The Steel Guitar Forum

I play in sneakers or socks; depending on my mood. Over the years, recurring gout has all but destroyed the joints in my toes & playing in socks is easier. But lately I have been doing the sneaker thing.

Yea; make sure the socks are black, or you'll look like a doofus.

Cowboy boots suck. For everything.

Of course, I'm too tall to wear them and still fit under my steels anyway. But I don't see how anybody could play in them!

I used to wear moccasins ( think Perlowin
does as well) but have changed - not I ONLY wear Sanuk shoe/sandals (they look like lightweight shoes, but are really sandals. Sort of. Most comfortable things ever made and perfect for playing pedal steel)!

They're sold online, at REI and surf shops. But no kidding, they are really comfortable and work great for steel - you get just enough "feedback" from the pedals without losing control over them. Especially good for slow, drifting moves where stiff footwear screws you up because of lack of feel.

I used to play only barefoot or in socks. Played in boots for a while but never got very comfortable with them. Now I prefer an old worn out pair of dress shoes with a rubber soul, but I can pretty much play in anything I wear around the house. It's good to get used to that: some gigs won't look right with stocking or bare feet, and you may forget to put on or bring your favorite footwear when heading off to a gig--as I did two weeks ago(!) Played the gig in my sandals.

I've been playing in moccasins since 83'. Carry them in my grip and always "air" them out after a gig.

Geo

I believe Susan Acorn plays in sock feet as well. For myself I feel it connects me to my instrument better.

A fellow once moved into my slot as I moved on to another
group.

He played barefoot. Personally, I found it particularly offensive to sit there with a pair of size 12's staring me in the face. It immediately brought back my memories of
a high school gym locker room, the unpleasant oder of an old unwashed pair of sweat socks, toe jam, toe nail fungus, etc.

It used to be, in days of olde, that musicians played on stage sober and not drugged up, songs the public wanted to hear, as well as creating the illusion of success and stardom.

Oh, how I long for those days. It used to be a joy to visit an establishment with good music, lots of parking,
nice interior appointments and super friendly service staff, and mostly, a band that appeared successful and possibly just in town from Nashville.

A group of barefoot 'locals' giving the appearance of having just crawled out from beneath a broken down pickup truck while being totally bored with the concept of making music for a couple of hours.

What's wrong with giving off a 'professional appearance' for a few hours. I think it would be worth while to find a pair of suitable footwear in order to provide that illusion for the benefit of their public who after all
paid at the door or whatever.

I play in sandals or Skechers shoes at shows. At home, I use sandals sometimes, or bedroom shoes, but I don't play barefoot because to me, it's hard to press the pedals barefoot.

Ray. .. you nailed all kinds of realities with that post... but... but..

not giving up my socks unless I can find me a pair of designer mocs... or boots with the soles removed. Haha.

Barefoot on stage def takes it over the line in most pro situations... its like the drummer that shows up to the black tie buffet line in army fatigues and boots with his cap backwards on his head. True story.

This said...l have seen a steel player play an informal summer party gig outdoors in sandals and he fit right into the ambience. Context is everything. Always outdress the average audience member. If their wearing plastic flipflops...wear leather sandals.

I'm a new guy, this is my first post. I don't know what I'm doing either.

I tried barefoot or with socks on and it hurt my feet. With shoes I couldn't feel the pedals very well. I was thinking the thin soled shoes like race car drivers wear would work good, but too expensive to try. Similarly, the kart racers wear wrestling shoes to get a good feel of the pedals of their go-karts. I've seen drummers wear these too.

I didn't have any of these so started looking around the house to see what would work. I found a pair of aqua socks. They are like form fitting slippers with a rubber sole. One of them works good on my left foot. It is thin enough to feel the pedals and doesn't hurt my foot. With the rubber sole it doesn't slide off the pedals. I need all the help I can get. They are all black too, so I could wear it over a black sock and not be too self conscious about it. That is if I ever advance far enough to play out in public. They are also cheap, you can get a pair for $10-$20.

Anyway, might sound weird but works for me.

My old MSA has very wide smooth pedals and is super easy on my feet, my GFI bascially plays itself with very easy pedal action, hardly anything pushing back at me. That being said if I had a guitar with hard pulls and pointy pedals I would be forced to go to some sort of hard sole shoe

What's wrong with giving off a 'professional appearance' for a few hours. I think it would be worth while to find a pair of suitable footwear in order to provide that illusion for the benefit of their public who after all
paid at the door or whatever.

