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Post new topic Best Lap Steel for western swing?
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Author Topic:  Best Lap Steel for western swing?
Bryce Van Parys


From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 28 Nov 2021 5:12 pm    
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Hello. Tuned a Martin Backpacker guitar to C6 for a trip to HI. I found it quite easy to pick up the instrument so I want to get a good Electric Lap Steel. What's the best one to go for? I like Bob Wills and Asleep at the Wheel. 6 string seems to get most of what I need. Fender? Deluxe versus Champ? Other suggestions?

Bryce
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 28 Nov 2021 5:21 pm     Re: Best Lap Steel for western swing?
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Bryce Van Parys wrote:
What's the best one to go for?

There is no "best one."

Lap steels are like Lay's Potato Chips -- you can't have just one. They're all good (but some are better'n others).

Get several; they're (relatively) cheap.
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Noah Miller


From:
Rocky Hill, CT
Post  Posted 28 Nov 2021 5:31 pm    
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Yeah, while there's a wide range of steel sounds out there, they're a lot less pigeonholed by genre than guitars tend to be. Just about anything through a clean amp will work for western swing.
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Allan Revich


From:
Victoria, BC
Post  Posted 28 Nov 2021 10:40 pm    
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I wouldn’t worry too much about genre. All lap steels will play whatever kind of music you want to play.

If you prefer vintage instruments, I’d look at any of the Valco made instruments with the string through pickups (Supro, National) as good starting points. A Gibson BR9 with its original P90 pickup is another good start. If you can find a Rickenbacher with its original horseshoe pickup at an affordable price, grab it.

If new is your “thing”, I’d look at the individual builders before going for a Chinese made corporate instrument. Clinesmith (a bit pricier than others, but really a bargain when it comes to value), Fouke (aluminum, built to be gigged with), I own one of each and like them both!

There are several other builders here too, many of them with loyal fans. Hopefully you’ll hear from (or about) them soon.
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G – G B D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D (re-entrant)

https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
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Brett Bonner


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 28 Nov 2021 10:55 pm    
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I’ve found 8 strings works best for Western Swing in A6, C6 High, or E13 tuning. I prefer the latter because most of the full chords for Western Swing are there without having to do many, if any, slants.
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Ken Pippus


From:
Langford, BC, Canada
Post  Posted 28 Nov 2021 10:57 pm    
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You'd have to look pretty hard for a recording of Bob Wills or A Sheep at the Wheel that wasn't recorded with at least an eight-string guitar.
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Glenn Wilde

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 12:22 am    
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If I'm choosing Champ or Deluxe, Deluxe for me, preferably with 8 strings and a trapezoid pickup. A later one Stringmaster style would work too. Interestingly, multi necks seem way more common than singles when we're talking eights.
If you're ever around Sacramento there's a triple eight Magnatone on CL for $700.00!! Its clean too but i can't swing it right now.
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Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 3:24 am    
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I concur with 8-string for Western Swing. I find 6-strings limiting for that style. With a 6th tuning, I'm missing something I want either on the top or on the bottom of the tuning.

While exploring playing nonpedal steel, I've lucked into quite a few different types of steels but gravitated to the classic 8-string models - a Fender Dual Pro (D8 with trapezoid pickups), Fender Stringmaster, Magnatone Lyric (T8 with almost Telecaster-looking pickups), and a couple of Gibson consoles (Grande Console, and a Consolette C-530 that I got from Noah), and a Bigsby-like Clinesmith cast aluminum single 8 long-scale with a Bigsby-style pickup. All of these steels sound authentic to me for Western Swing. I've had a few Valco-made (e.g, National, Supro, Airline brand) steels, and although they work, I gravitated more to bluesy stuff with them. It just seemed that the tonality fit better for blues to me.

I have to say that the Clinesmith cast aluminum is unbelievably good for practically anything I've used it for. Not inexpensive, but worth every cent, IMO.

