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Topic: new to this |
Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 19 Oct 2020 11:19 pm |
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| My brother gave me a 6-string lap steel for my birthday. I would greatly appreciate being steered in the right direction for learning. A few months ago, I bought an Oahu square neck and have been playing with that. I know it’s probably a tall order but I love the intro to Mama Tried and would love to learn that to surprise him after learning the basics. |
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Jim Pitman
From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2020 3:32 am
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Great and welcome.
How you tune the lap steel will make particular styles of steel guitar easier or harder to play.
For example some people tune a six string to the bluegrass Dobro open G tuning GBDGBD. Western swing players might tune to some form of C6 tuning, and blues guys may tune to an open E with a 5/1 interval on top.
Some of the tunings are well supported with available instructional material, others not.
I tune to open G as I started out as a bluegrass Dobro player. I can play the intro to Mama Tried. It's not exactly a beginner's lick. In fact the last bar has a 5 chord to 1 chord lick that I achieve by doing a forward slant on strings 2, 3,and 4 for the 5 chord resolving to the 1 chord by changing the bar angle to be straight across. - quite advance but I suppose it could be simplified. |
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Andy Henriksen
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2020 7:25 am
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| What version of Mama Tried are we talking about? Merle's studio version doesn't have any steel in it, right? |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 23 Oct 2020 2:05 pm
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| Mearl's did not have steel but I have seen it done on peddle steel. just wondering if it can be done on 6 string non peddle. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 23 Oct 2020 2:57 pm
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Here's one way to do it. Slide up fast into that last double stop.
It sounds kinda burr-nekkid without the fingerpicked guitar part.
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Gene Tani
From:
Pac NW
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Posted 23 Oct 2020 9:52 pm
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Excellent B-day pres!
Andy Volk and Dewitt Scotty Scott's books are great and Cindy Cashdollar's DVDs and probably Rob Haines' DVD (I watched his pedal steel version, not the c6 lap steel version).
You can also look for a teacher (in person or skype options now) or an experienced player by you to look at your steel, fingerpicks, bar etc. You can search the Members link above by city/state.
_________________
- keyless Sonny Jenkins laps stay in tune forever!; Carter PSG
- The secret sauce: polyester sweatpants to buff your picks, cheapo Presonus channel strip for preamp/EQ/compress/limiter, Diet Mountain Dew |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 28 Oct 2020 6:03 pm
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| Thanks to all for the input and thank you Fred for the tabs. |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2020 6:33 pm
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| Also I'm getting more of an electric guitar sound instead of steel guitar. Would changing my strings help? |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 8 Nov 2020 5:15 am
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| Hi. What is your tuning ? Which strings and gauges are on your guitar? |
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Mike Auman
From:
North Texas, USA
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Posted 8 Nov 2020 8:17 pm Q
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| Perry Mattingly wrote: |
| Also I'm getting more of an electric guitar sound instead of steel guitar. Would changing my strings help? |
In an electric lap steel, the pickup type and location have a lot to do with the sound. If your lap steel has an electric guitar pickup it will indeed sound a lot like the brand and style of electric guitar that the pickup was designed for.
You can change the character with the tone controls on your lap steel and/or amp, or to a greater extent with an equalization pedal between the steel and the amp (such as a Boss GE-7 graphic EQ.) Or you can change the pickup. String choice will not make much of a difference. There are many other factors affecting the tone/character, but they all have less impact than the pickup.
_________________
Long-time guitar player, now wrestling with lap steel. |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2020 6:58 pm Re: Q
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| Mike Auman wrote: |
| Perry Mattingly wrote: |
| Also I'm getting more of an electric guitar sound instead of steel guitar. Would changing my strings help? |
In an electric lap steel, the pickup type and location have a lot to do with the sound. If your lap steel has an electric guitar pickup it will indeed sound a lot like the brand and style of electric guitar that the pickup was designed for.
You can change the character with the tone controls on your lap steel and/or amp, or to a greater extent with an equalization pedal between the steel and the amp (such as a Boss GE-7 graphic EQ.) Or you can change the pickup. String choice will not make much of a difference. There are many other factors affecting the tone/character, but they all have less impact than the pickup. |
Mike Auman,
I was thinking of changing the pickup. What would you suggest? |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 17 Dec 2020 10:30 am
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Perry, can you post a pic of your lap steel? What make/model is it? Vintage or new?
_________________
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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Mike Auman
From:
North Texas, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2020 12:38 pm Re: Q
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| Perry Mattingly wrote: |
I was thinking of changing the pickup. What would you suggest? |
Lots of good discussions here about that! To see them, go to the Google search page for this forum - https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/google.php - and search for "6 string lap steel pickup".
And as Allan requested, if you can post a picture of your instrument along with some info, I'm sure you'll get lots of advice.
_________________
Long-time guitar player, now wrestling with lap steel. |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 17 Dec 2020 1:04 pm
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| Allan Revich wrote: |
| Perry, can you post a pic of your lap steel? What make/model is it? Vintage or new? |
My brother said it was just a starting point and can upgrade as I progress. |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 17 Dec 2020 9:05 pm
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| Perry Mattingly wrote: |
| Allan Revich wrote: |
| Perry, can you post a pic of your lap steel? What make/model is it? Vintage or new? |
My brother said it was just a starting point and can upgrade as I progress. |
Cozart make inexpensive instruments, either in China, or out of Chinese made kits. So there’s your starting point. What you do next depends on your comfort level with basic hand tools and a soldering iron. If those are no barrier, then there is lots of potential for DIY upgrades. If upgrading would require you to pay someone else to do the work, you’d be better off to keep this as-is, and buy a better instrument later.
Upgrading the pickups would definitely make a difference. The pickups are single coil, so you’re going to need to replace them with Strat style single coils or stacked humbuckers. You might be able to find sound samples on YouTube.
A nice upgrade path might be:
- pickups
- pots
- tuners
As far as specific pickup recommendations, others here are probably better experienced with lap steel pickup choices.
_________________
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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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 18 Dec 2020 4:30 am
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| Allan Revich wrote: |
A nice upgrade path might be:
- pickups
- pots
- tuners
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All of those items could be upgraded. 
My experience with those Chinese-made steels was to get one of the kits that replaces the nut and bridge with simple solid pieces and a fingerboard decal so that you can make the scale length a bit longer.
https://www.georgeboards.com/kits.html
"GeorgeBoards has created a DIY KIT to convert your import lap steel guitar into a playable 22.5" scale with string spacing and height found on Professionally Made Modern Slide Steel Guitars."
I've used this kit on both a singleneck (which I use a lot) and a doubleneck (now sold to another person)
and recommend it highly. |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2020 2:32 pm
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| Thanks for the suggestions. I'll start working on upgrades |
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Christopher Blood
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2020 2:45 pm
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| If you have an Oahu, you already own the upgrade. |
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Perry Mattingly
From:
California, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2020 2:59 pm
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| Christopher Blood wrote: |
| If you have an Oahu, you already own the upgrade. |
The Oahu is an acoustic. |
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