My gear is too nice for my gigs

[Steve Spitz]

Most of my gigs are in dive bars. Bourbon Street and worse .Many with no bandstand or too small, and my steel is off stage, unprotected.

Most people don’t come to New Orleans to drink in moderation. These small joints get packed, and the crowds get trashed. I might as well be set up in the mosh pit. It gets really distracting and hard to concentrate.

If I decline these gigs, I’m looking like I don’t want to work. Like a diva, or a prima Donna.
It definitely contributes to not getting called as often.

The only solution is to have a “ beater “ steel. That’s unlikely. I know there’s no real solution. It sucks, but it’s the business I’ve chosen.

[Len Amaral]

Yeah, I hear your frustration and I played those type of gigs many years ago. Playing on the dance floor where people bump into and even fall into you. One thing I learned was to use a foam wind screen on your mic. It helps to keep from losing your teeth when someone bangs into the mic stand.

[Greg Lambert]

I quit those dives 40 years ago. Ill play the little operas , churches and senior dances and thats about it.

[Gaylen James]

Ditto on the foam wind screen Len.
I walked up to the mic one night in Nevada to start singing my beautiful tune and got knocked right the hell out,,, bad ground on my amp.
Use a wind screen

[Bob Watson]

I know you mentioned not wanting to get another steel, but I would think about picking up a Stage One. It's not like they're cheap, I think a brand new one goes for around $1000, but they play and sound great and you wouldn't worry about it getting hurt as much as you would with a $5000 D10. I used to play an MSA Red Baron on Lower Broadway gigs when I lived in Nashville. None of the guys in the band ever said anything negative about it and they were used to hearing me play a great sounding old Sho Bud. Other steel players always told me it sounded good, but none of them ever wanted to sit in, LOL! I learned a lot about playing Western Swing on an E9 too.

[Tony Prior]

while I certainly understand wanting to keep our pristine new , mint, gear pristine new and mint, there is another factor, going out and playing. The bandstand is where we learn our craft , its where we execute what it is we may be working on at home. ALL OF THE BANDSTANDS.


There is no guarantee that gear will not get damaged on a nicer stage or venue.

Case in point, two actually. Two of many.

On a fairly recent show, my Taylor 414 was sitting safely out of the way on a stand, that is until the sound guy got lazy and decided to PULL a mic cable from 20 feet away on the other side of the stage. The cable got wrapped around the 414 stand then literally tore the guitar off the stand and placed huge gash in the back.

"OH..Sorry"..he says

A few years back , on a pretty big stage, I have my Strat and Tele sitting behind me and the Steel on stands , directly in front of my Fender Twin. My space, my stage footprint. What does the Bass player do, for some reason unknown to mankind he decides to walk between me , sitting on the Steel seat and the two guitars , knocks them BOTH to the ground putting blemishes on both.

"Oh..sorry"..he says while my Strat and Tele are laying on the stage floor.

I have never, in over 40 years of bars and venues had a customer, dancer or client related issue with an instrument. Every ding or blemish came from the stage. Be it my own fault or someone else on stage.

No guarantees.

[Chris Grigsby]

And yet, ironically, people pay more to buy a brand new “relic-ed” guitar

[David Nugent]

I am of the same mindset as Steve. As Virginia has yet to ban smoking in public places, was always concerned with gunk and smoke buildup on my equipment (not to mention that unmistakable odor!). Consequently, my A list gear never saw the inside of a club.

[Dick Wood]

I wish I could keep it looking like the day I got it but I am a working musician and it is my tool.Maybe I'm lucky in that after 41 years in every kind of beer joint, I've never had anything damaged.

I will say I have come close to knockin out a few guitarist who are like bulls in a China closet as they prance around.

[chuck lemasters]

While doubling on six string in an animals club, an inebriated guy spun across the dance floor into my, then new, Pro I, knocking it over and bending one of the legs. His cousin promised he would pay for the damage. Never saw him again. But that wasn’t as bad as the time, at an opry type show, I walked across the stage, catching a guitar cord with my foot, pulling the acoustic guitar off its stand with loud crash through the PA system, Just As The Curtain Was Opening....no damage to the guitar, but Oh, the humiliation....

[Howard Parker]

I'm in the "use my best tool for the job" camp. I take reasonable precautions. I didn't buy these guitars as investments.

I play what makes me happy and years ago a mentor told me to "lead with your best punch".

So.. That's what I do.

h

[Donny Hinson]

The only solution is to have a “ beater “ steel. That’s unlikely. I know there’s no real solution. It sucks, but it’s the business I’ve chosen.

Why is having a "beater" out of the question? Sure, everyone like beautiful gear. (Well, not everyone...but we're pedal steelers, so we're weird about the "look".) But it sounds like you're a player, not a collector. So guess what? Your gear should be playing gear, not collecting gear.

