Do you ever leave your steel at a gig?

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 19 May 2007 8:27 am

Although I loved my old steel, if I was working a joint for a couple nights I would always leave it set up on the stage over night sometimes for a month.
It's just different with my new axe. The other night after the gig the lead player (he had both his guitars in gig bags on his back) asked why was packing her up, I asked him if he would leave his girl at the club. I did not mean his axes, I meant his girlfriend.
I am getting very attached to Jherri Lee, heck I don't even leave her in the car overnite.

Leonard G. Robertson · Post by **Leonard G. Robertson** » 19 May 2007 9:00 am

I just started leaving my complete set-up at an every monday night jam. It is a close friend's renovated barn with heat & air close to their residence. It is convenient to come & go on my goldwing now. I have duplicate (similar) equipment to carry in my van for other gigs. I frequently leave my dobro at church.

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 19 May 2007 9:59 am

My father was a Bishop and he play steel guitar. He had his music equipment stolen out of the church three different times. I played and left my equipment in the night clubs during the same years and never had anything stolen.

David Collins · Post by **David Collins** » 19 May 2007 11:28 am

Not unless the gig is at my house!

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 19 May 2007 11:43 am

No - I never leave anything I can't afford to lose. IMO, guitars, steels, and cool vintage amps are a big temptation for some otherwise honest people. I've seen lots of other peoples' stuff ripped off. The only things of mine anybody ever stole off a stage were a leather jacket and a Red Sox cap, right after the gig before we loaded out. I know who did it, but couldn't prove it "legally".

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 19 May 2007 12:02 pm

I left my Emmons D-10 on stage for 5 years solid! We played Wednesday through Sunday in the same joint, and the place was pretty secure. I just covered the PSG with a blanket. Occasionally I would take my steel guitar out to play another gig, but I had a couple of PSGs so there was no need to haul one and set it up 5 nights in a row. When we finished that gig after 5 years, and I packed up my Emmons, and there were 4 stains in the carpet from the 4 legs of my guitar. Needless to say, the guitar was a mess, worn and nicotine stained.

I think a PSG is the last thing a thief would take. It's heavy, very few people know how to play it, and most people don't even know what it is. I think they would grab the guitars, mics, effects, and maybe a lightweight amp. I've never had any gear stolen from me.

Roger Francis · Post by **Roger Francis** » 19 May 2007 12:25 pm

Mine has been at the same club for about a year and a half except for a few weekends we played out.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 May 2007 12:27 pm

Interesting question and timing..

I left my Steel at the gig last night for the first time in a few decades...I do usually leave the amps for the overnight adventure.

The entire band leaves there stuff, even guitars, I never do, last night was a real oddity for me..

I did bring the Telecaster home though...

I have the same opinion as Dave above on this one, I never leave anything on the gig that I cannot replace or cannot afford to lose.. I hope this does not become a bad habit.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 19 May 2007 12:35 pm

Like Doug, on a 6 night a week sitdown in a Hotel or nice club, where it was well secured, It was nice to cover my equipment and come in every night and just play.

But otherwise in a regular bar job for a weekend, I took the steel home every night, just wouldn't trust it would still be there or damaged the next day...al.

:).

James Cann · Post by **James Cann** » 19 May 2007 1:38 pm

I did it occasionally in my old MSA Semi-Classic days, but now, it's an LDG issue. Besides, I'd feel more angst and rage at the thought of the thief's attitude toward the guitar itself, which couldn't be anything like mine, than I would about simply losing it.

So, no thanks. It goes home with me . . . and since I'm at the sub/temp/pick-up stage anyway, the point is moot.

Ward Odom · Post by **Ward Odom** » 19 May 2007 4:49 pm

Around 1950 a country band from Memphis had a regular gig at a club in West Memphis, Arkansas. They all left their gear in the club when they finished each evening. One day the IRS showed up and put a padlock on the club (the owner was in arrears with his Federal taxes). As I recall, it was weeks before the band was able to recover their equipment.

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 19 May 2007 5:35 pm

The most secure place I have left my M3 MSA was in a club in Mexico. El Patron told us not to worry ... no problemo.
I glanced upon the roof, and there were a coupla armed guards.

It dawned on me that this man had the biggest business in town. No live music, no customers.

