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Topic: 3/8" spacing...would like more information |
Tony Palmer
From:
St Augustine,FL
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Posted 6 May 2016 6:48 pm |
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I've been playing a lot of dobro and lapsteel lately and find I can really hit those strings the way I want to...much more so than on pedal steel, even though I've been playing pedal for 40 years and dobro/lap for only the last five with a LOT more playing over the last year or so. I've come to the conclusion it must be the wider 3/8" spacing on the lap and dobro vs the 1/4" on pedal steel. And yes I have large hands and long fingers so I'm pretty sure the extra space is making a positive difference.
I'm not aware of any 10 string pedal steels that are made with the larger spacing although I understand there are a couple of six string models being produced with 3/8".
I'd love to try one but of course with the demise of the STL convention and ever smaller shows I doubt I'll get to try or even see one without ordering one. And even if I did I'm sure I would miss the other four strings!
So what's the deal? Have any mfrs been able to make a ten string with 3/8" spacing?
Anyone else find they can pick better with wider spacing?
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Sierra S10 (three!), Peavey 112 and 115, Benoit dobro, Beard Model E dobro, Beard Roadophonic, MSA Superslide, Dean Nickless custom dobro |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 7 May 2016 12:02 am
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The old Fender cable steels, including the 10 string 800 and 2000, had 3/8" spacing. Most modern steels from the 70s onward have a little over 5/16" +/-.
I think the conventional wisdom dating back to the mid sixties, when 10 strings became standard on most production steels, was that the closer spacing was easier to play for most players. Sellers will tend to produce more of whatever it is that the most buyers want to buy, I guess steels are no different. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 7 May 2016 1:38 am
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| Ian Worley wrote: |
| Sellers will tend to produce more of whatever it is that the most buyers want to buy. |
My old D10 (which is nameless but probably early 60s) has the "standard" spacing that most people acknowledge as 11/32". I did (for a while - see below) own and play a U12 with 3/8" spacing, and although it was fine most of the time, the wide grips (like 3,5,8) were too much even for my reasonably large hands. When I reduced it to 9mm (11/32 = 8.7mm) it felt like coming home. On tunings with fewer than 10 strings where those wide grips don't arise, I imagine that 3/8" suits some folks very well - judging by the number of times this question arises.
[When building it I failed to manage well the fact that steel is metric over here but aluminium and brass are still in inches]
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Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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David Weisenthal
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 10 May 2016 4:28 am
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Pm sent
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Derby SD10, Peavey Session 400 |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 10 May 2016 6:58 am
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| When I went to playing a T-8 Stringmaster from a Gibson lap steel there was considerable difference in the string spacing. After playing the Stringmaster for a while I tried the Gibson again and really didn't care much for the wider spacing, by that time I had gotten used to the narrower spacing. |
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Richard Wilhelm
From:
Ventura County, California
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Posted 10 May 2016 8:38 am
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Narrow spacing is meant for meant for narrow minds.....just kidding. I use a Herco heavy guage nylon flat pick filed down some on the rough side. The tone I get off that rough side on my old Fender with the wider spacing, blows away the sound I get from a thumb pick, wide or narrow spacing. To me the 3/8" spacing is just perfect but I'm a little unorthodox.
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"Be Kind to Animals, don't eat Them"
"If you know music, you°ll know most everything you°ll need to know" Edgar Cayce
"You're only young forever" Harpo Marx
Fender 400, Fender FM212, G&L ASAT.
Was part of a hippie-Christian store in Cotati, California (circa 1976) called THE EYE OF THE RAINBOW. May God love you. |
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