If it was me, I'd sell the "showpiece" and buy two beaters. That way, I wouldn't be worrying every night, and I'd be ready when and if a disaster happens.

[Ian Rae]

I don't like playing at ground level - even in a civilised venue there are sober idiots.

But I want to be heard with decent gear, so I trust to luck.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I feel your pain Steve. I couldn't afford to keep one just to look at. I see from your posts you have some very nice guitars so your concern is quite understandable.

Here's a quote from a thread I posted some time ago on the subject:

I once sold a beautiful lacquered guitar because it seemed to be a booboo magnet and picked up a new one every time I took it out. I like to play all of my instruments so, rather than to have one that I was afraid to leave the house with and couldn't deal with the damage, I just sold it.

.
This guitar:


https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... uer+finish

[Jack Goodson]

i have played in just about every venue you can imagine, some with wire cages around the bandstand, also some that asked if u had a gun and if u said no they would give u one....jack

[Garry Vanderlinde]

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

[Mike Perlowin]

Those pre-1975 Mica MSAs are indestructible.

[Gene Tani]

Think like an economist (or not): joint is packed and everybody's buying rounds, You're making the proprietor money, you should think if you're being adequately compensated for risk.

Maybe try some dummy PA/monitor boxes in front of you to create some kind of space.

[Steve Spitz]

I’m not a collector, and like most of you, I see my gear as a tool. Like most of you, I’m passionate about my gear. It’s what we do.

It’s not just the cosmetic aspect. I’ve had my gear severely damaged while on the bandstand by bar patrons as well as band members, on and off the band stand.

I had a Mullen hit so hard by an out of control solo dancer that the end plates separated from the body, in addition to the bent pedal rods. That instrument was never the same.

This guy had his head shaved, except for a one inch patch on top that sported a three foot long braid. Big guy. Doing some kind of solo spinning acid/Karate dance, and ended up in my lap, on the bandstand, plowing through my steel .

I love what I’m doing more than The love of looking at my gear like a museum piece. I wish I could get by with a S10, but I need D10.

I know it doesn’t matter how great your gear is if you can’t take it out and use it. Everything I own I bought to gig with. The value of the gear, as well as some of it being irreplaceable at any cost, vs. what I make at most gigs is causing me to rethink some things.

Some jobs I worry my gear will be destroyed, not scratched. I’m looking for a beater.

[Garry Vanderlinde]

Protect yourself! Just insert steel guitar.

[Fred Treece]

Interesting thread. Definitely get the beater. In fact, get two and keep one in the trunk.

[Donny Hinson]

This guy had his head shaved, except for a one inch patch on top that sported a three foot long braid. Big guy. Doing some kind of solo spinning acid/Karate dance, and ended up in my lap, on the bandstand, plowing through my steel .

Isn't that most always the way? The guy that looks stupidest ends up doing, well...something stupid. I wish I could say that people's appearance isn't a good way to judge their character. (I wish I could say that, but I'd be lying.)

[Larry Dering]

Nobody has ever said "the gig is too nice for my gear."

[Ian Rae]

Larry, you didn't see the gear I used to have

[Dave Mudgett]

I agree on having a "beater" for really rough gigs. But I use that term loosely because the ones I had were economical but still solidly-built, good-playing, and good-sounding guitars, not exactly what I'd call a "beater". I really hated to drag my Zum or Franklin into places like dive student bars on Penn State football weekends, both St. Patrick's Day celebrations we do here, New Years Eve, and various other dive bar festivals where the goal of many is to drink until they barf or pass out. I have the same issue with Spanish guitars - no bloody way I'm dragging my best ones out to a gig like that. Yeah, I play my best guitars at plenty of gigs, but I'm not gonna knowingly subject what is, to me, an irreplacable guitar to guaranteed abuse.

The steels I found useful for this purpose were older BMI, Sierra, and MSA guitars. I found them very reasonable, they were solid as a rock, and sounded good - I never really felt like I was having to "compromise" with a crappy guitar. Two of them were universals, and that is sort of how I started on universal. The universals gave me enough of both worlds to function and especially E9 was close enough to a normal E9 neck to feel pretty at-home right away.

I have pretty much stopped doing falling-down-drunk dive gigs like this, and I traded those steels away. But I wouldn't hesitate to get another if the need arose. There have been a few of each of those brands on the forum recently at very good prices. The other good thing is that these guitars are easy to move along if no longer needed - lots of people are out there looking for solid professional pedal steels in the $1500 + or - $500 range.

This guy had his head shaved, except for a one inch patch on top that sported a three foot long braid. Big guy. Doing some kind of solo spinning acid/Karate dance, and ended up in my lap, on the bandstand, plowing through my steel.

I had a guy plow head-first into my Sierra S14 universal one time. That sucker (the steel, that is) was heavy, it was a case of the irresistible force plowing into the immovable object, and the steel didn't move an inch.