Is my tuning choice OK and Tonebar Choice

John RJ Wilson · From: United Kingdom

OK lots of views of my intro post, but no replies. I will start with questions then.

Firstly, Em tuning
Have I made the right decision on tuning to start with? Presuming that almost all songs can be played in all tunings, but some tunings make the "layout" if that is the correct term easier. Should I have gone for Open G?

Second. Very personal I know
The tone bar choice. I am using a glass bottle neck at the moment belonging to my son, but I was leaning towards a rounded nose Shubb sp2 or similar. The problem is that in the Fife/Edinburgh area of Scotland I cannot find a shop that stocks anything other than round bars, and therefore trying lots before buying is impossible, and i'd prefer not to buy sold unseen. I know nobody local who plays. Any Scottish members know of any place Guitar Guitar only stock Dunlop 925 in their mail order section.
Is this type better or not so good for small hands?
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Guyatone HG-91, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Ernie Ball Jr volume pedal.

Dale R Stiles · From: Bradenton, FL

Hiya John
Welcome.

I've played guitar for around 35 years. I'm self taught and hate classes. I've got experience with bottleneck blues etc during that time. I tell you that so you know where I was coming from when I started learning lap steel (very) recently.

I stumbled into a "closet find" 1965 Fender 8 string and got it thinkin about Blues, Sacred Steel, Bluegrass and yes even David Gilmour. Then I posted a question similar to yours about tuning. Tuning choice leads to string gauge choice and after 50 years in a closet that steel needed new strings.

I'm ashamed to say that amazing sounding steel sat in my closet for another 8 months as I stubbornly looked for a way to have my cake and eat it too. Fact is I'll always be grateful to C Strout, Stephen Cowell, and Mike Neer for basically telling me what I didn't want to hear: Learn the intrument first and then adapt it to what you want to use it for.

So Brother John, my opinion is simple.
Tuning: Start with C6 and really learn your grips and fretboard. Tons of excellent learning material -- I'm using Troy Brenningmeyer "Lessons with Troy" and George Piburn's "GeorgeBoards" lesson DVDs and CD tracks. -- THEN look at other tunings and make it your own.

Slide/Tonebar: This eventually will be personal based upon handsize and weight comfort, but slants are a little awkward with anything but a Bullet/Round tone bar when you start. I own a Shubb SP1 which I love for dobro style guitar on my lap but for my lap steel guitar and my steel lessons I use a vintage Black Rajah Bakelite round tone bar.

At this point my grips pretty well stink and I watch my right hand a lot more than I should but I haven't been this jazzed since 1976 when I paid $25 for a beat up Kay guitar from a pawn shop and sat down with a Mel Bay Chord book and a transistor radio.

Happy Trails
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1965 Blonde Fender Deluxe 8, Rogue Jersey Lightning, Roland Cube, Polytone Mini/Teeny Brute

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

There are advantages and disadvantages to all tunings. Learning what works best for what you're playing is part of the process.

For what it's worth, I started out on open E tuning (E B E G# B E bass to treble). I found it a good tuning for rock and blues, with David Lindley being a big influence.

When I started playing more acoustic resonator guitar, I made a conscious effort to learn the open G tuning used by most dobro players. I find that it's actually a very versatile tuning and probably play more in open G than any other tuning.

The nice thing about C6th tuning is that you have both major and minor chord shapes available without moving or slanting the bar. The thing that I didn't like about the tuning at first is the same thing that is its strength - the sixth note (A) made everything I played sound Hawaiian to me, and not in a good way. That takes some control and practice to get it right. That same sixth note comes in very handy for melodic and scale work.

I would recommend finding and learning to play with the root, third and fifth notes of whatever tuning you're using.

As far as a steel bar goes, the Dunlop 925 is a very good bar and would be a good choice for starting out. You'll probably end up owning a variety of bars based on your own preferences in length, weight and circumference, but the 925 is a good starting point.
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A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Dom Franco · From: Beaverton, OR, 97007

I want to ditto what Brad said about the C6 tuning. Having full major and minor chords available will allow you to learn almost any song in any key, and you will quickly make the connection in your mind to the piano relative minor chords that you must already know.

Any sixth tuning would work as well. (G6 is essentially E minor with and added D note)
I play A6 which is a great compromise in pitch and allows the use of identical gauge strings as C6th.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of C6th is the abundance of learning materials... tons of tablature and complete lap steel courses out there.
Happy steeling.
Dom Smile

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John RJ Wilson · From: United Kingdom

Thanks for the replies, I have bought a Shubb SP2, and I like the feel of it, so sorted for the time being on that score.

As to tuning.
When you ask experts for advice, and everybody comes back with basically the same response, it seems rude and foolhardy to ignore this advice. So I amd going to start on C6 due to the amount of tutorial material out there, and learn the basics, grip, mutes etc etc, then I will change to a more appropriate tuning for my style of music later.

Thanks all
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Guyatone HG-91, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Ernie Ball Jr volume pedal.

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