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Topic: Change tuning : |
Robert Lashnits
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 26 Mar 2024 3:28 pm |
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I have Just begun the journey into playing lap steel guitar. I bought an inexpensive Lap steel , And have a question of tuning it. My lap steel guitar Is tuned to C6. Is it possible to change the tuning to open D or G. Is it just a matter of buying the right strings For that tuning , Or is there a more complicated Process To go through. I play guitar , And I'm really enjoying the Sounds the two instruments Make together. Thanks for Help in advance. I appreciate it.
Rogue lapsteel.
Played mainly through an Audio interface on Windows 11 PC.
It's A 6 String lap steel |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 27 Mar 2024 4:45 am
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It's a matter of using the correct strings for the tuning. Typically C6th tuning uses a much lighter set of strings than open D or G.
Look at Just Strings or in the Steel Guitar Forum store link at the top of this page to find some options. Your steel should be able to use any "common" tuning as long as you use the appropriate gauges.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Robert Lashnits
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2024 5:00 am
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| Thank you Brad Bechtel , I will check the store. |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 28 Mar 2024 2:14 pm
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Broadly speaking, tunings often fall into one of two categories:
High Bass or Low Bass.
For example G Low Bass:
D
B
G
D
G
D
and G High Bass:
D
B
G
D
B
G
Low Bass tunings came first, and can generally get by with a regular pack of armpit guitar strings.
Called such because they utilize that bottom 6 string.
Some examples are open G (not the dobro version) open A, open D and open E.
A cool somewhat underrated one is F#9th, which high to low is E C# G# E A# F#.
High Bass tunings are different and the strings are pitched more closely together.
Instead of the low 6th string, they have a another string thrown into the middle.
These require specialized string gauges and can’t just use a regular pack of guitar strings because those low strings are too thick to be tuned up to the required pitches.
Examples are C6, A6, B11th, Dobro G and (usually) E7th
If your guitar is strung up with a Low Bass tuning, you should be able to get away with tuning to the other Low Bass tunings.
Same story with High Bass and other High Bass tunings, though you might have to shift the pitch up or down a step depending on the gauges.
So if you are tuned to C6th, it might be better if you are tuning to dobro G shifted up a step to be in A instead:
E
C#
A
E
C#
A
The bottom strings might be a little light now, but for the sake of experimentation, it should totally be useable IMO. |
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Bob Shilling
From:
Berkeley, CA, USA
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 31 Mar 2024 10:01 am
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I use John Ely’s guide to string gauges https://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/gauges.php
You’ll also find a bunch of possible tunings on my website (URL in signature).
You can generally use the same strings for multiple tunings but there are two basic families. For higher tunings with close intervals a C6 set will work. For tunings with more range and lower bass notes a set of Open E strings will work.
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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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