The Steel Guitar Forum

I have completed my rookie season on the forum and have had a blast reading and replying as well. This topic may have been covered before but here goes. I am wondering what you players find as the most convenient vehicle for playing and hauling your equiptment around. I use a Dodge Caravan and take the back seat out. Also, do you find it better to tear down your steels or leave them setup when moving them around. I am curious as to what works best for everyone...Paul King

Chevy Astro van,leave it set up.


Wayne

Toyota Camry Wagon. Session 400 laid down face up with a piece of carpet over it. Steel with the rear legs off facing toward the rear over it, knee levers folded, Pedals over the front of the amp Gig case on the right side. Sometimes the Session 500 in the back seat.

B4 that it was ( and still is sometimes) a chev pickup with camper and the same configuration with a leather briefcase between the fretboard and the tailgate. Laid on a non skid rug for no skidding when applying brakes.

Havent tried it on the Panhead yet...

EJL

A bulldozer, I prefer a Caterpillar D-6, depending on where I'm playing and what the parking situation is. I hardly ever have any trouble with the "Cat". (I sold my "German Panzer'tank, imports are hard to service in Nashville.)

I <u>always</u> pack mine up, and usually haul it in the car. A steel transported while set-up is far more susceptible to damage than one cased-up! It's nearly impossible to secure it solidly enough so it wouldn't come loose and be damaged in the average accident, or (heaven forbid), a "rollover".

'Course, there's always someone who will tempt fate, and there's those who are quite lucky, too!

I tend to be neither.

My '96 Honda Odyssey holds all of my gear perfectly with the back seat folded into the floor. It's the older four cylinder model that still gets 25 MPG with all my gear loaded and the AC on.

I always pack my guitar in the case and stack the rest of my gear on my Rock-N-Roller cart for one trip in and out.

DH..

Something about

<SMALL> the average accident </SMALL>

kind of hits my funny bone...

If you averaged mine, you'd have a car with 50% of the windows blown out, sitting 66.66% upside down, and 95% total damage, with 11.11% driveability, and 33.33% towability.

I think I've got them all tallied and divided by three correctly. The one that was "on purpose" I omitted.



EJL

Bobbie,
Love it!!

89 S-10 Blazer, with seat up, still holds N'ville 400 in Flght Case, Packseat, 3 sp rack, steel in case...They all fit in the back compartment. ALSO, I occasionally use my '77 Checker (for you guys familier with the old Checkers, you know how much will fit in the huge back seat AND trunk. Also, nobody gives you sh*t about taking a cab if you drink too much, cause you already brought one!!!!

Chavy Astro Van with dutch doors...

Bill

------------------
Bill Ford

Astro van with barn doors

I drive a Toyota Sienna with the back seats removed and a carpet installed. I have a thick, padded cover for my pedal steel, and I just lay it down on that carpet.

------------------
<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax</font>

Jeep Liberty. With the back seat up, the rear space is perfect for the guitar (in the case)a NV1000, amp stand, and pac-a-seat. It out runs Bobbe's CAT too!

Darn--I wish I could afford the cat D-6 deal and have an umbrella for summer and a winter front for colder times !!!

Chevrolet Venture Van. Like Wayne Smiff.
Jerry

I can fit my D10 in a flight case, a 6 space rack, a pair of single 12" speakers, seat, and another case with misc. stuff in back of my Caravan without removing the rear seat, or even folding it down...

I think people can get pretty creative about packing whatever gear they've got into whatever vehicle they've got. To haul a whole buncha stuff to the steel jams I've hosted (steel, amp, receiver, speakers, CD player, coolers, sandwich board signs, even donuts) I've managed with my '95 Camry. Recently, when I needed to bring a desktop computer as well as all the other stuff, I hijacked my wife's Sienna minivan. And frankly, if I had to reassess which vehicle made the best pick for my all-around personal uses, I'd go Sienna. (Yeah, b0b.) But I do love my Camry.

------------------
<font size=-1>Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?</font>

I have always put the Steel, Amp. & Seat, in the trunk of whatever car I have driven, who needs to have their Wagon, Van, or SUV broken into & have everything ripped off?

Dodge-Ram Conversion van. Whether I stand my steel behind the rear seat, or tear it down and put it in the case, depends upon how far I'm going.

Like Jim....everything else is loaded on a rock&roll cart and then rolled into the van through the side doors.

...and of course I can also sleep in it if necessary! www.genejones.com <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 04 November 2003 at 10:29 AM.]</p></FONT>

When I went to North Dakota last year, I needed a lot of stuff to get me through the three months.

This is what I got in the trunk (I call it the 'boot'!) of my '95 Lincoln:

TWO 'Steeler's Choice Sidekick' seats.
ONE Evans FET500
ONE Peavey NV400
TWO D10 steels
My effects rack
My G&L Telecaster
My golf clubs (WITH a pull-trolley)
A Banj* in a hard case (I know this last item could have been put on the roof, but it would have impaired the car's fuel consumption)

I was amazed! Only my suitcase had to go inside the car....

RR

I am partial to my 1993 F-150 with a fine cap by Swiss. A number of band folks looked askance when I showed up with a truck with an 8 foot bed, until they needed me to pick them, their drums, amps and 7 guitars up. My gear and the Magliner have plenty of room to breathe when I'm traveling alone. I pack the steel up anytime I am traveling, cannot even imagine putting it in the bed set up, let alone navigating a New York club full of drunks with an assembled pedal steel.

I've got a 2003 Dodge One Ton 4x4 Diesel Crewcab with the Laramie package... The neatest thing about this is the back seats which fold up flat. Underneath is a fold out metal floor which is flat across the back.
There is a lot of room here. It can be done in sections as well so that someone could sit in the back. Since my amps and a pak-seat stay with the band trailer, I just carry my steel, an 8 inch deep flight briefcase, and my electric guitar. If I had to carry amps, they would fit in the back or in the bed. I also have a 16 foot enclosed trailer if I need more room.

A lot of the time we haul everything in our 30 foot travel trailer. Depends on where the gig is.

------------------
God Bless,
Steve Stallings




<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Steve Stallings on 04 November 2003 at 07:45 AM.]</p></FONT>

I'ver found the best vehicle for me..after all these years..is one that starts when the gig is over and has enough gas in it to get home !

I have a Chevy Venture Van..no far rear seats..and I keep my Steel set up and tied down .

I guess if I get in an average wreck..I'll go home without a Steel or perhaps without a complete Steel...

Ok..as long as the Tele' is safe..
there..that should turn a few eyebrows...

tp

ok..here's the reasoning for my Tele' comment..

It is way easier to replace a Steel that plays well than a Tele' that took forever to find..

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 04 November 2003 at 08:15 AM.]</p></FONT>

Tony,
So does that make you a "Tele-commuter"?

Jeep Cherokee. Up in this part of the country - including the UP of MI & Northern Wisc., four wheel drive is a must in the winter. Back seat folds down and that's plenty of room for amp, steel (ALWAYS IN THE CASE), seat, which ever six stringer I feel like using that night and junk bag.

Hey Bobbeee, why such a small cat? You havn't lived until you cruise in a D11 w/ripper.
------------------
SUAS U' PHIOB
Geo


<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by George Mc Lellan on 04 November 2003 at 09:07 AM.]</p></FONT>