chris ivey wrote:heavy old steels.
when many of us started out we were playing zbs, msas, sho~buds, emmons, and other era steels..sierra, blanton, bmi, etc.
everything was heavy and we dealt with it.
now every msa classic discussion ends up with, 'but they're really heavy'. so what?
zbs and p/p emmons were actually heavier...
Astute observation that tracks with how often I see folks looking to trade their D10s for something lighter.
Chis, I take my hat off to you for soldiering on. Even the light ones are heavy. If we didn't love playing these things it wouldn't be worth the bother.
no one bashes emmons.
Clearly the Emmons P/P has special standing. I mean, why no Sticky "How to Tune a ShoBud?" I could complain, but I've reached the conclusion that it can't be done (sarcasm intended).
I gotta chime in for my buddy Chris .... Whom I have met, and have a great deal of respect for. He is an old school picker that speaks his mind, and speaks it from years of experience. When he speaks of something.... He has done it, drank it, or eaten it. He, just like everyone else here on the Forum, is entitled to his opinion. He is certainly able to deal with negative fallout. You guys that cant handle someone elses opinion should look and see if you have the requisite man parts....... If not then get your blue jammies and teddy bear and go find your safe zone
When I first joined the SGF, I thought who is this knuckle head chris ivey? But I couldn't stop reading his posts and have grown to love and respect him....If he stopped posting,(love him or hate him) we all would miss him very much....And by the way, I just brought a friends D-10 MSA home to work on, and I can barely lift it....WAY HEAVIER than my LeGrande II D-10....Am I Whining?...I Think, I'm Whining.
By public request, I'm retired from pubic performance ! When I do go out with my D10 MSA , I carry it in a gig bag....weight problem solved. Did I mention I have to carry it up 2 flights of stairs to get to street level ? So I'm trying to lighten every piece of gear I have and take the least amount of it with me....less is more
Rich Upright wrote:"
It's even worse than that--I think he rides a GOLDWING!
It's all relative, at least to me. For the past 50 years (!) one my main axes has been a B3 and a 122. Granted, I don't have to move them around anymore, but I did for alot of years. That's my yardstick for what's heavy and what's not so heavy...so steels and amps don't seem all that heavy to me...
Another thing that sticks with me is that when the record light comes on, or when you crank it up on the bandstand...what it weighs is not what matters.
btw... I think Chris basically tells it like it is, and that's ok by me.
Besides, filters are overrated, IMHO
With all due respect to others on the forum, I can't get behind bagging on Chris. If you have an issue with him worth addressing, it'd be more productive to shoot him a PM and address it privately.
I wouldn't mind carrying a heavy D10.... but I'm probably expected to, bein a "youngin" and all
Chris's comments are fine, albeit a bit complex and difficult to decipher at times.
As for "too heavy" steels ... I have gotten comments about my Dekleys being "a bit on the heavy side" when fellow steelers try to lift them, and I guess they are.
I have battled back problems and pain for over 30 years now - mainly from a car crash back in time. But, pulling my preferred "tone machines" around haven't made it worse, so my lighter steels are likely to stay at home for a few more years while I whine over their inherent lack of tone and sustain
To everyone else - this forum just would not be the same without characters like Chris! He calls 'em how he sees 'em.
He is damn funny when he (deservedly) brings down people's egos a notch or two, like when a member has been on here two seconds and starts pontificating about this, that and the other.
I think that Chris is like the forum's ego detector - a lot of people who find him so objectionable need to lighten up a bit and not take themselves so seriously.
Thanks Donny for reminding people how touching Chris can be!
Let's get back to the subject of the weight of our gear.
We are all getting older, and those of us (like me,) who are now Sr. citizens just don't have the strength we had when we were younger.
For me at least, lightweight gear is a true blessing. It allows me to continue to perform without getting exhausted before I start playing, from carrying by gear.
In my opinion, the new lightweight gear is just as good, if not better than the old heavy stuff that I can't lift anymore. My MSA Millennium is a great guitar, and the Quilter Steelaire sounds like a million bucks.
To get back to the topic, our instruments are heavy. A few years back I contacted Danny Bentley and had him make me a case. It's made out of the same stuff as hard drum cases. it easily shaved off twenty pounds. Well worth the investment. I believe Steve Hinson now builds them. I highly recommend them.
As far as Chris goes, I always look forward to his posts as he is direct and to the point and essentially says, spend your time playing and forget about what others think or have. There's others here on the forum that annoy me way more, so I choose not to read their posts. Sometimes I wonder how they have time to practice since they have an opinion on everything.
