The Steel Guitar Forum

When you age things tend to go wrong. One of our group cannot now lift his equipment. Of the four others, two have bad backs, one has a bad shoulder, one has a bad wrist but all would like to help. Due to inability to help our friend with his equipment, he cannot now pick with us and that hurts. It AIN'T fun getting old.
Of course this completely changes our sound.

Sometimes, "where there's a wheel, there's a way".

I always said that my music playing would end when I could no longer handle my equipment without help.

Having said that, my father also told me that your "want to" will expire before your "can do". He was right.....I can still lift all of my equipment as well as I ever did, but, I no longer want to. I am thankful that I have lived long enough to appreciate my fatherw wisdom.

I find it incredible that it could come down to this considering all the many variable alternatives.

I’m old and I know that my greatest problem is the lack of will. It’s simply much easier to just to give up on things than to get off my butt and go get it done.

I used the excuses I’ve done this so much I’m tired of it, there is no money in it, they don’t want to hear me play anymore, it’s too cold, it’s too hot, it cost too much for gas, the equipment is to heavy and etc. etc. etc., but if I drag my butt on out there I enjoy it every time.

I was using my age as an excuse to be lazy and I slowly found that I wasn’t doing anything but lounging around on the sofa.

As long as you can still play there’s a way.

Thankfully our friend has another group to pick with.
They are young enough to help him and that is great. We just hurt cause we cant keep him with us.

I have gone to the lightest equipment I can use and I know the day is coming when I cant do it but until that happens, I keep on keeping on.

I have reached the point where the excitement and joy of playing with the band and in front of an audience is pretty much gone. I been doing it for fifty-five years and it's not what it used to be for me.

Even now we play only on Friday and Saturdays but the mental effort that it takes to load my equipment into the P/U is always left until the last minute and it has become very labourious. I have also become very impatient with the seemingly same boring rhetoric that I have been hearing for more than fifty years and of course many of the same idiot types in the audience.

I still do however, enjoy the unrehearsed jams with friends in the basement or garage.

Maybe it's time to just pack it in and consider it has been a great fifty-five years but it's time to close that door behind me. .

Easy solution: find a young student who is willing to swap roadie services for lessons. I such an arrangement with a relatively new player who is thrilled because not only does he get free lessons, he gets to watch all the rehearsals and pick up ideas that way too.

It's a win-win situation all around.

Being an old geezer[soon be 70] I make it a point to work with young whippersnappers,that can help me,I can STILL handle my stuff,but act like I CAN"T,I get away with carrying mike stands,cables,music stands.etc,they carry my MSA d-10,stool, and amp,Am I a sly old fox or what. DYKBC.

There are some things you can do to help yourself if your equipment is getting too heavy. Here's something I've done. I made two very lightweight canvas gig bags to haul my psg around in. One fits my steel like a glove and the other holds the legs, pedal bar and rods. This makes moving my steel a lot easier. Also I have a very small psg. I play a keyless single neck. The amp I use (in Hawaii) is also a two piece rig and that helps. But what really helps the most is switching from pedal to non-pedal steel. This I've done too. Actually, I play non-pedal also and I really enjoy it. I play an eight string B6th/G#7.
About a dozen years ago Tom Morrell told me that after 40 years he got tired of carrying a pedal steel around and just switched to non-pedal for good. The rest is history. It appears Reece Anderson has done this too. Don

Hey guys i,m fightin rhemtoid arthis no so i don,t lift like i use to but the desire to play is still there Dave Frye

I think I can see the problem here and can offer this Rx:

You're probably not eating enough CHILI.

BTW:
...anyone remember the BIG BANG?

I find it incredible that it could come down to this considering all the many variable alternatives.

- I agree 100%

Db

After 40 years of music playing I got a little burned out as well. Except for 1 or 2 times a year I've laid back for the last 10 years.

I'm building a log home in NY as a summer home and friends I played with in the 70's are coming there from Fla. for the summers as well. We're going to get together again, now in out 60's. We're going to call ourselves "Full Circle". It sounds like a large time.