I've NEVER had a single person comment negatively about what I wear on stage (which could be Sanuks and jeans, shorts, a t-shirt, a Henley long sleeve, a denim shirt, or whatever.

Most of the places I play nobody can see my feet anyway! And they darned sure don't care. They are there for the music or social; atmosphere, not the band's haberdashery.

"Professional appearance"? Maybe if you're playing wedding gigs in a tux. Otherwise every band I've played in for the last 50 years has worn casual whatever unless we had a specific reason for dressing a certain way (a 50's-themed gig or something).

And I damned well would not wear a specific pair of shoes if they compromised my playing. That makes absolutely NO sense.

I sometimes need hard soled shoes. I am reasonably tall and - especially on steels where the left knee levers are closer together or the pedals are wider than I am used to (or if there is less space between them) - I find I have limited wriggle room to hit the A or B pedal alone without fouling a lever with the upper part of my leg, so I rely on the side of my foot to do that. I find using the side of my foot much easier with hard soled shoes

I've been playing with pointy toed cowboy boots ever since I first started playing and I can hardly use anything else. (It's what you get used to) I always buy bots that have a very soft upper, so it flexes easily. I have occasionally played with tennis shoes on, and since they are a bit wider I have trouble with the pedals, So,comes down to what suits you.

Tom Campbell wrote:How comfortable is it to push down on two pedals (A&B) at the same time in your bare feet or just socks?

I've tried it and it just tore up the sole of my foot. Must depend on the size (width) of one's foot.

Tom,
You must have stiff pedal action. I play my pre RP Mullen in socks or barefoot all the time. It has the smoothest, easiest pedal action I've ever seen. I can half pedal my A pedal and be 100% accurate using only my big toe. I've seen Mickey Adams play his Mullen on several YouTube videos in his socks. I believe being able to comfortably do this depends not on size of your foot but on the ease of your pedal action.

You mean this one (among others)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl3x19Plsqg

That's it!

I had Mullen round the edges of the pedals a bit when they built my G2 and I play it barefoot with no discomfort.

I have a MSA Millennium that is not a barefoot guitar due to much greater pedal resistance and I need to wear moccasins with it.

These moccasins are perfect for pedal steel and will form to your foot after you wear them for a while:
http://www.wassookeagmoccasins.com/mens ... -moccasin/

I've been thinking on this subject for a while now. I was watching a Youtube video about the church organ in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the organist was wearing shoes with a soft suede sole, and a high cuban heel for the floor pedals. So I looked up Organist shoes on the web, and sure enough there they were, £60's worth (about $85) of organist shoes.
Now, me and the wife have been ballroom dancing for about five years, and latin american dancing shoes are suede soled with a cuban heel. and there a shade cheeper if you buy them on flea bay.
Might give those a try.
for the moment, I wear soft soled canvas deck shoes.

Spend some time practicing at home with a pair of thick soled heavy-duty work boots. You may find that you’ll soon be able to play with just about anything on your feet. That technique made a believer out of me.

My feet are way to tender to play in sock feet. I also hate cowboy boots, not only to play steel with but just to wear, very uncomfortable to me and I've tried almost every brand. I use the loafer style Lariat shoe boots I call them. They look like boots but don't have the top. Very comfortable all day wearing too.

For my first 10 years, I wore bowling shoes and they were great. Then in the mid-80s, I bought some square-toed cowboy boots. Don't know what kind of leather they're made off, but it's very soft. The tops just flop over when you take them off. Most comfortable footwear I've ever had! Re-soled 5 times already!

Alan Simon wrote: Let me start this conversation off. WEAR SHOES!! Now, what else you got?

People don't care much about what you do in your house. But if you play out, puleeeeze wear something on your feet; we're already branded as hillbillies or weirdos by a segment of the population.

I watched a video only yesterday, and the pedal steeler was the only one in the band wearing shorts. (The rest of the band wore pants/Levis'.) Needless to say, he wasn't a pretty sight.

I don't know how pedal steelers can bitch about a singer wearing holey jeans when they, themselves perform in public looking even lazier and sloppier.

Flame suit on!

I love cowboy boots to pick in. The particular pair I wear to play in, are old ostrich Tony Llamas that I bought in1998, at the Justin Texas boot outlet. They've been resoled once, re-heeled twice and the tops are cracked, but the comfort is worth their shabby look. And going to a restroom barefoot, or sock feet in the places I play in, is out of the question. Unless of course, you don't mind wet feet.

Did I say, pointy toed cowboy boots.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jvdpzjmsocr0l ... 9.flv?dl=0