Split cases, cases with wheels. I love my laquer MSA. It's heavy but at least it doesn't walk all over the place. If I find a lighter steel I like ill take it but weight is the last thing I really care about. I am 43 so my back can still take it. Maybe I'll sing another tune in 20 years.
And yeah, I like Chris' posts. he pulls no punches and is informed. I've heard plenty on this forum who are abrasive and uninformed and I'll take Chris any day over that.
When I bought Mike P's MSA SD-10 in a wheeled flight case, he told me it weighs 'one tonnes.' It did, but there was something about the sound....
The lever action was great with all that weight.
It would have been a great steel to leave in the studio or living room (lovely turquoise lacquer) but when I hit the road, it had to go.
Two light-weight steels have replaced it since; together they wouldn't reach the weight of the MSA.
Surely there's no doubt that effective weight transfer to the floor could contribute to tone.
I nearly always find an excuse to leave the effects rack home and bring the DD-6,and to bring the NV 112 instead of the Twin-Reverb or the Session 500.The MSA D-10 hasn't left the house in 15 years and I've even had the heretical thought about a split case for my old reliable S-10 and leaving the Universal at home too....
All seriousness aside,everything you can do to lighten the load and lift smart is what you should be doing.
I have been blessed with Chronic Degenerative Disc Disease. I've had a 4 level cervical fusion with hardware. I also have Lumbar Osteoarthritis and a herniated disc in the middle of my back.
There are days I struggle with carrying anything over 10 lbs. I have no choice but to lighten my gear load. If that's at the expense of having the gear I'd like to have instead of the gear I do have then that's the price I have to pay.
I do have gigs where I'm in pain from load in, playing, and load out. I take a couple of those instant cold ice packs to every gig. I use them between sets and after I'm done with the load out. Then when I get home if it's really bad there's always better living through chemistry.
I'm very fortunate to have 2 younger guys in the band that help me carry the heavy stuff.
Do I whine about the weight? No, I did something about it, including asking for and accepting help.
Now to address Chris Ivey.
For some it's our responsibility to comfort the afflicted. For others it's our responsibility to afflict the comfortable. Only you can decide which one you or they are.
When someone rubs me the wrong way I have to remember it's the friction in life that builds character.
Zum SD-12 Black, Zum SD-12 Burly Elm Several B-Bender Tele's and a lot of other gear I can't play.
I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted. W.C. Fields
All the comments here are very interesting and I do agree that different personalities make the World go around. I am confident that Chris Ivey is a nice guy and just blunt when he feels needed. I didn't mean to come down so hard on him and hopefully I'll have a beer wI think him someday.
If I only stopped smoking, I would not run out of air after carrying my Sierra for twenty meters. It ways about twenty-seven kilos. I'd rather would like to carry a few kilos more for a stable case. I'm always afraid that the case will fall apart and the steel hits the ground.
So I'm whining about two things I guess. Not to be able to afford a good case and smoking
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube.
Nah, I think we ought to talk about chris more. Just kidding. You know how we love to talk about each other given a straight line.
But you gotta admit, he gets the same polarized response that Jerry Garcia does....
I suppose it could be worse than lugging around a "loaded" D10. I played guitar in a blues/rock band in the 70's - of course the keyboard player had a Hammond B3. Helping to load that beast in/out of a basement or 2nd floor club was always a character-building experience. And now that it's payback time 40 years later, I don't have a clue where he is!
I've never been in a band where C6 playing was required, so I didn't have to bust out the D-10 unless I wanted to. But that old Sho-Bud S-10s is pretty darn heavy, too.
chris isn't mean, just honest with himself and others.
Last edited by Frank Freniere on 30 May 2016 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
It's all relative, at least to me. For the past 50 years (!) one my main axes has been a B3 and a 122. Granted, I don't have to move them around anymore, but I did for alot of years. That's my yardstick for what's heavy and what's not so heavy...so steels and amps don't seem all that heavy to me...
And not to foget the drummers!
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube.
Are we so thin skinned that we actually care if someone,on a niche' Internet BBS no less, says that may or may not hurt our poor little feelings ?! That's what's wrong with the world today.....
When I do go out with my D10 MSA , I carry it in a gig bag....weight problem solved. Did I mention I have to carry it up 2 flights of stairs to get to street level ? So I'm trying to lighten every piece of gear I have and take the least amount of it with me....less is more
