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Topic: Bridge covers and blocking technique |
Bobby Burns
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 25 May 2009 6:38 am |
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| I have noticed that most older lap steels have a cover over the bridge or pickup. Does this get in your way? I started out on a bakelite Rick when I was a kid. I had a hard time blocking notes that didn't need to ring. After playing pedals for a while, my blocking had improved, but it was still hard to block on the Rick. I know on the Rick the cover is part of the pickup. on other lap steels, is the bridge cover for electrical shielding? Is it a hand rest? It seems as if resting you hand on the cover would completely impair palm blocking, and just be a bad idea in general. Do lap players just use pick blocking or is there some technique that was common in the non-pedal era that we don't talk about today? Do modern lap steel makers even use a bridge cover? |
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David Soreff
From:
North Las Vegas, NV
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Posted 25 May 2009 6:42 am
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| I can assure you of one thing.....that hand rest is no hand rest!!! Yes, it is pretty much impossible to palm block with your hand riding on the cover, so don't!! Not sure if the majority of payers palm block, but I do, as well as a little pick blocking as well. |
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Bobby Burns
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 25 May 2009 7:02 am
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| I guess the short version of my question is, why do they have the cover? |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 25 May 2009 9:10 am "WHY do they have the cover?"
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Could it possibly be 'for decoration'?
Could it possibly be 'as a dust cover'?
Like the previous poster mentioned.......it IS NOT
an arm-rest or hand-rest! Some of the newer folk tend to think that it is but..........
THAT TIN CAN SOUND some of the folks are getting out of $4-5,000 pedal guitars can generally be attributed to picking on top of the pickup. |
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Geoffrey Dunbar
From:
New Zealand
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Posted 6 Dec 2010 8:16 pm lap steel bridge covers
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| The Essex lap steel I recently bought originally had a bridge cover (which one observer thought was from a fender bass bridge cover design), but it has gone missing. I'm wondering if people would advise me to replace it, and where to look for a replacement that would fit? |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 7 Dec 2010 6:08 am
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On most of my steels, the first thing I do is remove the bridge cover.
Without it there is a wider range of sound available
by varying where I pick and block with the right
hand.
Sometimes the cover is just "in the way."  |
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Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 7 Dec 2010 6:55 am
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My first lap steel was a Gibson BR9 that has a cover over the bridge which I used to anchor my right hand (like a dobro or banjo player). When I eventually played a steel without a cover it took a bit of getting used to but I realized that the cover just gets in the way. I've found that I like to do partial muting where I rest my palm on the bridge just enough to deaden the tone and sustain for effect. Sometimes I partially mute the low rythm note while I allow the high notes to ring.
It's that same technique that guitar players use, I just didn't realize that it could be applied to steel guitar.
_________________
https://markmansueto.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/65dQ3EyZC2RaqawA8gPlRy?si=dOdqc5zxSKeJI9cISVVx_A |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 7 Dec 2010 7:42 am
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| Mark Mansueto wrote: |
I've found that I like to do partial muting where I rest my palm on the bridge just enough to deaden the tone and sustain for effect. Sometimes I partially mute the low rythm note while I allow the high notes to ring.
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Same here. I always remove the bridge cover because of those 'guitaristic' partial mutes.
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"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
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