The Steel Guitar Forum

About 30 years ago I was playing a Bar in East Toledo, Ohio. One Saturday night, someone got shot and the next Saturday someone got stabbed. Their was chicken wire in front of the stage. I quit playing Bars back in 1999. I started playing private clubs after that. For the last few years I have been playing steady county fairs and festivals. 95% outside gigs. We play vintage country now along with some Gospel concerts in the off months.

Gonna be hard to explain the need for the beater to my future ex-wife.

I’ve convinced her I spent very little money on all the other gear.....

Tell her a “beater guitar” is steelspeak for “better guitar”.

Pass on the “future ex-wife” and buy some nice player grade instruments...you’ll come out way ahead. ;>)
J

And never put a 6 string guitar in a stand, ever. Even in Buckinham Palace they get knocked over. Lay them on the floor(where they can’t fall), or put them back in their case.
J

Get a Maverick!
Rock till you drop!

we can't protect everything 100% of the time from every possible scenario. I've seen many Steels with BAR dings BETWEEN THE NECKS. I'm not laying my 6 string guitars on the floor or putting them in cases between songs, that's nuts. Instruments left in or hidden in cases never get played.

My kids have bumped into my Instruments at home, should I get rid of the kids ?

I can count on ONE hand the # of times things happened to my instruments on gigs outside of the "normal box" , that's over 40 years !

Use caution, be aware, be diligent. Be alert.

Cover that beautiful Steel between sets.

BUT... Play music, thats why we supposedly acquired them isn't it ? While of course they can look like FINE Furniture, they are not, they are musical Instruments.

One of my favorite Telecasters, a 1986 MIJ Double Bound 62RI , I bought it about 5 years ago, literally MINT. It has probably left the house 6 times in 5 years, it lives on the wall with other instruments. Rarely does it come down off the wall. It now has a small ding on the front of the body by the bridge assy, and how and when did that happen ? And no, I'm not storing it in a case where I can't see it and admire it. All of the cases are stored, no instruments inside any of them.

I'm not a collector, I'm an owner . All of my instruments are out . I look at them each day, each one brings back memories , even the dings and scars bring back memories.

The worst Steel guitar damage I ever had was from negligent packing , a guy sent me a MINT SB Super Pro, he stuck a piece of cardboard between the front apron and the case front, it caused a big blemish in the clearcoat right smack dab in the middle of the front. It took multiple light repeated buffings to blend the blemish into the front apron and even at that, it was still ever so slightly visible.

we can't protect everything 100% of the time from every possible scenario.

Well wait , maybe we can, put it in a case and leave it there and pray we don't live in a flood zone.

I rarely bring my JCH out to gigs for this reason. my Emmons is worth just as much but the JCH is a beautiful sunburst lacquer while the Emmons is black mica.

a beater is a nice idea but I'd want to find one with 10 pedals and extra knees which is easier said than done.

I also don't take my Evans or Webb amps out nearly as much as the Fender Steel King, same reason.

Steve Spitz wrote:Gonna be hard to explain the need for the beater to my future ex-wife.

I’ve convinced her I spent very little money on all the other gear.....

Tell her a "beater" is better than "beat her"...opps, BAD joke

Garry Vanderlinde wrote:There's nothing like the uneasy feeling of bringing $5000 worth of instruments to a $50 gig.

Someone once told me; musicians are the only trade that will bring 10k of tools for a $100 job

I wouldn't want to own an instrument I couldn't gig with unless I had one that I could use as well.

If I felt my only guitar was "too good" to gig with, I'd trade it for one that wasn't.

I'm lucky enough to own a couple of vintage guitars (a '56 Tele and a '56 Gretsch 6120) that I wouldn't take to many of the gigs I do (though I do use them both at selected venues that I know) but I have other instruments I'm not so precious about. If I could only own 1 or 2 guitars, it wouldn't be those two.

We all love or fancy gourmet instruments, but there are a lot of perfectly usable less expensive steels and guitars available. Squire and brands like Jay Terser make inexpensive gig-worthy 6 string guitars, and we have the Zum Stage One and Encore. the Justice Pro-Lite the Mullen Discovery, and several others. There are also some good used steels in the classifieds.

Having less expensive gear for bar gigs is pretty reasonable. Besides, nobody in the audience can tell the difference anyway.

