New to Lap Steel...advice please

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marcus449marcus449 Frets: 151
So I play slide, in standard tuning, on a tele.

I want to start messing around with a lap steel. I want a dedicated lap steel rather than say a guitar with a nut adjust.

Starter wise where should I be looking? Thomann do Harley Benton ones but I'm not sure the quality will be worth it.

Any one play lapsteel and can give any tips to a starter? 
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Comments

  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3136
    My advice is dive in and experiment with tunings to find what works for you. I must be honest I struggled with lap steel but pedal steel has captured me, so I guess I’m advising stick at it and be less fickle than I was! :)

    Also, Harley Benton have a fairly good rep for a starting point so I wouldn’t be put off.

    Sorry I can’t be more use.
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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2419
    It depends what music you want to play. 8-string lap steels are favoured for swing, honky-tonk country and rockabilly. 6-string for bluesy stuff. I've had a Fender 8-string for years but wanted a 6-string about four years ago so picked up a Recording King which is excellent. It cost about £80 from Thomann but checking their site today I see that the price has almost doubled since then!

    Eagle music in Huddersfield used to do some good lower-priced lap steels but I think they may have moved more up-market now.

    No experience of Harley Benton but a lot of their stuff seems ok from customer reviews.


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  • stimpsonslostsonstimpsonslostson Frets: 5418
    edited October 2017
    I've got a Revelation RLS-DLX lap steel. 
    It's cheap, but quite good. 

    https://www.revelationguitars.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/RLS-DLX-Two-Tone-Sunburst-detail.png

    I'd also budget for a good Tone bar and heavier strings to get the best out of it- I'm playing 16s in open D. 
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7734
    Re playing start in open E or open D or DADGAD (I use this tuned up a step) these are most familiar from standard. Get a bar with a rounded edge and start playing fingerstyle on the right hand. One finger on a string so you use one finger to pluck while the others mute the unplayed strings. 
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    Lap steels don't need to be expensive, most of the tone comes from massive strings and a heavy tone bar.   I would maybe budget for a pickup change on a cheaper one, but it's a good place to start.
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31369
    One thing I did when learning lap steel is something I do when I'm experimenting with any alternative tuning - run it through a tuner so you can see at a glance what note you're playing. 

    Saved my poor old confused brain having to work too hard when I started improvising. 
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  • I use  D G D G B D which is called a "G" tuning.  Like any tuning that's different from standard it takes some time to adjust.  I made my lap steel for a 2 X 6 piece of Fir and some hardware store fittings, along with tuning key, pick up etc...., see pic.  

    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


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  • Further to  previous post:  At the time I built this I wasn't aware that most lap steels are short scale and I made mine based on a Les Paul scale so I could use it as reference to draw the frets on using a square and a sharpie.  I also used a tuner for that.  I have since played some short scale models and find they are a little easier to play but not enough to matter.

    “Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay


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  • marcus449marcus449 Frets: 151
    Thank you for these bits of advice. it'll be a 6 string that I'd go for. 

    @p90fool thanks for the tip about the tuner, hadn't thought of that.
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  • Just going through some old bookmarks in search of something else and came across what might be a useful forum for you:

    http://www.thebritishsteeliessociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=6d48a7f58806975fd6e9e5ac1aab78dc

    Lost count of the amount of times Ive tried and failed to learn little feat tunes on a rigged strat so might have a proper look at this meself
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11791
    Lap steel has its own technical requirements, which do not include high quality necks, so in fact the cheapest Thomann ones are fine to start on

    My first one is this (but with a different badge) I put a noise-cancelling seymour duncan pickup in it. I still have it.
    https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_slider_ii.htm?glp=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInYruq9GE1wIVAwvTCh1LNAkOEAQYAiABEgLK0fD_BwE

    • You should use a set of 15 gauge electric strings. You need a lot of tension to make lap steels work properly
    • start with a 6 string, very few play 8 string
    • most commonly used tunings for blues are open G and Open D, each of these will work supremely with certain songs, and be quite hard to work with on others.
    • They vary in scale length, the shorter ones should be tuned up 2 semitones from the tuning you want to use, so I have my cheap one tuned in open A I think, with the same intervals as open G
    • C6 tuning is great, but not the one to start with for blues. 
    • Em can be good, David Gilmour uses it for 2 or 3 tracks, but uses G normally http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=69
    • You need a heavy tonebar, do not try to do without. They are not cheap, My favourite is the Shubb SP1, now £26, was under £20 until last year: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shubb-SP1-String-Steel-Guitar/dp/B000EENFIG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508689670&sr=8-3&keywords=shubb+tone+bar
    • Biggest task is to get your ears working, learning how to slide up and stop at the right pitch, this is the worst problem many can tell if the notes are not pitched right when listening 
    • Work on vibrato. With a good tonebar, you can roll the bar, instead of shaking it to and fro like bottleneck players do

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  • Also worth popping over the British Steelies Forum - they have a section on Lapsteels.

    http://www.thebritishsteeliessociety.co.uk ;

    Cheers,
    Ben.
    I'm always looking for interesting USA Hamers for sale.

    At the moment I'm looking for:
    * Hamer Watson, SS2, Vintage S, T62.
    * Music Man Luke 1, Luke II

    Please drop me a message.
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