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Author Topic:  Erecting and breaking down your steel
Landon Johnson

 

From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 7:48 am    
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OK, so here is an offbeat question - when you are getting ready to gig, how do you get your steel from the upside down position to the playing position? What do you grab and where?

I am always nervous about putting too much of a sideload on the legs as the threads on my guitar are already a bit loose.

I've had hernia surgery, so picking it up from the floor is not an option. I have to be careful.

How do you folks gig and ungig your steel?
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Tony Glassman


From:
The Great Northwest
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 8:21 am    
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With the guitar assembled and upside down in the case (preferably on a table or other elevated surface):

I grab the right front and left rear legs near the end plates and lift the guitar up and out of the case. Then I step back and let the guitar rotate gently outward with the front apron & strings resting against my belly and thighs.

The front leg tips hit the ground first followed by the back ones. The main thing is to keep the guitar close in to the body and allow its weight to rotate itself once it has cleared the case. I'm using minimal strength - just enough to control the rotation.

This puts the least amount of strain (torque) on the back & arms.
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Landon Johnson

 

From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 8:24 am    
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The issue I have is that some of the dives I play in have no chair or table - or room! A lot of times I have to put it together on the floor. More motivation to get better so I can get a 'roadie' LOL
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Lee Baucum


From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 8:31 am    
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Here is a video:

Click Here

He has lots of informative videos.
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 8:43 am    
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Why not just ask for help? It takes all of 5 seconds to do the flip. If you explain it to your band mate like you did here, there shouldn’t be a problem. Especially if there was a complimentary beer involved. Cool
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 9:39 am    
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I've always set my case on the floor and lift it out by the right front and left rear legs as previously noted.

Been doing this since I started playing Pedal steel in late 1969. I wish I had the proverbial "nickel" for every time I've done it.
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 10:07 am    
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If you have the Winnie Winston book, there's a few photos of a guy donning very stylish '70s duds demonstrating the proper technique, along with a couple paragraphs of explanation.

And if you don't have the Winnie Winston book, you might consider getting ahold of one.
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 10:39 am    
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My method is the same as the one demonstrated in Winnie's book by the chap in the scary clothes.

I did go through a period, post hernia-surgery, when I'd grab one end and ask for help with the other end. It's amazing how much less-intuitive the move becomes with a second human being involved.
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Rick Schmidt


From:
Prescott AZ, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 11:06 am    
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I too had a hernia surgery awhile back, but irregardless I always set the case up on on my seat when I'm assembling my steel. Then at least I don't have to bend over so far to pick it up... which kills my back. Asking for help is never beyond me though... Lord knows how many keyboard players I've helped over the years. Oh Well
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Mike Beley

 

From:
Alberta, Canada
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 1:28 pm    
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My guitar is very heavy so I usually call my wife to get her to pack it up for me....

...then after a few minutes of waiting, I do it myself.
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 1:35 pm    
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Same method as Jack...on the floor. It may not seem so, but it's actually easier for me on the floor than higher up on chairs, speakers,...whatever. Don't have to lift it so high that way.
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Stu Schulman


From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 2:09 pm    
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What Rick said!!
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 2:59 pm    
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proper attire is very important for an effective steel erection

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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 4:04 pm    
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I do it like the video. But sometimes (when my back is giving me fits) I stoop down and rest my elbows on my knees while picking up the guitar, and this makes it a little easier on the back...especially when you have a heavy guitar.

And while we're on the subject...

Note the fumbling/wiggling the guy in the video does when he's trying to get the angle right to start screwing in some of the legs. Laughing (I've done it myself countless times, too.)

This "fiddling/lining up and getting the angle right so the threads will start right" could be all but eliminated if more manufacturers would simply recess the threads like Fender did. On the Fenders, the threads are down in a counterbore that's about 2" deep. Therefore the legs just plop in the holes, bottom out, and then you tighten them up! Believe me, it really simplifies this operation. But most other manufacturers haven't been smart enough to adopt it, and they continue to just go on making the threads start near the bottom edge of the endplate.