Ron

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 20 May 2007 2:01 am

Never!! Not now...not ever!! Amps, seat, etc., yes. Steel, NO!!!
PRR

Mark Edwards · Post by **Mark Edwards** » 20 May 2007 3:26 am

Tony Davis · Post by **Tony Davis** » 20 May 2007 3:43 am

My first solid gig was Wednesday to Saturday in a knock em down drag ,em out pub..."dont sit on that chair it has blood on it !!!!
The Boss gave us space in a lock up room under the stairs......so Yeh..I used to leave my gear there...take it home Sat night so I could play different gig Sunday....................mind you.....my steel was Cr@p and so was my amp...all I could afford untill this Gig paid for my Emmons and Peavey,,,,,,,,no way would I leave those two anywhere now !!!
Tony

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 20 May 2007 7:19 am

In the old days of six-nites-plus-matinee, it seemed like most everyone did, including me. In some of the Toronto clubs we had to move all the stuff to the back of the stage so that the dancers could do their thing in the afternoon. I wouldn't dream of leaving my equipment overnight in places like that now! Now I play a lot fewer dates, but good ones in good places, and I don't even feel happy about leaving the stuff there between soundcheck and the show (but I do, my picks and bar and stuff go where I go). The good ol' days of six-nighters were not really as good as all that - smoky dumps full of drunken criminals! But I loved it back then!

Mike Ester · Post by **Mike Ester** » 20 May 2007 7:35 am

Not no, but H-E-L-L NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 20 May 2007 1:51 pm

After 30 some odd years of 4-5 nighters week in and week out, I have always left my guitar set up.

The thought of loss is always lurking in the back of my mind and even though I do get slightly apprehensive when I leave it, I think about how many years have passed with no problems and the feeling dies down.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 20 May 2007 2:43 pm

I always figured what with wear & tear on equipment being transported and the possibility of car trouble or a wreck on the way home neither option was more dangerous that the other. I've left my stuff at clubs around Nashville for months at a time. And tuning is easier when your axe stays in the same place.

C#

www.calsharp.com

Dennis Schell · Post by **Dennis Schell** » 20 May 2007 5:13 pm

My pal Ray Morrison, who I played with for a long time up in BC, always left his stuff at the gig. He covered his steel with a Canadian flag....

Dennis

(Someone ripped off the flag one time though...)

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 20 May 2007 6:10 pm

I should have elaborated a bit in my previous post. Some years back, the late Dick Johnson and his band were 'regulars' at a place near his home in Salem IL. One late afternoon, the place burned to the ground along with all the band's equipment. . .and along with Dick's BMI D-12-10!! He even suffered some minor burns trying to rescue his guitar from the rubble. There wasn't enough left of it to scoop up into a bucket. My answer still remains 'NO'!!

FWIW the club's insurance company wouldn't cover the loss and there was the usual 'fine print' in Dick's insurance policy that prevented him from collecting a dime toward any of the loss.
PRR

Ernest Cawby · Post by **Ernest Cawby** » 20 May 2007 6:42 pm

We play Quitman Tues. and Friday nite, I leave guitar and amp setup take all accs, in my pack seat home with me.
I have my complete Shobud set up at home. So no need far one to practice on. It is in the same block as the police station and the building only used for our gigs.
Billy has another store on the next corner and is open all day.
By the way we had the best time in years playing this jam last Friday nite everything went so well we enjoyed it the most.

ernie

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 20 May 2007 8:50 pm

Bo Borland wrote:I asked him if he would leave his girl at the club. I did not mean his axes, I meant his girlfriend.

I can't even count how many times I've left girlfriends at the club, even a couple of ex-wives.

Bo Borland wrote:heck I don't even leave her in the car overnite.

I've even left girlfriends out in the car overnight!

As for steels, amps and other instruments, I have no sexual attraction to them, and have never thought of an instrument as a girl or a boy.
They are just tools to get the job done, and they stay on the job site till the work is done.
I had a house gig at the Frontier for 2 years, then went to Harrah's for 4 years. My steel, amps, and guitars stayed set up for over 6 years.
I do take my Martin D-18 home with me, but thats because I like settin' on my porch playin' it on my day(s) off.

Marlin Smoot · Post by **Marlin Smoot** » 20 May 2007 9:19 pm

I have a single 10 Emmons now and its just too easy and quick to take down at the end of the evening to leave it at the gig, real light too. I also have a Tele I take but it goes with me too. The amps and chair - everything I can replace, stays at the gig so set up time is quicker.

For some reason I've always been lucky and never had any problems over the past 30 years of weekends and one road gig out of Nashville in the mid 1990's with The Hutchens. (They were on Atlantic Records and had one single release "Knock Knock")

I also had friends, The Stewart Brothers/Loose Change Band - that left their gear at a club that burned down in Frisco, TX a few years back at a place called Brokenspoke... I always thought if I had been playing with them that weekend, my 1974 D-10 Emmons would have been fire wood too. Spare the thought...

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 May 2007 11:29 pm

Most steel players who have been in a long-running house band, 5 nights a week in the same club for several years, leave their gear in the club. When I first started my house gig I would pack up my steel guitar every night and take it home. The next night I would haul it back and set it up... Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun. After a few weeks of this it seemed like insanity, and a lot of unnecessary work. So I left it in the club for 5 years and never had a problem. I just covered it every night. Nowadays I play a lot less and all one-nighters, so it's no longer an issue.

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Do you ever leave your steel at a gig?

Do you ever leave your steel at a gig?

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