The Steel Guitar Forum

I hate to admit it but I am starting to enjoy being home a lot more!

I am getting things done that I never had time for.
1. Planted a garden
2. Fixed the backyard fence
3. Weeded the yard (Rooted out wild Blackberies) Trimmed trees and bushes.
5. Fixed the swing set
6. Cleaned out my garage
7. Organized my studio (Sorted out mic cords, guitar cables etc)
8. Extended the driveway/walkway with cement pavers
THE LIST GOES ON...

I miss performing, but not as much as I thought I would.


I am now playing a few outdoor gigs and the extra money is very helpful, but I don't think I want to become as busy as I was before the virus shutdown. I realize that some of the steady (Monthly or weekly) gigs were not as much fun as others and I was only doing it for the money... so it had become "WORK".

It's called "playing" music RIGHT? it should be a joy not a job!

I am going to be much more selective about which bookings I take, and I am going to schedule some days off.

Dom

I was even thinking about practicing steel guitar but on second thought I think I would be of more service to humanity by generously correcting young people's misconceptions on reddit.

I feel a little bit guilty too. Last month, I saw yet another new neurologist to try to figure out exactly what's been wrong with me for the past ten or twelve years, and this doc has apparently figured it out. A couple of weeks after starting new treatment, I'm getting back to my old self. My lockdown started on the 11th of March. Feeling better has made it a lot easier for me to handle.

But during that time, I've gotten a lot done too. I have my shop in the best shape it's been in since I moved to NC. I still have a lot of tools and materials that I haven't moved yet, so I decided to find a project I could do with what I have on hand. As a result, I decided to build the first flat top guitar that I've built since the 70's. I'm very rusty, but it's been coming back, and it makes the days go by much faster and happier!

Here's a couple of pictures of the work in progress:






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I've been getting a lot of work done around the house too. Hopefully I can stay this productive and positive for however much longer this takes!

Dave

I think we are all people who have no trouble keeping ourselves busy either playing or making things.

I feel sorry for those gregarious folks who don't have mentally challenging hobbies and need company to feel alive.

I miss playing, of course - I just recently got good enough to join a band and it was really taking off. I don't see any gigs happening for a long time, but I hope that when the restrictions are lifted at least we'll be able to rehearse.

We just did our 2nd patched together online service for our church..really interesting, our minister is a piano guy and set it all up..still just working the farm daily

I will admit that out of sympathy to my wife who's also cooped up, I've been playing steel mostly through headphones, and fiddle has been on a Yamaha silent violin....She never complains, but I would if I had to listen to me!

She's been mostly knitting and baking, both fairly silent activities. I figured I should respond in kind.

Dave

well to be perfectly honest I have been on a self imposed stay at home order since May 2015 ! Mostly.

Whats getting old is chores and around the house tasks which I used to say, "I'll get to it tomorrow"

Apparently " tomorrow" has arrived .

Really the only thing missing for me is the gig schedule . I'm still going to Lowes when I need to, still going to the MULCH joint to get 2 yards of Mulch now and then etc...

Crazy as it sounds, I'm, not practicing as much NOW as I was before ! One would have thought it would be the opposite.

What I did just just start doing again , last week, on both Steel and Guitar is turnaround phrases in multiple keys, variants , returning back to the root. Its kind of a fret board game. How many locations can I play the same or similar variants of the same phrases ?

We have created a couple of BAD snack food habits though, we are buying stuff , bringing them home and its there, so we eat them. Who knew Entenmanns Donuts were that good !

A few of my band mates are indeed getting together in a week or so, I have the room, we don't plan on hugging each other so it will be good . We distance from each other normally !

Time to get back towards a more normal life again.

.
3 weeks ago we moved 1800 miles due east.
Took us a week to get here.
We are under about 5000 empty cardboard boxes, finding places to put things and are rather pooped.
So no, we are not bored or feeling cooped up.
Just trying to remember what got put in which box.

That's a fine looking instrument Mr.Ball!

After years of not having a home studio, I downloaded Reaper to a laptop, hooked it up to a Mackie mixer, and via Dropbox am doing overdub sessions for the many producers and musicians I've worked with over the years. No commute so my price came down a little.

Hasn’t affected my work, just gigs which I miss the extry panty dollars but been kinda nice to have free weekends. I would practice but I feel it’s my duty to humanity to rid the world of catfish and crappie right now.