Sorry builders, that's just not the best way to do it.

Rolling Eyes

~
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Henry Matthews


From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 6:36 pm    
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I don’t carry my steel in a case but when I do, it’s just a simple thing to get one of your band buddies or even a waitress, lol, to help you set it out. Much easier for two people.
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Paul Wade


From:
mundelein,ill
Post  Posted 6 Jul 2018 3:58 am    
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Mike Beley wrote:
My guitar is very heavy so I usually call my wife to get her to pack it up for me....

...then after a few minutes of waiting, I do it myself.
Laughing Laughing my wife just stares at me and say's "really " Laughing Razz
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Steve Hitsman


From:
Waterloo, IL
Post  Posted 6 Jul 2018 5:30 am    
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Don Curtis clued me to setting the case on my pack seat... seems the obvious thing to do, right?
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 6 Jul 2018 6:26 am    
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Steve Hitsman wrote:
Don Curtis clued me to setting the case on my pack seat... seems the obvious thing to do, right?


Unless you have a seat with a back.
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Mark van Allen


From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
Post  Posted 6 Jul 2018 9:58 am    
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I’ve always done and demonstrated uncasing/casing as above, except using left front and right rear legs. Must be the Day method...
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 6 Jul 2018 10:58 am    
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Mark van Allen wrote:
I’ve always done and demonstrated uncasing/casing as above, except using left front and right rear legs. Must be the Day method...


You might be on to something there. I'm a Day player, and I grab the left front and right rear legs.

Very Happy
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Michael Johnstone


From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
Post  Posted 8 Jul 2018 10:04 am    
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First step - Get the lightest single neck keyless guitar you can find. No false back neck dead weight "loafers" allowed. Hey live with it. In my case an Excel Superb U-12 with 8+9 which weighs 36 lbs.(40 lbs in its "in town" case, 49 in its flight case) Set up your seat first and assemble your steel with the case on top of your seat. Then follow the aforementioned proscribed steps....

You guys with fully loaded double 12s w/5 extra pounds of Grovers must go ahead and suffer for your art. Wink
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Eric Philippsen


From:
Central Indiana, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jul 2018 3:30 pm    
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Players do it differently but I dislike kneeling down and setting up with the case on the floor. At most club gigs I place the steel case on any nearby table and assemble it standing up. Where the job is not in a club I’ll often do the balancing trick by putting the case on my seat. But I’m nervous about that because it’s a bit of a balancing trick.
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Stu Schulman


From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
Post  Posted 13 Jul 2018 12:37 am    
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I used to play in a band with a guy who would try and surprise me by setting my steel up before I showed up.Not one time was anything correct especially wrong rods hooked up to the wrong pedals,I realize that he was trying to help but it turned out to be something that I would rather do myself and not have any help with...I didn't know wing nuts could be tightened that much.
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Bill Terry


From:
Bastrop, TX
Post  Posted 13 Jul 2018 5:28 am    
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Eric wrote:
I’ll often do the balancing trick by putting the case on my seat. But I’m nervous about that because it’s a bit of a balancing trick.


My routine is set up the pack-seat first, and in my situation I have an amp that's roughly the same height as the seat when on the floor, so I put the amp about 18" or so behind the seat and straddle the case between the two. That keeps me from having to dead lift it off the floor. I also use the 'one front leg, one back leg and rotate' method.

Then there are those guys that haul their steel around already setup.. Smile Nothing like fighting your way through a bunch folks holding a completely assembled steel guitar.
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Clyde Mattocks

 

From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 14 Jul 2018 5:55 pm    
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I identify with Stu's post. There must be something about putting a steel together that is irresistable to a non steeler. Also the well meaning people who want to help you unload. I only have four pieces to unload, but while my back is turned, they'll take every piece out of the back of my van, including the spare tire into the building.
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