I agree with Mike, and I have a Stage One and a BMI that sounds great and works those gigs. We dress according to the gig, that includes equipment. Why drag my precious Mullen D10 or MSA to a dump where I don't use the back neck? Likewise with my pile of amps and 6 string guitars. Of course we want to sound good. Never had a problem there, it's just good decisions to fit the job. I never rolled my monster Snap On tool box to a job that needed only a few tools. But I do understand everyone isn't in a financial position to have extra gear for problem area, so I can sympathize with those not yet there. YMMV.

Garry Vanderlinde wrote:There's nothing like the uneasy feeling of bringing $5000 worth of instruments to a $50 gig.

And going to that $50 gig with that same $5000 worth of instruments in a $1500 truck. Cross your fingers and turn the key.

Mitch

Mike Perlowin wrote:nobody in the audience can tell the difference anyway.

...or the band

Comparing mica to laquer I had never considered the durability angle. I think I'll stick with mica so long as I'm playing out. Good post.

I only have one steel, but guitars are a different story.
. I use them all.

If you work in the field, wear your muck boots. White collar jobs in music are in the Manager’s office. I get a brand new guitar...I take it and throw it down a flight of stairs first thing. A short flight. In the case. Not really,
I use my instruments. At least half the dents and dings I put on myself. That doesn’t mean I don’t love them or they don’t love me. I take reasonable care but am not obsessive.
That idea about the Mica MSA is a good one if it bothers you to take the guitars into battle that really do the job for you sonically or mechanically.

Here's my beater.



Well, I fixed it up a bit.



Can't beat those old Sho-Buds for durability and reliability, and they're easy to work on. And they don't cost you $4 or $5K. The dings only add to the charm. I've got 5 of them, well six including the project that's in pieces still. This one cost me $600 plus some parts and elbow grease, maybe $1200 total. Plenty of good music still to be played on it. It's my go to. I do have to admit that I only bring out the '75 LDG for certain gigs. [/img]

I still have my 34 year old MCI Rangexpander welded frame D10 which is fairly solid !! I take that guitar out if the gig is in a fairly suspect place - audience wise hehe! This guitar has already played a ton of dodgy gigs when it was the only guitar I had for years, and still gets the call to play this type of gig (fortunately not too many of those these days)....

Certainly wouldn't take one of my Zum's to anywhere where there is any likelihood of flying bodies, or a non-existent stage.

I also changed to a headset Mic years ago after copping a mouthful of microphone when someone crashed into the stand whilst dancing !

The things we put up with to make a dollar hehe !!!

Looks like you're in the market for a beater. I got a used GFI to use as a beater, and I liked the tone and response so well, its become my main guitar. At this point I have two GFI guitars of the exact same color and model; a used one and a new one; The used one goes to the bars and the new one stays at home in the practice room; (And sometimes the danger is more from band mates than bar patrons.) If anything does happen to the guitar, GFI is still in business and I can get things repaired or replaced. I do have a very nice Derby that I really dreaded taking out and exposing to dangers of getting stolen or banged around, with Derby no longer in production. I love the GFI, but part of its job is being replace-able in case of an accident or theft.

Flying bodies? Heavily intoxicated barfing patrons? Sounds like a rock show! I've been playing in a heavier rock band for the last 15 years and deal with this all the time. Dodging flying bodies, mics and flying beer from moshing and what not. I have a nice 6 string Les Paul standard I have had all over the country and world. I have had to pull stickers off it that were slapped on during a set from bar patrons and clean it after every gig do to beer and blood from patrons and my band mates. Playing pedal steel is obviously stationary so dodging bodies is kind of out of the question. I did not anticipate having to deal with this during a honky tonk gig....hopefully the stage is big enough!

On a side note. How is flying with a pedal steel? Do they let you gate check the instrument? I have heard of horror stories with gear and I have had guitar cases damaged during touring abroad...

Jim Pitman wrote:Comparing mica to laquer I had never considered the durability angle. I think I'll stick with mica so long as I'm playing out.

It just so happens that my pretty maple Williams stays at home while my Excel goes out. This is for musical and ergonomic reasons, but I'm glad of it just the same.

Stun Gun!

Brian Fox wrote: On a side note. How is flying with a pedal steel? Do they let you gate check the instrument? I have heard of horror stories with gear and I have had guitar cases damaged during touring abroad...

The short answer is it's a nightmare. Weight is a real issue so can be expensive. It takes planning. There are several threads on the subject so try doing a search.