, thank you for the nice words. Cari's cd was alot of fun and the idea for me to play steel on it was kind of an afterthought. i was hesitant because i'd only been playing about 8 or 9 weeks but was somehow able to come up with a part for the song. to tell you the truth, i haven't heard it and i hope i won't be mortified when i do!

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Skip Edwards · From: LA,CA

I swap back & forth between a SuperPro and a p/p, and I don't find it to be a problem, even with having the inside levers reversed between them.
The only thing that throws me from time to time are the fretboards. The Sho-Bud has 24 frets and the Emmons has 26, and that sometimes throws me off when I do harmonics.

Jussi Huhtakangas · From: Helsinki, Finland

Hey Dave, is that Joel's old Emmons you got?? If so, what is he playing now?

Dave Biller · From: Texas, USA

Jussi, yep it is Joel's guitar. (still technically his since i haven't paid him for it yet) he got himself another Emmons. a '70 model and it's black so it must be better, right?

Jussi Huhtakangas · From: Helsinki, Finland

Ha, you got that right!! Smile

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

I like to switch instruments because each one responds differently to the touch. I feel like that makes me pay attention to the tone at the moment.

I used to like having different pulls, and even slightly different tunings, on my several steels. But they're getting more similar as the years go by.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I've always felt that if one has more than one steel, they should be as identical as possible. My two older MSA's are darn close. There are still some subtle differences in the way they feel, but if I were blindfolded I doubt that I could tell which is which on the basis of touch alone.

On the other hand, the Millennium has a very different feel to it. So much so that it took me a while to et used to it.

All 3 guitars have identical copedents.
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Glenn Suchan · From: Austin, Texas

Dave, I hear you on the different guitars. A few years ago, when I was still playing in the Kevin Fowler band, we were doing a private date for Texas Dodge Truck dealers. On the date, Cooder Graw was also playing. The setup was a ballroom. Cooder Graw played a short set and we had (literally) 30 seconds to switch out and start our short set!!! Shocked

Cooder Graw's steel player, Jimmy "URL" Wisenhunt (great picker, by the way) was playing a D10 Mullen. I was playing my S14 Sierra, gearless guitar. I decided that 30 seconds wasn't going to be enough time to switch out and go. So, I asked Jimmy if I could play his guitar. I had never played a D10 up to that time. All the ergonomics (string grips, string spacing, pedal/kneelever locations, etc.) between the two guitars were way different, even though my Sierra pedal/kneelever copedant was very similar to Jimmy's D10. I sounded like 15 cats dukin' it out in a burlap sack. I was wishing our set would end NOW!!! Embarassed

A few years later, I my personal compliment of guitars expanded to the Sierra S14, and a pair of Emmons push-pulls: an S12 universal and a D10. The D10 became my main gigging guitar. However, I made a point to keep the other guitars setup at home and I would practice on all three so I would never have a another "nightmare" situation. It took a few weeks of playing all three to become comfortable with the ergonomics as well as the diferences in pedal/kneelever setups.

So I understand your situation. Like other have said, see about having the Emmons setup like your Sho~Bud (Bobby Bowman is a push-pull mechanic non-pariel). If that is something you are not able to address in the near future, don't discount your ability to adjust to the two different guitars. You might surprise yourself.

Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

Dave Biller · From: Texas, USA

thanks for the input from all. Glenn that's a great story, going from a keyless S14 to a standard D10 must've been a nightmare! you are a brave man.
i actually went ahead and took the Emmons out on it's first gig last night and it wasn't too bad. i didn't play much worse than usual!! i think i can get used to both guitars, i just need to spend a little more time on it. i've only had it a few days.

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