Ken
You said you'd had a number of women who thought the steel was sexy !!! steady on old boy,,,, don't let too much out the bag. Our partners might think we've kept ourselves chaste and pure......well I've been chased a few times.....but I've always managed to outrun the husbands.....oops...damn, anyone know a safe house ?
Barry
The reason my Steels do not look more cool is that I do not have the cash nor the grapic-arts talent to do what it would take to improve the cosmetics. Some of us are challenged with playing the instrument in the manner which we aspire to.
It is a lot easier to obtain the visual asthetic of Alice Cooper than it is to play like Julian Tharpe. My 70 year old Console Grande is better looking and cooler looking now than I ever have been or will be.
I must say that I've taken my Emmons D-10 LeGrande 111 into some fairly alien territory - that is to say, places where the other musicians have often never seen one close up, like orchestra pits, for example.
Their reaction has usually been pretty positive - they still tend to type-cast the instrument, but they usually express great interest in its workings, inner functions, and its appearance.
I think my guitar DOES look pretty cool!
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10
(8+9: 'Day' pedals) Williams SD-12 (D13th: 8+6), Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and several old Martins.
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Hey, JH - a tantalising view of the MusicMan amp behind the steel-seat! Which one is it? Why don't you create a little space in that music room and send it down here for some sunshine?
Roger Rettig - Emmons D10
(8+9: 'Day' pedals) Williams SD-12 (D13th: 8+6), Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and several old Martins.
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I think my Millennium looks very cool. I saw Lonnie Bennet's with the same colors and decided I wanted one just like it. (You can see Lonnie's at the MSA web site.)
I think I understand what the original poster was talking about. Although I also think the steel guitar is the best looking musical instrument in the history of the world, it just doesn't get noticed.
It doesn't get noticed because the player is sitting down, like a piano player. It's always the fellows standing up that get all the attention. If a person in the audience is tuned-in on that great steel sound, he'll be looking to see where it's coming from. Otherwise, I think people just think those stand-up guitar players are making all that great music.
Unless the steel player is out front, he's just not very noticable, except to other steel players. That's unfortunate, but will probably hold true until someone invents a lap-top type steel guitar that can be played standing up. So just sit down and shut-up already.
Are you kidding? Pedal steels are w-a-y cool looking. It's what's in the driver's seat that is hurting. But hey, Buddy was cool, with that goatee and dressed to the nines.
Hey, don't forget his Derby! You're right, though, Tony, the guitar needs no improvement, only a driver who complements the picture.
It's all about attitude. Someone posted some time ago about being stopped in his high-end car (can't remember the make) and asked by the patrolman if he'd been drinking. His response:
The comments about Buddy Emmons hat, goatee and attire make a good point. Add in some of Joe Wright's showmanship, play well, and people will notice you, and the instrument.
When I started kicking Fender Pedal Bass in the early '70's, I put two words on the top of it, "Look Up." Soon I realized the keys weren't going to move when I wasn't looking, and could maintain eye contact with the audience.
The reason Buddy and Joe, and some others as well, are so cool is that they are so comfortable with themselves that people can see that they are having a ball. Confidence + joy = cool.
Personally, I'd love to have a steel with a color-changing glitter mica, like on cool old drum sets. Make a statement!
E9 INSTRUCTION If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
I think that most keyboards look much worse<sup>*</sup> than any pedal steel from the audience side. Tasteless utilitarian stands holding ugly black or silver boxes with big company names like Roland or YAMAHA painted on them and wires spilling out.
YUCK!
<sup>*</sup>Hammond B3 being the exception, of course.
I'd like to get an LCD panel scaled to fit the front of my steel. Then I can sell broadcast ads to steel manufacturers, Bobby Seymour, outcall masseuses and others, that are viewed in rotation by the audience. Another income stream, ding dangy!
E9 INSTRUCTION If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
The addition of a blinking, high intensity RED LIGHT in the rounded tip of the stainless steel bar, I feel, would be a first step to becoming sexy.
Perhaps instead of copying Emmons, one could utilize
a bright yellow construction workers HARD HAT with a bright, rotating RED or AMBER beacon like on the rear of airplanes and/or snowplows might ad some mistique to playing the instrument.
Framing the guitar in glitter, those small bulbed Christmas tree ornament lights might give one an edge on being sexy.
And as a last thrust......how about those colorful bright lights that some of the kids have in the soles of their tennis shoes? Having something like that in the riding heel of one's cowboy boots could be a real big step to being COOL. When a pedal on the guitar was depressed, a different color of light could iluminate along with an appropriate siren or other attention getting sound.
Just a tho't or two, to see if I might help you make steel guitars a little more COOL!
(YES! I AM retired!) And what's this: "A FUCHSIA(sp?) or purple colored pedal steel guitar?"
You should be able to find a "REAL" pinstriper in most areas of the country if you think that your steel might need a bit of "Dressing Up". Nuthin' better than real paint!!
Mine was done by my good friend "Butchr" who did all of the RusLer steels.
DESERT ROSE D-10 8/5...Joe Naylor "SteelSeat"...
Gallien-Krueger MB200 amplifier through an Alessis MicroVerb w/15'Peavey cab.
TELES & STRATS...
FENDER TWIN & SEYMOUR DUNCAN 50W tube amps...1-12" 2-12" & 4-12" cabs and a FENDER MUSTANG-3
Mike Shefrin and Ray Montee, you guys are the funniest think tank!!!
E9 INSTRUCTION If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
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If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
The nice thing is if you tire of it, you can pell it off.
