LIFTING YOUR PEDAL STEEL GUITAR

[simon_f3]

I'm of the school of thought that each of my guitars (steel or 6-string) has cost quite a few of my hard earned shekels, and I want to try to keep them in as good order as I can.

'Amen' to wanting to keep expensive instruments in good condition! I have to say I sit pretty squarely on the middle of the fence with regard to 'extreme' care (Izal or no Izal...) but I do try to keep my guitars as clean and tidy as possible, whilst still accepting that they are tools of the trade and therefore will need periodic cleaning and maintenance. Admittedly this is a lot easier when gigging only a couple of times a month, compared to when I did it 4-5 times a week! I once bought a brand new Telecaster with gold hardware, and didn't wipe it down after the first gig - by the second gig there were permanent thumbprints that had gone through the gold plating on the neck plate, and on every tuner knob! The shop took it back at full price and I chose one with chrome hardware, but it does show what damage can be done with sweaty paws Or possibly with the potentially corrosive hair grease that I am inclined to use...

I like the idea of cotton gloves for handling guitars (of all types) - certainly a lot less hassle than polishing everything after each gig, which I confess I don't always do!

As a side note on this, does anyone use Fast-Fret or similar as a string cleaner after gigs on PSG? I occasionally do on 6-string and it seems to stop the strings corroding quite so quickly, but I didn't know if there were more specific PSG products on the market.

[Ken Byng]

Fair play - for those people who are happy to see their guitars age and naturally deteriorate with time, they should completely ignore or stay off this thread as I do with theirs.

Guilty as charged, Ken. Consider me ignorant and gone.

Danny
I wasn't having a pop at you, far from it. You haven't bad mouthed me to other folks who have been kind enough to make me aware. You are one of the good guys on here.

[Danny Mitchell]

That's okay Ken, I had deviated from your post anyway

As an aside, I'm known to give my beloved instrument a full wipe down after every session.

And, as another aside, I don't know about being a 'good guy', my missus insists I'm a stinker

[Ken Byng]

That's okay Ken, I had deviated from your post anyway

As an aside, I'm known to give my beloved instrument a full wipe down after every session.

And, as another aside, I don't know about being a 'good guy', my missus insists I'm a stinker

Danny
Your posts are always inoffensive and you respond often to new posts when others can't be bothered. You are not avaricious, or have your main eye on making a fast buck. You are always helpful to newcomers and those in need of advice and help. Please don't ever change as you are a credit to this site.

[Jif]

I guess I'm similar to Simon in my approach to this, somewhere in between. I like to keep my instruments in as good a condition as possible without getting too Izal about it. I generally lift my steel from the front and back aprons and clean, polish all the chrome and body when I do a string change, as well as doing a complete lube. I like the shiny thing but I also think it helps preserve an instrument, not just for resale but also to extend it's working life.

Unfortunately I had a bit of an accident involving a window left open, a gale and a thick glass container full of my worldwide stone collection, which resulted in the container falling onto my MSA, the result could have been a lot worse but there are now a few dings and scratches but hardly noticeable. It's a tribute to the build quality of MSA that the damage was not more than slightly cosmetic.

I have used fast fret when my strings have got old and it did seem to extend the life for a short while, you can see the gunge it is removing on the pad. I have got into the habit of wiping down the strings with a dry cloth after playing, I also do this with other stringed instruments and reckon it's good practice.

I play a bit of flute and sax, and after playing either it is essential to remove all the saliva from the interior of these instruments, not doing this results in sticky keys and corrosion which shortens the life of the instrument, or means that parts need replacing sooner than they need be, at great expense.

In short my thinking is, look after and take care of your instrument and it will take serve you well for many years.

[Ken Byng]

..............In short my thinking is, look after and take care of your instrument and it will take serve you well for many years.

Exactly Geoff!!

So sorry to hear about the mishap with your beautiful MSA. I would be mortified if that happened to any of my guitars. My first decent pedal steel, a blue D10 ZB was damaged by a lunatic winding the handle of a device with raffle tickets in it. It was a large metallic drum and he wound the thing so fast that it flew off its stand and went straight down the front of my guitar.

[Jif]

So sorry to hear about the mishap with your beautiful MSA. I would be mortified if that happened to any of my guitars. My first decent pedal steel, a blue D10 ZB was damaged by a lunatic winding the handle of a device with raffle tickets in it. It was a large metallic drum and he wound the thing so fast that it flew off its stand and went straight down the front of my guitar.

As the saying goes Ken, you want to see the other guy, the glass container was smashed into smithereens, and it was thick glass. The damage to the MSA was actually very slight, a few small dents on the cab and a couple of small scratches on the neck metal, it's barely noticeable unless you're looking for it. Apparently MSA finish the body with many coatings of epoxy and that seems to have stood up well under the circumstances. Still it was a pity but it could have been a lot worse.

Aye there's always at least one lunatic causing mayhem at a gig, that must have been very annoying to say the least!

But just to go back to your original point, another element of an instrument is that it's essentially a work of art, certainly in the case of handmade instruments made by experienced luthiers. Having known a few I know how much care and craft they put into creating an instrument and they take great pride in the finish. It is a work of art and personally I get pleasure at just viewing beautifully made instruments, hence we should respect the luthiers work accordingly.

As you know the body of my MSA was made and finished by Mark Giles, who I believe is a very well respected craftsman in the pedal steel world. He has actually signed the inside of the body and to me this is not unlike an artist signing a picture he has painted. He obviously takes justifiable pride in his work and I respect that.

[Ken Byng]

That Giles body on your MSA knocked me out when I saw it at the Dallas show Geoff. I've had some friendly banter about MSA's with McMiser over recent years, but I have huge respect for the new MSAs of the last decade. Maurice Anderson divulged to me that the MSA guitar was going to be resurrected. I was dubious about how it would be received by the steel guitar community in the USA, and there was still some animosity concerning the demise of the company in the early 80's. It is to Kyle Bennett's credit that he and his team has raised the profile and integrity of MSA to the point where their guitars are now probably the most sought after guitar on the planet.

Back to this thread - we are all different in the way that we treat our instruments. I have a different approach than say Gordon Huntley, who treated his guitars as tools of the trade. I bought my first ZB around the start of when Eric Snowball first took over the ZB franchise in the UK. Gordon bought his ZB a few weeks before I bought mine. A year later I saw his guitar in Eric's workshop and it was really beaten up. I was a pro player back then, playing 7 nights a week and doing sessions. My guitar was in exactly the same condition as when I bought it. Gordon thought it quite funny when I took my guitar to Erics to have a couple more levers fitted and how unmarked it was. He said - "Do you ever take it out of the case?" I guess it shows how we all place different values on our instruments. Certainly not knocking Gordon as he was a legendary player, but we both had polar views on how we treated our guitars.

[Tony Smart]

I remember talking to Gordon once and he just kicked his guitar case over with the guitar in it. - I winced...
I suppose we're all different but I think it was just a bit of bravado.
No doubt about the fact that he and Pete Wilshire did a lot for the Pedal Steel in the early days.

[Ken Byng]

Well Pete was far more protective of his gear than Gordon ever was. Pete plays a 14 string Bennett these days. Like Gordon, he has succumbed to arthritis in his later years, and this has affected his playing quite severely. I will say this, Pete and Gordon (sounds like a 60's duo) were both very helpful to any up and coming steel player in the 70's, and weren't above getting newbies started on the instrument. When Pete worked at Rose Morris he had a steady stream of rock & roll guitar players wanting to take up pedal steel.