advice on lap guitars please.

jodylou22

hi all, need some advice.
my bf has been playing guitar for a long time and has recently started to get back ache (he's an old man now.lol)
i saw a lap guitar for sale and wondered if it would be a better option for him?
if it is then Vday is coming and i'll know what to get him but that's where i need the advice-i know nothing of lap guitars!!
are they easier on the back? are they any harder to play than a standard guitar?  and what about the questions i can't think of?
please help. he's the most wonderful man in the world and i just want to make him happy.
thank you.
jo
  

DulcetJones

They are a bit tricky to learn even with guitar experience.   The tuning is  different and you have some slide technique to learn but they are easy on the back and fun.  I would suggest getting an instruction book along with it, and a slide bar.  You can use a bottleneck type but an actual bar is better.

p90fool

Hi and welcome. I think the point which needs to made first is that lap steel guitars are a completely different instrument in terms of sound, technique and repertoire. 

They are in no way a substitute for a conventional guitar, you have to learn how to play them from scratch and really like the music which is generally played on them, ie, country music.

Now I happen to love lap steel and country music, but I'd hate for you to give your b/f a totally inappropriate present, thinking it was just a way for him to give his back an easier time while continuing to play his normal stuff, it really would be like giving him a cello to give his feet a rest. 

Winny_Pooh

If he gets backache the lap steels are no more comfy. Do you have a pic of his current guitar and is it particularly heavy?

jodylou22

He has a takimine and a gordGo giltrap copy bub I can't rremembe which one hhe i using atat t moment . Sorry for the poor text but phonepis plplayinup 

Winny_Pooh

Those are relatively light acoustic guitars (I was expecting you to mention an electric) so unless you get something like a Taylor GS mini (excellent 3/4 guitar, I and many love and play them) which he may not enjoy, then back problems are possibly more due to the common angle at which the guitar is played and bad posture etc. Lap slide has no weight but can mean a hunched over position unless it's on a stand, either way it's a new instrument really. In this case you are best off discussing with him and making it a planned surprise in my opinion. 

TTony

jodylou22 said:

my bf has been playing guitar for a long time and has recently started to get back ache (he's an old man now.lol)

Unless the guitar playing is the cause of the recently developed back ache,  you might be better buying him a course of decent physiotherapy sessions to resolve the cause of the backache, rather than trying to find a different musical instrument that he can play within the constraints of the backache?

I say that from personal experience.    A few years ago I had a gradually worsening backache that I just put down to a combination of getting old and being unfit.  I avoided heavy guitars or playing standing up for any length of time.

Turns out that the cause was a gradually prolapsing disc.    Once I'd got that diagnosed and sorted out, life in general got a lot better.

GSPBASSES

p90fool said:

Hi and welcome. I think the point which needs to made first is that lap steel guitars are a completely different instrument in terms of sound, technique and repertoire. 

They are in no way a substitute for a conventional guitar, you have to learn how to play them from scratch and really like the music which is generally played on them, ie, country music.

Now I happen to love lap steel and country music, but I'd hate for you to give your b/f a totally inappropriate present, thinking it was just a way for him to give his back an easier time while continuing to play his normal stuff, it really would be like giving him a cello to give his feet a rest. 

I think Lab Steels are use in more then just country.