I'm not missing gigs at all. I spent too much time in bars and loosing sleep....I work a day job. I'm getting stuff done that I've been wanting to do for years but was always too burned out from getting in late from gigs.I did recently purchase an interface for my computer and have been recording tracks for friends, but honestly would rather work on my own stuff...or hanging out with the family and critters, but I'm glad to still have a creative outlet.

I need this to end just so I can get some rest. I guess when I finish my remodeling I'll ask my neighbor if they need some help.

My wife, daughter and I have been hanging out together here at home. Running to the store, Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware, the guitar shop, and anywhere else that wasn’t closed gave us something to do besides just staying in all the time. Filled the RV with $1.27 real gas and took off to the lake this last weekend and it was packed with people, boats, and RV’s. Today my wife and I ate Mexican food in an open restaurant and boy was it good. Made us feel normal again, now I’m getting ready for our first band gig, an outdoor B-B-Q in June.

The only thing i really miss is the guitar stores, I need more 2' cables, also need my fiddle and cello fixed. Also public libraries, the 3 systems around here had amazing collections of CDs and sheet music, instruction books etc.

David Ball: Beautiful instrument you're making, that's always something I aspired to (or going to the violinmaking school in Salt Lake, where varnish sets funny)

Thanks for the nice words, Mr. Kettner and Mr. Tani! I've been primarily building banjos and a few archtop guitars for the past 20 years or so, but built flattops before that. I don't have all of my banjo making machinery and jigs moved to NC yet, so decided to tackle a project with what I had on hand. It's been fun--really the kind of thing that I had planned to do in retirement!

I have some killer curly koa on hand in Weissenborn size. One of these days, I'd like to build an 8 string Weiss...but hope the lockdown doesn't last that long!

Dave

We have an opportunity to play May 16, an outdoor show at a private venue. After serious consideration I am bowing out, I think the band leader is going to withdraw regardless. I seriously doubt that the venue has created any safety protocols other than 6 feet apart, which is the easy part. At this time, its not worth it.

I live in Michigan and we are on lock down until at least May 28th. I live south of Detroit so things are a bit harry here yet. We had six shows canceled so far and if possible we may be able to start back up July 1st. Been doing plenty of yard work also. Been having some fun in my music room. I have the time now for more C6 fun. I have been taking songs I normally do in E9th and have been playing them on the back neck. I also have been doing some videos and posting them on YouTube and Facebook. They are not professional quality A/V, but it's fun to share some of my Steel Guitar fun in lock down. My YouTube Channel is, kevin steel guitar, if anybody is interested.

I did a few dropbox steel track uploads today for a friend on pedal and lap steel. I sounded like crap, but it still felt good and he was happy with it. We'll see what's left in the final take.

It's tough times for sure, but we have a great advantage in technology these days.
Things would have been a lot different even 5 years ago. We are truly blessed in many ways.

Dave

I'm retired, I do NOT like to travel, pretty much a homebody, so things are not really that different for me other that I would like to see my kids more and visit with key people in my life that I haven't been able to spend time with.

I am used to playing Omaha Holdem once a week with 7 other mossbacks and under the circumstances, that has not been possible. I haven't seen a flop in over two months now and it is really starting to get on my nerves!

My chops have improved some but nobody around to notice, LMAO!

S.S.D.D.

Been riding my Harley,hanging with my GF & BarBQ ing. First gig June 6, outdoors & on the beach. In fact, all my gigs till end of Dec. are outdoor beachbar gigs. That makes me feel a little safer.

I'm actually enjoying it, despite the social distancing and economic contraction.

I've delved into woodworking was a result of the money I saved from eating out etc. I just got a new Jessem router table and Dewalt compound miter/bevel saw. So far, I've made some weaving equipment projects for my wife, various jigs and a workbench t-track top.

The quarantine has also afforded me the time to add an 8th knee lever and a RKR half stop to my LeGrande D-10.

I am using the time to really dig into playing the steel. I have been playing less than a year but as a long time bass player with 3 different groups it has been a challenge. Now I have 0 bass projects so I am playing a couple hours of steel every day.

Rich Upright wrote:Been riding my Harley,hanging with my GF & BarBQ ing. First gig June 6, outdoors & on the beach. In fact, all my gigs till end of Dec. are outdoor beachbar gigs. That makes me feel a little safer.

Had to sell my Harley a couple of years back due to health problems killing my sense of balance. But this time of year up here in the Blue Ridge is really prime riding season, and I miss it! Easy to social distance on a bike for sure, and there are plenty of folks doing that.

I still have an old convertible though, so my wife and I do our "rides" in the car that we used to do on the Harley. Glad to have it.

Dave