The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm a musician first, guitar player second (long-time 6-string), just now delving into the steel world (buying a new D-10 from Gary Carpenter at Rains). I have the time and space to devote to practice. Looking for advice on setting up my practice room. What can you guys recommend as "musts" in setting up my practice space for the steel work. Also, what are some "really nice" things to take advantage of. $$ are not unlimited, but would like to keep it "real world". Thanks for any input.

I'd say one thing to consider is access! Having carried steels and amps upstairs to second floor music rooms, if you can get it on ground floor you'll save your back! Also keep it away from everyone else..JS

computer with Band in a box, small soundsystem, small steelamp, understanding wife, music stand, closett to put CD's and tab in, tuner, grounded 110V, mirror to look at your own hands when practising, headphones, cables, light, heating.....etc, paper to write things down and something to record yourself (when/while you practise)
JJ

Moved into a house with an extended, deep garage.
The room measured 16 x 16. I finished it all up, electrical outlets, etc.

Installed a WIDE wheelchair type door. No steps to and from the van (15 feet distance). Got rid of hi-top van and got a mini-van that can load/unload entirely within the garage.

All my records, tapes, equipment, guitars and amps, BIAB, etc. located there. I NO LONGER HAVEW ADEQUATE
FLOOR space. 16 x 16 is NOT all that BIG!

If you have kids/pets a door is the first thing to look for. Agree with the ground floor idea but a door and unused space lets you get up without hiding everything.

I'd highly recommend a small mixing board so you can put your instrument, a CD player, your cell phone, a tape deck, or what ever else you'd like all into a headphone and control the mix. No need for a big board, anything over 4 channels is great. Look around and you may find an older Roland digital recorder which gives you the mixes plus lets you record your own. I've seen them on Craig's List for about $200 around here for a 880.

A well lighted music stand is obvious. Computer access lets you retrieve all of the tab out there, but you can just as easily print it out in another room and bring it in, (ink cartridge manufacturers will thank you.) Some sort of paper sorting and storage will be needed and you should probably print out some of the blank Tab sheets available in the tab section of the Forum. A storage space and sorting bins for the countless little bits and pieces that you tend to collect from spare picks to extra patch cables, (did I mention a door to keep the kids out of there?)

Another quick, handy thing to have around is a cheap keyboard. You can put most of them in a memory mode and whip up a quick backing track even with one finger. It will also let you practice in different keys and styles that you might be able to quickly whip up in BIAB. BTW, if you have an iphone there's a Band-in-a-Hand app that let's you make tracks on the phone then pump them out of the headphone jack into your mixing board. Jamie Ambersole's Jazz CDs, which can be found at most large chain music stores, are an easy way to get backing tracks with a good variety of styles to practice with.

And whether you get it from your keyboard, an app on your phone, or a mechanical unit, a metronome is a "must have."

If you don't have a pack a seat or other dedicated seat already, get one. You want a consistent height and a comfortable seat for your practice. Back Rests are highly recommended. And a volume pedal if you don't have one. If you don't start with one then you'll have to relearn the feel of your guitar when it's added. And you might as well start learning to control the volume along with all of the other mechanics.

One last "nice to have" you might be able to borrow from your kids, a portable DVD player. There are tons of great learning material available on DVD and a small portable player in the practice room lets you play along.

And a door to lock it all away.

Hey guys, many thanks! All your comments were exactly what I was looking for, and probably will incorporate most of them. If you have any "after thoughts", please send to me as well. Once again, very valuable to me. Thanks.

Get it as far away as possible from your wife!

Nice rugs, different amps ,plenty of space and a soda machine full of cold beer always helps....

Find a DJ program for the PC, extract the songs from the CD's that you want to practice to, and you can make your own program playlists.

Some really great suggestions here. Everybody learns differently, some do well with band-in-a-box, others like tracks CDs, but some kind of tracks or a metronome are essential to help establish the feel for timing and groove that ensemble playing requires.

The main thing I'd suggest, make it a comfortable space, one where you love to be.

A decent headphone set up is a great addition. I have one and I can practice any time I want without being distracted or bothering others.You probably know this being a 6 string guy.

Robert Mayo wrote:Nice rugs, different amps ,plenty of space and a soda machine full of cold beer always helps....

Robert, is that a Buckingham or a Royal Guardsman hiding in the corner back there ?

Here's my Berkeley II





Practice room ? It should be a nice place to hang out and feel good !

Erv Niehaus wrote:Get it as far away as possible from your wife!

I love my wife but I gotta second that!

Brian,
I decided that I needed my own practice room when my wife would come in and turn down my amp while I was playing.
I put a loft over the garage and now I can crank up my amp to my heart's content.

Erv,

My issue is the "other woman": my steel. I feel best about playing when she's not around unfortunately.

Owen,

I second those who mentioned Band-in-a-box. You can make quick chord progression tracks in more styles than you'd ever use. Include a good stereo playback system for BIAB that'll play loud enough to allow you to play your steel along with it at proper levels where the good tone lies. That's me advice.

I have a small set up in my bedroom,I also have neighbors on each side of me so sometimes I practice thru the amp other times I will practice and record on the little Fostex MR-8,I have a small studio across town and usually record some tracks there and dump them to the Fostex.

My practice room.....

How about this ?

Steel porn.

My wife suggested a good set of HEADPHONES are highly recommended

For you or her?

I play down in my sub-basement. The one thing I miss most is a flat floor. It used to be the crawlspace, so the floor is concrete but uneven. Every time I move a PSG I have to adjust the legs and even then wobbles come in very quickly.

By the way, when I was looking for a house 14 years ago, one of the houses that I made a bid on had a custom-built fully-soundproofed recording studio with separate control room at the back of the house, which the Grateful Dead used to practise in. It would have been perfect, but I was outbid. Ironically, while the house was on show most of the people looking round were mumbling, "It's okay but what would you do with the giant shed thing in the garden ?" The answer, of course, was obvious, to use it for what it was built; a recording studio.

I don't know who eventually bought the house, but he tore the studio down to enlarge the garden. What a waste.

Tony Prior wrote:

Robert Mayo wrote:Nice rugs, different amps ,plenty of space and a soda machine full of cold beer always helps....

Robert, is that a Buckingham or a Royal Guardsman hiding in the corner back there ?

Here's my Berkeley II





Practice room ? It should be a nice place to hang out and feel good !

That is a Buckingham , sharp eyes !!!

Robert Ok ! I mean come on, whats a practice room without a vintage Vox piggy back amp! How long have you had it, how did you acquire it ? I acquired mine about a month ago through a strange deal which , I believe the amp came from the original owner, 2nd owner at best...the Berkely II is basically a 10 on the scale, I couldn't let it go plus the price was just impossible to pass on.

And yeh..it really addds some vibe to the practice room , just like yours...

tony..with very sharp eyes !

It is actually a consignment from one of my clients,non original speakers and no lower cab cover. I do know where another one is with both original covers and foot switch. They are really cool solid state amps for sure . This being an older picture I now actually have four Gibson Super Goldtone stacks as well as 2 Gibson Super Goldtone combo amps ( I love them ), the Guild amp is gone, the Fender Champs are long gone and the Hiwatt original cab is gone. I also now have several Fender Twin reverb silverface amps which can peel the paint off the walls,I will take an updated photo soon, Greg.