I,v been having trouble with my back and friends have been helping me . If it gets down to it I will hire some one to pack my stuff . I absolutely am not going to quit playing unless I just have to... Buck Grantham

Buck I've had trouble with my shoulders, both of them. I am with you and Mike, If I get too old and unable to pack and tote my stuff, I get my step-son or grandson to help. That's is why I use the Walker Stereo Steel, each component is light weight, to where I can handle it. The guitar is another thing.
I wish some one could design a pedal steel that could deliver the sound and would not be a back breaker to tote.
Tommy Shown

Tommy Shown wrote: I wish some one could design a pedal steel that could deliver the sound and would not be a back breaker to tote.

The MSA Millennium is one of the lightest, if not THE lightest steel you can buy.

My husband Johnny Peters broke his leg in November
He showed me how to put and take down his steel{ Mullun u12} .I also haugh his amp and speakers.
THANK GOD WE HAVE CARTS.
I am 70 years and 5/1
I enjoy his music that much
He is now startin to carry more of his equip.
The Roadie

Buck Grantham is by far one of my favorite pickers of the steel guitar. His expressive style of playing is unmatched. I hope diet changes or specified exercises will rout out the problems.

So I guess that old saw about getting better with age (like wine) does not apply to 70 pound steels and amps.

"It often pains us to do the things we have to...hopefully never a pain to do the things we want to" Dougherty

Most of us old geezers have aches and pains[I'm 70]but a lot of it has to do with your mindset,I have a 70 year old body,but still think like a 19 year old,I still get the same pleasure out of crawling [used to jump] on a bandstand as I did 50 years ago,Thank the GOOD LORD I can still do it,THINK YOUNG ! My wife is 15 years younger than I am,She's an old fuddy duddy,I still think and act like a kid.Each day I get up and something else hurts that I did'nt even know I had,but what the hell,just thankful I can still do it. DYKBC.

Being 54 I can still handle my equipment but last fall I injured some back muscles and it came down to my wife setting everything up and tearing it down and she is actually very good at it. I made sure that I only started again lifting when the doctor said so. I tried to use the back excuse a little longer but she was on to the situation real fast.
Hope her health lasts longer than mine!

Terry

Since I qualify I will chime in and share some of my own thoughts about playing and age.
I just turned 75 and am still entertaining nursing homes and Alzheimer units. Been doing a solo thing for almost 12 years now. I often tell myself that I should be hanging it up, but I still feel that I am doing some good for others so I continue on. I haul around an HWP Mullen D-10, plus all the other things to complete my ensemble. Yes arthritis is setting in on my hands, shoulders and elbows and the pain is sometimes a little much, but I so love making music that others still seem to enjoy. I can hardly bear giving up playing, yet some days my body says it is getting close to that time to quit.
My love affair with steel guitar started in 1944 and I have not lost the desire yet, maybe it will be the last thing to go, but I am definitely not looking forward to that day.
I bet some of you share my same feelings and love for steel guitar.
Thanks for listening.

My weekend gig is at my Church, I leave everything set up, also have a practice rig at home. No need to lift,and move stuff except when I decide to play an outing which is few and far between.

BF

I've heard it said that an infallible sign of old age is looking forward to getting home before you've even left the house!

I know I feel that way sometimes, but a complete lack of any retirement plan has a way of narrowing one's options. I have little doubt that I'll expire one of these days while still trying to earn a crust.....

(I've found that a deep sigh as I reach for my amp results in an offer of help. I'm long past being too proud to accept!)

I play a gig always weekly and occasionally 2 and I can still easily handle all of my gear.However, I keep myself in great physical condition. I pump iron 3 times a week--good hour at a session---and then try to get in a brisk 30 minute walk daily. watch my diet good and drink a beer or 2 or a shot of Jim Beam daily. Done this for years and I believe if you are able to exercise regularly with your doctor's ok it pays to keep fit and active. I am not a couch potato.
I have had some health issues last 10 years----lost 1/3 rt lung to lung cancer, not smoked for 40yrs. total knee replacement, and heart stint, but never let this stop me, by the grace of God. Just kept active and am still trying to learn this pedal steel and keep on carrying my gear.I play for 2 bands and just finished my 862 gig with these guys last Wednesday in the last 13 years.
Keep active guys and exercise if you can----it,s to your advantage!!!

By the way----I am only 74 yrs young!! been fully retired for 10 years.