New Member; Question about Fender Dual Pro

Tyler George · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Hi everybody. I've been reading a lot from this forum and have learned so much already, but since I just ordered my first lap steel I figured it was time to join in! A little about myself: I'm 20 years old and living in Nashville, and I already play guitar and bass, and have dabbled in many other string instruments. I LOVE country music, not the new stuff but the old honky tonk/western swing, and have been wanting a lap steel for a while now. I'm confident on my skills of guitar and bass, but have plenty of room to grown and expand still. I'm also wanting to start playing out in and around Nashville, so if someones interested let me know.

I just ordered a Fender Dual Pro and it should be here by the end of this week. One of the pickups is slightly weaker than the others, but they both work, so at some point I might get them both rewound if I feel it will help. But on to my question now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Dual Pros have a shorter scale length than most steels, approx. 22" if I recall correctly. Will I need a lighter/heavier gauge set of strings for this? I'm planning on having one neck be E13, and the other either A6 of C6, and was planning on getting the same strings that are advertised on the forum store (for E13, high G# .012 and low B .042). Will this set work with the short scale? I know with short scale guitars and basses people uses different gauges, but am not sure for lap steel. If anyone could let me know, it'd be much appreciated, and if anyone has a better suggestion for tunings/string gauges for me I'd enjoy that as well.

I look forward to learning the steel, and thank you all again for being here to learn from.

-T

Jean-Sebastien Gauthier · From: Quebec, Canada

Welcome Tyler, you will have lot of with your lap steel but watch out its addictive! I totally quit regular guitar playing!

For the tuning and gauge, I try lot of things and I ended with the simplest solution for me. I buy the A6 set from juststrings.com and use it for all 3 necks of my fender stringmaster T8 with 22.5 scale. You can use bigger strings with shorter scale because they have less tension but I find that buy single strings is complicated and more costly and the Sit A6 set is allright.

I can use the same set for all 3 necks because the tunings a similar

top to bottom

E13 A6 C6

E E E
C# C# C
B A A
G# F# G
F# E E
D C# C
G# A A
E F# G

The A6 gauge is not perfect for E13 but is good enough.

For more info you can check the John Ely web site http://hawaiiansteel.com/

Tyler George · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Thanks! I sure hope I don't stop playing my guitar, I've put too much practice into it and I want to find a group where I can play my tele and lap steel. Do you happen to know what the gauges are in that pack? It doesn't say on the website and I can't find it anywhere. I'd like to be able to buy the strings individually, and there's a local store that I can do that close to me, so I can have spares on hand and have all my strings from the same brand.

Rick Abbott · From: Indiana, USA

I've been fooling around with some tunings for a while. What I use for strings is related to, but not exactly what is on this old chart: http://www.b0b.com/infoedu/gauges.htm

Now, 22.5 allows for a heavier string, say a .030 versus a .028. This can be your choice, and depends on how much tension you prefer on the strings.

Just decide on the notes you want, from the highest and follow the chart to the lowest, deciding on the hardness or soft feel of the strings.

E-13 and A6 are really good choices, especially if you play pedal steel. But really, they are great choices anyway.

Put the E13 on the "hot neck" because the strings will be thinner for that tuning. So, the "weak" neck will have the heavier strings and will balance the volume some.

My E13 is L-H: D E G+ B C# E G# F#
A6 is F+ A C+ E F+ A C+ E

Joe Ely has a chart that is scale specific, I think?

Keep asking! you'll get more than I can give you Smile

_________________
RICK ABBOTT
Sho~Bud D-10 Professional #7962
Remington T-8, Sehy #112
1975 Peavey Pacer

Tyler George · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Thanks Rick. So do you think that about .002 thicker would be what I'm looking for? I think I'll just have to experiment a little, but that'll be a good place to start.

Benjamin Kelley · From: Iowa, USA

Try http://www.hawaiiansteel.com John Ely has a very comprehensive page on tunings, string gages, and scale lengths. If you want to play out in Nashville, I highly recommend his Skype lessons as well. I have a similar background to you musically and it only took 2 lessons from him to start playing right, and about 4 lessons to start improvising and sounding decent.

Cheers,
Benjamin
_________________
If I die trying I will steel the world one honky tonk at a time.

Mike Neer · From: NJ

Look up Chris Scruggs and see if you can get some lessons with him. Of course, there's Kayton Roberts or Andy Gibson (one of Kayton's students), too.
No shortage of excellent players in your area. You don't have to go it alone. Laughing

_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links

Jerome Hawkes · From: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

check the tuners when you get it. before putting new strings on, take the tuner pans off and make sure no brazing is broken and the gears have some lube on them (i use that white lithium grease). those tuners are the achilles heel.
_________________
'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II

Tyler George · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

THanks for all the help guys. It'd be great to get lessons from anyone mentioned, and I'll start looking into them soon. I'd really enjoy lessons from Chris Scruggs, but have no idea if he gives them of what his schedules like now, so hopefully I'll get in contact with him soon. I'm usually pretty quick at learning stringed instruments, but I think that lessons will help me in the beginning to pick up the right techniques and to get me off to a quick start. And yeah, I hear there's at least a few steel players around Nashville, so that should help too.

Thanks for the heads up on the tuners. I've read a little about how they can cause problems, and how they're all connected to the pan, so it's not just as simple as replacing one tuner if I need to. I'm told they all work, but I'll make sure to clean them before I put new strings on to make sure they last a long time.

I also picked up some strings and picks from Bobbe Seymour's Steel Guitar in Hendersonville. I'm going to use E13 on one neck, and C6 on the other. I figure that should cover all the ground I need it to, and will be plenty for me to learn and master for years to come. Now all I need is for my steel to come... Time to wait.

Benjamin Kelley · From: Iowa, USA

Also you might talk to Bobbie Seymour over at Steel Guitar Nashville. I'm sure he could point you in the right direction.

Cheers,
Benjamin
_________________
If I die trying I will steel the world one honky tonk at a time.

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Tyler George · From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Thanks for the advice. After talking to a few other people I went ahead and bought a set of strings for C6 and E13. I can read about string gauge and scale length for as long as I want, but I'm not going to know for sure until I actually put some strings on. So when my steel arrives tomorrow I'll toss on the sets and see how they feel, and I'll adjust accordingly with my next set. And I'm going to search for an instructor soon, so let's hope all goes well.

And pics will be posted as soon as I get it tomorrow. Smile

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