Michael –
Like you – I switch between pedal steel, 6-string guitar & keyboards.
When I take off the picks I then try to leave the picks in the correct order so they’ll be easy to grab & put on – I believe that takes me about 1 or 2 additional seconds.
I now have my picks color coded, but when it’s dark or in certain light I find some shades very difficult to distinguish between anyway.
Through the years I’ve gotten much more adept at playing the psg without picks on, so there’s not the urgency to get the picks on as there used to be. And the band knows which songs I need additional time on to get ready. So if I’m coming off a song where I’m playing 6-string guitar and the next one I need to kick off the intro on the steel – they know to talk a little bit so I can get ready.
There are “some” songs I can play simple parts on the keyboards even with finger picks on, and on rare occasions I’ve approached it that way as well.
And the band I play in turns down a half-step, which I do the same on my 6-string & keyboards, but NOT my psg. For example - when we play Josh Turner’s Your Man in G, I play it in “G” for my few keyboard fills, but the bulk of the song I play in F# on the pedal steel. Fortunately, we play often enough where I’m getting used to it, and I have a pretty fair sized sign that only I can see reminding me to play the psg a half-step lower. I’m so used to thinking Neon Moon is in “A” I really have to keep alert to remember it’s now Ab for me…
-- Marc
www.PedalSteelGuitarMusic.com
