The Steel Guitar Forum

what's next? playing with no pants?

LOL! that's funny!

I've always played in cowboy boots, been wearing them since high school. I play in cowboy boots when playin my Mullen G2 , but just figured out today, I need a pair of shoes when playing my 97 Legrande III. Can't rock my ankle far enough either way (with boots) on A & B pedals playin my Legrande III.



terry

Jazz dance shoes are pretty minimal, very, very thin sole and almost no heel. You can get them in slip ons or lace ups. Next best thing to being barefoot, while still maintaining more of a" black dress shoe" look.

I use moccasins with a rubber sole. I've gotten shocked before, when playing in stocking feet, and it's no fun. So the rubber bottoms are a must for me.

Any kind of moccasin or "driving shoes" is OK as a transition from bare feet. I, as a C6th guy don't have quite the need for twinkie torture as an E9th guy with his A - A+B - B rolling left and right, releasing one thing while staying on another - but I do try to remain adept at multiple pedal things. And playing barefoot or soft-shoed may cramp up your foot something fierce. If you think about it, a harder sole will keep your foot from twisting all around - the foot just travels sideways but flat, push up and down but without all the ankle drama.

I've had many a time where I got all thrilled over some cute pedal combination and stuck on it for more than 15 minutes or so - and my (bare)foot launched a screaming pain campaign that can only be worked out by walking around. A flat sole of the right width and right slippery/tractioniness helps keep your foot always parallel to the floor.

For years I played in cowboy boots. IMHO, the heel of a boot is a pivot for rotating my foot from pedal to pedal. Lately, though (advancing age ,maybe?), I've been playing in Sperry Topsiders, which I wear almost everywhere. For non-pedal, especially in Hawaii, I wear "rubbah slippahs", aka flaps. I ought to try them out on my pedal steel. I find that playing pedal steel barefoot is uncomfortable - my foot bottoms are too tender, maybe.

i guess i'm just stuck in the past. it always seemed really cool to me to see butt-kickin' honky tonk bands with some type of western flavor to their outfits. cowboy boots were just the necessary footwear for the genre and i've enjoyed them for a lifetime.
funny little sissy shoes would embarrass me.
and although i've played in tennies occasionally, i'm not crazy about the aesthetics.
what does that emmons guy know, anyway?

Well, when I wear pants, it's usually Overalls, with Cowboy Boots. Tennis shoes are to flat, but occasionally, I wear'em to play in. But Boots, are preferred over any other footwear. The band I play in, we look more like Bikers, than Cowboys. My wife says, I look like a farmer, and I guess I do, but with a Billy Gibbons beard.

wow, can't believe you play barefoot! I tried, but the pedals hurt my feet! I wear comfy loafers, not cowboy boots...

Dick Wood wrote:If I can play from 1980 until 2006 in socks and then switch to cowboy boots, then anyone can do it. I never thought I'd play in shoes of any kind because I felt I had better feel of what was going on down below but it really isn't hard to switch. I think considering the relatively short time you've been playing, you are probably focusing on the mechanics of what you are doing versus the playing part being second hand where you're not having to think about it.

I'm inclined to agree.

Erv, I thought for a minute we have identical footwear. Then I checked, and found a little difference: the words "Minnetonka Moccasin" are not bass-ackwards on mine!

Cowboy boots for me since the mid 70's. I can play in tennis shoes, but my right ankle and calf start to hurt. So, I just stick to cowboy boots. Sometimes I pass my guitar here in the house and will sit at it with no shoes. Very painful and hard for me to hold down one pedal and rock the one next to it. As far as people that say you can't really "feel" the pedals in hard sole shoes, I disagree. I can hold down my "B" pedal and let of the A pedal in minute increments to where it almost sounds like there a 4 notes played instead of just the 2. That takes being able to "feel" the pedals.

Boat Shoes are my favorite...I need a somewhat solid sole...ball of my foot be too tender.

Chris wrote>

funny little sissy shoes would embarrass me.

I kinda feel the same way about sissy shoes.LOL!
I've always played in Cowboy boots and wear western shirts with bolo tie at our singins. My deal is I don't move my foot from off one pedal to the other. I rock my ankle to get off my B and stay on A and vise versa. I swing my foot over to B&C and back over A&B. For some reason, I can't rock my ankle far enough to left or right when playin my Emmons without accidently stayin on either A or B just enough to hear their noticably sharp, unless I'm wearing "sissy" shoes. I have the A&B pedals about as low as they can go without striping the threads on the pedal rods. I think I have about 3/8" of thread left holding the collars on to the pedal rods. Don't have this problem at all with my G2 playing with boots on.

terry

I play in tennis (aka "sissy") shoes but I kinda like the idea of it being the law to play in cowboy boots. That way everyone, including me, can just man up and play in cowboy boots or else face prosecution!

That's a good one David. I'z just jawing about the sissy shoes, I don't care what steel players wear to play in, whatever is confortable to them.

terry

Bill Duncan wrote:Cowboy boots with a heel work best for me though.

Getting the pedals a little higher off the floor is the key with cowboy boots.

For ergonomic consideration, it's hard to beat the swivel you get from the heel! Just don't wear too pointy of a Chili boot. Your rods will start looking more bow-legged than a(insert blue comment here).

Terry Sneed wrote:That's a good one David. I'z just jawing about the sissy shoes, I don't care what steel players wear to play in, whatever is confortable to them.

terry

Me neither Terry. Just having some fun! Each to their own where footwear is concerned.

I worked a week with Buddy Cage, he was wearing black ballet-shoes for steelin'. Talking about sissy-shoes, he didnt have a problem with that, says a lot about his great personality.
JJ

Austin Stewart plays with socks only (on feet) I should add.

I think Tommy Dodd plays BARE footed??

I normally play in flat (dress) shoes but recently I got a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots and have been trying them out. The look great and I find I can swivel off the heel but I can't get used to walking in them. I've never been a 'boot' person, but for looks sake I'll have to persevere. Paddy Long told me when I first started playing PSG that I should play in boots, but I've avoided them until now. Fortunately, I am sitting down most of the gig so I change to runners to set-up / pack-up my gear and cart it to/from the car park. I was surprised how flexible the boots were!

I have a broken bone in my foot, so I can't wear cowboy boots anymore (after 50 years in them). Boat shoes are good to play in, as are a pair of wingtips I bought years ago for about $25.