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Topic: Strings for 26" scale length |
John Polstra
From:
Lopez Island, WA, USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2014 4:41 pm |
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A friend loaned me a cool old 6-string Oahu lap steel. I want to string it up with a set of A6 strings (C#-E-F#-A-C-E low to high). However, the instrument has an unusually long scale length of about 26". Will a standard A6 set (say, .015-.034) work OK for it?
By the way, I'm a pedal steel player with almost no lap steel experience. I chose the A6 tuning because it's the tuning I've been faking on pedal steel, using the E9 neck with the A and B pedals down.
Thanks,
John |
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Brian McGaughey
From:
Orcas Island, WA USA
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Posted 12 Aug 2014 7:03 pm
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| John, I sent you an email. I've got a PDF that I can send you but the forum only supports JPGs and the like. |
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David Stilley
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2014 2:21 pm helpful charts and info
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Hi John, I don't know if you've seen these two links, I have found about everything I've ever needed to know about lap steel guitar tunings and string gauges. The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association and our fellow forum member Brad Bechtel's own site
http://www.hsga.org/strings.htm
and
http://www.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html
Brad's site is the best site of it's kind that I know of and I find myself there often looking for the facts! I couldn't be more grateful for his love of the instruments, music and his sharing of it through his website to those interested.
The HSGA site has string gauge specific info on the page I linked to. I don't think the added scale length will be problematic. Remember that lap steel strings sound the best when under pretty high tension compared to PSG's and regular fretted instruments. You don't have be able to bend 'em up with a lever or pedal or push 'em down to a fret board with your fingertips. So the heavier, high tension set-up always works better from my experience on non-pedal guitars. You can use this chart to figure out any custom gauge string set you need to put together for your own custom tuning variations and experiments. Very useful stuff as most lap steel players piece together string sets from singles.
_________________
GFI Ultra U-12 7+5 E9/B6, Roland Cube 80XL, Telonics FP-100 Volume pedal with TMRS remote sensor (courtesy of Dave Beaty and Telonics) |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 23 Aug 2014 2:45 pm
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The following is copied from a Facebook post by Basil Henriques on Keith Cordell's Lapsteel Lunatics page. It is excellent, specific information that may or may not useful to this inquiry.
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Personally I go for regular nickel wound, and I tend to go for the heaviest gauge possible. I find that the combination of round-wound and a taught string allow me to use subtle vibrato to increase perceived sustain..ALSO be aware that Stainless wound strings can damage your steel bar.All wound strings just plain old fashioned 'Nickel Wound', NOT Stainless.Here are my own gauges.The reason the gauges for the same note on different necks is sometimes different, is to do with string tension balance and matching tonality..Particularly the tonality.
Fender Stringmaster 26" Scale
E13th neck (NEAREST TO PLAYER)
1= E .0132= C#.0153= B .017 4= G#.022 PLAIN5= E .032 WOUND 6= D .0407= B .0468= E .054
C13th neck
1= E .0132= C .0163= A .019 4= G .022 PLAIN5= E .032 WOUND 6= C .0447= Bb .0488= C .066
B11th neck
1= E .0132= C#.0153= A .0194= F#.022 PLAIN OR 24 WOUND5= D#.032 WOUND6= B .0387= A .0488= B .068
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David Stilley
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA
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Posted 23 Aug 2014 3:04 pm Yes, I forgot to mention that!
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Slight variations in gauge will balance the feel of your set tonally. What works well with one tuning for certain pitch may be a little out of balance with another setup/tuning on a different guitar. Sometimes you have to go through a little trial and error to find what's best for you. But the HSGA string gauge chart is a good jumping off point for experimenters piecing together the odd tuning variation.
_________________
GFI Ultra U-12 7+5 E9/B6, Roland Cube 80XL, Telonics FP-100 Volume pedal with TMRS remote sensor (courtesy of Dave Beaty and Telonics) |
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John Polstra
From:
Lopez Island, WA, USA
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Posted 24 Aug 2014 6:43 pm
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Thanks for the advice, guys! For starters, I put on the gauges .014 - .017 - .022P - .024W - .028 - .034 based on the chart that Brian sent me. That's working out fine, so far. I'm still just learning to play the thing, so I'm not worrying about tonal subtleties just yet. I'm having a blast, but it definitely takes some getting used to after 4-1/2 years on pedal steel. The string spacing is quite a bit wider. Also, I can't play it very well on my lap. I do much better when it's on a table at elbow height, which is what I'm used to from PSG.
Thanks again,
John |
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David Stilley
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA
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Posted 24 Aug 2014 8:32 pm
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If you're playing it with a band, lots of folks seem to like playing them standing with it on a stand. I think some basic keyboard stands can be had reasonably and they're adjustable for standing or sitting hight. There are also a few special made for lap steels made by forum members I believe. Standing gives you some chance to move around a little more with the music. I think that standing steel players are more fun for the audience to watch and you can interact with the other players a bit more. Have some fun with it.
_________________
GFI Ultra U-12 7+5 E9/B6, Roland Cube 80XL, Telonics FP-100 Volume pedal with TMRS remote sensor (courtesy of Dave Beaty and Telonics) |
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