The Steel Guitar Forum

And these guys!

Perhaps steel players on a united front, should be the first to step up to the plate, raising the bar and leveling the playing field....
tossing aside the ripped-up and soiled blue jeans....

for a nice white tux. By setting standards like that, it would automatically DEMAND more respect for our craft from the audience. Or, does that sound like 'uniforms' that so many, this day and age resent.

The old addage: You don't get a second chance to make a good first impression!

I'm fifty, fat and ugly, I stopped worrying about showmanship a long time ago..

What I liked so much about standing up on these latest gigs was being able to move around and 'get along' with the rest of the band like I'm used to when I play guitar, and not just look into their kneecaps.

It helps creating a relaxed and comfortable 'vibe' on stage, and the audience notices that and helps them relax and get comfortable too.
It's not about headbanging or stagediving, it's about enjoying a sense of freedom that I never had when I was locked into one position.

So I quite enjoyed it, and to my big surprise I didn't feel I lost control over my playing, I could do pretty much anything I used to do when sitting down (which may say more about my playing, but that's another matter... )

Ray, I was going to suggest a tux like the one you're wearing in your pic, but I'm guessing your playing far outshines your sartorial style!

Ray Montee wrote:for a nice white tux. !

I hear ya Ray, I ain't got no white tux. I ain't got no tux. I don't think you can even buy them in Tennessee. Maybe I throw my over-alls in the washer with clorine bleach??

Ok let's throw another thing into the mix...
Sometimes I switch over to Telecaster, and I always sing lead or harmony, so the mic stand needs to be in place, or easily adjustable.

Sometimes I even leave the guitar around my neck, and switch to the steel during the same song.

So the high keyboard stand works best in this instance.

Any of you have soloutions for this situation?

Dom

We have an alternate solution --

Our specialized lap steel is custom designed for Sit Down Playing while in a Standing Position.
This way, one can make executive decisions as to which style of outfit to go with.

It set up for 3 legs that extend to full standing height.





MR.Boards

I think I might need a little more clearance at the 16rh fret.

And does that come with a lid, I mean cover? You know, I mean in case small children or dogs are around.

We were discussing standing or sitting... but squatting? If you think that guitar has a crappy tone, urine for a surprise!

3 points to Doug

Well, I gotta go with Mr. Montee's first post on this one. If you really want to "compete" with the guitar players re: showmanship, you've got to start working on your facial expressions. This is a gift of the TV era to guitar players everywhere - the more you look like you're trying to squeeze out a 12-pound crap - the better the player you are. And it helps if you can dance while you're doing it.



(Hey Joe - it's not that hard - really!)

Steel players need to put in the "mirror time" and develop more convincing expressions of agony, ecstasy, sex and death, that's all. You can play to tapes on stage and we can hire some flunky to record the studio parts but if you can't fellate your own eyebrows, you're nowheres, Pops.

There is a vast difference between connecting with the audience by appreciating them enough to appear alive and the extreemes of lighting your guitar on fire and setting off explosives.

We are after all supposed to be entertaining them. And I think a smile and friendly interaction is very real and part of a good performance.

In a band situation, this is usually the lead singer/frontman's job, and the steel player can hunch down in the corner and look at his fret markers, never making eye contact with the folks.

But when you are the solo act, I don't think the same posture works well... let the tip jar be the judge!
Dom

I usually play dobro standing, but I feel just a little bit is lost in doing that. I never stand in recording sessions however because I play better sitting. When playing my D-8 Stringmaster, I sit due to the fact that I use a vol. pedal. I never got comfortable with a vol. pedal while standing. Maybe I should try a Goodrich low profile pedal.

When you are sitting on a stage with lights, with your right foot on the volume
and your left foot on pedals one and two, the audience is looking right into your crotch.

...now, Sharon Stone I wouldn't mind at all.

..another reason why not too many Scotsmen play steel.

I never minded "sitting" while the front row was performing, because it meant that I could concentrate on my playing, which was the only reason I was doing music anyway. I just wanted to make a living playing steel and had no allusions about being the "star" at the mic.

The only downside of sitting for me was that I was the one who every drunk in the audience always approached to make a request (because I was the only one on the stage who wasn't doing anything ), usually when I was in the middle of one of my "beautiful" solos! I always compensated by sitting as far back on the stage as the band leader would let me.

Gene Jones wrote: I just wanted to make a living playing steel...

I hear ya Gene......but ya can't have it both ways....

On a more serious view point, I am 100% for Standing with a Lap Console on Legs as a Solo Act.

It does command an audience more.

In my case there is the Aging Gravity Effect -- so the Health issue comes into the thinking.

The Foot Volume brings in another consideration: if you must have one , then standing on one foot with the other on a volume box is uncomfortble and typically akward.

My suggestion is to learn to play with out a foot volume entirely, letting the hands do the dynamic range.

This is a fun and friendly Thread , let's keep it going further.

MR.Boards

When I play my Stringmaster, I always play it standing up. A console steel on legs just doesn't look right to me, lowered to a sitting position, for some reason.
Most of my non-pedal playing is Hawaiian these days, and for that, I don't really need a volume pedal. For a single-neck lap steel without legs, playing seated seems to make sense, so I don't feel the need to use a stand for that.

I always play steel guitars seated. If I do double-duty (i.e. steel AND 6-string) I do them both seated. From an audience standpoint, I find very little difference between the two positions. After all, that's why stages are higher than the dance floor!

Let us all remember the horror that was keyboardists in the 80's strapping on their synths to "rock out" like guitar players!

Dom Franco wrote:Sometimes I even leave the guitar around my neck, and switch to the steel during the same song.

So the high keyboard stand works best in this instance.

Any of you have soloutions for this situation?

Dom

That IS the solution, as far as I can tell. I'm starting with a band this month, and I'll be switching between lead and nonpedal. When I'm only playing steel at a gig, I sit. But for these upcoming gigs, I'll be raising up the legs on the steel so I stand and play, possibly with my strat still around my neck.

My theory is that if you play standing up, you wont have the same control as when seated.....but you work a little harder to make everything sound good!
The reward is that when you then later sit down at studiosessions etc....You will have even better accuracy.
A live gig is very different from studio work as we all know, and in my eyes it looks better for the audience, and feels better for me to play standing up. But I AM more accurate when seated

I play Dobro along with six string electric while seated on a medium height bar stool and always to the front of the stage. I'm lucky enough to have found a metal stand for my Dobro also. Sometimes I throw away the barstool and play standing up but still use the stand. I don't think I could ever go back to a strap anymore. I also have an old walker that I use for my lap steel(s) the same way....JH in Va.

Most of the time I sit behind a pedal steel as far up front as I can be. On gigs where i use the T8 I always stand up. I can play it better sitting,but I can have more fun and sell it better standing. The biggest problem for me is that darn volume pedal. I do better when I just set it and get off of it for a ride unless it's something i just have to have it on.