Hey, a Magnatone T8 for $700 is a helluva guitar and deal. As I said, I have one, it's a great guitar. Heavy but totally cool. You could try a multitude of tunings all at once with that guitar.
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D Schubert

 

From:
Columbia, MO, USA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 7:08 am    
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I'd go as far as this: It would be more valuable to have an eight-string guitar for 6th and 13th tunings, than any particular brand at your stage of the game.
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Jesse Valdez


From:
Fiddletown, California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 8:07 am    
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8 string is the standard for most Western swing tunings, especially from Bob Wills and Asleep At The Wheel. I’d say go for a west coast brand guitar (Fender, Rickenbacher, Magnatone).
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Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 8:25 am    
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You can play any music on any guitar. That said, a lot of great Western swing music was played back in the day on these ...


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Tim Whitlock


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 10:51 am     Re: Best Lap Steel for western swing?
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Bryce Van Parys wrote:
I like Bob Wills and Asleep at the Wheel. 6 string seems to get most of what I need. Fender? Deluxe versus Champ? Other suggestions?

Bryce


Much of the old Bob Wills recordings were done pre-Fender. My choice would be an old Ricky B6. Something about bakelite resonates so well for steel guitar.
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Tom Keller

 

From:
Greeneville, TN, USA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 10:59 am    
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For my taste the best Bob Wills stuff was with Leon Mccauliffe onward.
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Ken Pippus


From:
Langford, BC, Canada
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 11:02 am    
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You mean like this?
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Glenn Wilde

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Nov 2021 12:52 pm    
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That triple Fender at GC i posted the psa for would be a good'un, its got what looks like a old Carvin pickup added on one neck but that might be cool for some tonal variety.
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Tim Whitlock


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 30 Nov 2021 8:01 am    
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Pretty sure Leon's Fender days were post Bob Wills. Still, a 50's Fender steel guitar is just dandy for western swing!

Ken Pippus wrote:


You mean like this?
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Nic Neufeld


From:
Kansas City, Missouri
Post  Posted 2 Dec 2021 11:08 am    
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I agree that many varieties of guitar will work just fine in terms of tone and practical operation...but the Fender consoles (Deluxe or Stringmaster) do really look the part for Western swing I think. Leave the frypans to the Hawaiian players I say Smile Mr. Green
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J Fletcher

 

From:
London,Ont,Canada
Post  Posted 4 Dec 2021 7:58 am    
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Well you can get the basics down with a 6 string steel tuned to C6 . 6 string lap steels are plentiful , and often inexpensive , $300 or so for a decent used one .
Later on you can decide whether or not you want 8 strings . Fender Deluxe 8 's are nice , though they usually go for $1000 or so . For a bit more $$$ you can get a D8 Stringmaster .
I say get a 6 string and see how it goes .
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Herb Steiner

 

From:
Spicewood TX 78669
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2021 6:46 pm    
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The model you should get is this,https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/goldtone/instruments/ls-8, the Gold Tone 8-string lap steel. $750 retail.

Eight strings is the way to go if you want to fully explore the tuning possibilities, and have MUCH more versatile guitar. If 8 strings are too much in the beginning, you can put a 6-string tuning on it and grow into 8 strings as you progress.
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Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?
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Ken Pippus


From:
Langford, BC, Canada
Post  Posted 5 Dec 2021 6:49 pm    
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Ah, Herb, what do you know about Western Swing?

(To clarify, a hell of a lot!)
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Bryce Van Parys


From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 14 Dec 2021 2:45 pm     Thanks for the input
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Thanks for all the info. So I'll keep and eye out for a nice 8 string. I can get all I want out of the back C6 neck on my Carter, but it's not so easy to "grab and go" if you know what I mean!
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Mike McBride


From:
Indiana
Post  Posted 7 Feb 2022 6:02 pm    
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Good used Epiphone Les Paul with nut riser and C6th set of strings $150 total. You can take nut off and sell the guitar for $120 when you are done with it and ready to upgrade.
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Samuel Phillippe


From:
Douglas Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 7 Feb 2022 6:41 pm    
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Mike McBride wrote:
Good used Epiphone Les Paul with nut riser and C6th set of strings $150 total. You can take nut off and sell the guitar for $120 when you are done with it and ready to upgrade.



Agree Mike. I did that trick on a cheap Gibson take off I picked up for $40 in a Goodwill type store.
Learned lap steel (C6) on that and then bought an 8string and play it tuned a6.

Use the nut riser every once in a while on my Gretch Electromatic, just for fun.

Sam
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