Covered Bridge on so many vintage steels

Ed Baker · From: Connecticut, USA

Why to so many lap steels, especially vintage ones, have a covered bridge?

It would take away the ability to do the classic boom-chicka palm muting sound.

Not criticizing ... just wondering

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

It is used to rest your hand on.

David M Brown · From: California, USA

Some of the pickup designs used the cover as part of the actual system, like the National-Supro pickups.

http://brawerguitarrepair.blogspot.com/2010/10/rewinding-supro-string-through-pickup.html

" The strings pass through a small opening between the coils and the top metal plate. The coils share the same magnetic polarity and achieves hum canceling by having the coils out of phase. Since no strings over lap 2 coils at a time the sound is not out of phase. The magnet or magnets (one is sometimes a piece of silver painted wood) are on either side of the coils and act as a spacer between the bottom plate and top plate. The magnetic field is unique and strengthened by the upper plate. "

L. Bogue Sandberg · From: Chassell, Michigan, USA

Probably simply for looks as well. Like peg head covers that get in the way when you are playing near the nut. Going from straight G 6 str. dobro to a G13 8 str., it was quickly apparent that I needed to move my palm off the bridge cover to palm block the strings. That effects tone. My 1949 National double neck has clear plastic bridge covers that force you to pick well away from the bridge. Too far, for my taste. Many of these guitars listed for sale are missing the bridge (and peg head) covers. I compromised by flipping the bridge covers end for end and neck to neck, getting my palm 3/4" closer to the bridge.

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

I had to take an otherwise beautiful pickup cover off of a vintage Ric Jerry Byrd console, because that thing looked great but made it quite unplayable, imho.
I took a lesson from Greg Booth recently and he told me to take the palm rest off of my Dobro too... same reason (Some dobros have a removable palm rest, like one of my Wechter Scheerhorns).

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

If my Gibsons were wall-hangars, I would leave the covers on. But since I like to play most of 'em, with one exception, they're all in a box in the closet.

Ed Baker · From: Connecticut, USA

Thanks, guys.

I figured it was probably decorative or some sort of rest.

I have a beat up 1954 Stringmaster D8. It didn't have the covers by the time I bought it. But, the holes drilled next to the bridge are still there.

I would've taken the off anyway. So, no loss.

Andy DePaule · From: Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon

I got them on my Clinesmith T-8 just because they look so cool. However they also do make a nice hand support which helps me because my hand is not as steady as I wish.

I can see why many guys would remove them as being in the way.
Years ago I took them off my 64 pre CBS Jazz Bass where they really did get in the way. Should not have tossed them out but I was young and dumb then. At least I'm not young any more. Laughing

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Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project.

Nic Neufeld · From: Kansas City, Missouri

I have them on my Stringmaster and once, at the prompting of my teacher, took the near neck cover off just to tinker with palm muting effects. That said, most of the time he's telling me to move my right hand further away from the bridge to get a fuller, smoother tone, and generally it gets in the way very little...I might actually put it back on (it looks nice and also prevents accidental changing of the blendpot, which I generally leave full on).

Now, I left the faux horseshoe on my Ric 4003 on...that was one time when it would have made more sense to remove it as it was more in the way of where I'd normally play. But I was young and shallow and I preferred the look with the cover on! Smile

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Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Quite a few pretty ones in Iowa.

Don Barnhardt · From: North Carolina, USA

Could be a carry-over from dobro. I don't like them either.

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