Re: Opinions sought -- lap steel guitar

Tony Done <tonydone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"RichL" <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Tony Done <tonydone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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Tony Done <tonydone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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Tony Done <tonydone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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RichL <rpleavitt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Ran across this on e-bay. Turns out it's from the used guitar
store that I usually do business with:






http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Handmade-Lap-Steel-Guitar_W0QQitemZ190339876734QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories?hash=item2c5124077e

Follow up...I thought about it a little more and decided
against it. But now I've got lap steel gas.

Any opinions on this Gretsch that Musicians Friend sells?





http://folk-instruments.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gretsch-Guitars-Electromatic-Lap-Steel-Guitar?sku=511566

That looks like a wider pickup than the fender-style that I've
seen on most lap steels. Maybe a little more P90-ish? Anyway,
I can't tell if that pickup has adjustable pole pieces, which
I'd consider a real plus.



Musicians Friend has a couple of lap steels that have standard
P90 or humbucker pickups. That is what I would go for. The lap
steel is only a lump of wood to hold the pickups, so I would be
looking for something where parts swapping was easy. An old
Supro would be good, as suggested by MB, but they are getting
expensive, and you have to factor in the possible cost of
pickup repairs if the pole pieces are frozen in a bad spot.

Tony D

I wound up buying it.

I took off a bit early and hit the store on the way home.
They actually had *two* lap steels...the other was a Fender that
was selling for about $350. So I gave 'em each a test run.
Honestly, I liked the sound of the cheap, no-name one better. I
played them both through a Fender vibroverb amp, I think it was
the '63 reissue. Anyway they both sounded good but the no-name
had a darker sound that I really liked. I guess that's a
function of the pickup position. The thing's solidly made, I
couldn't find fault with it.

I'm thinking of getting a stand for it. If I play it on the
stand, I can't see the position of the vol. control and output
jack being a big drawback although I may see the importance of
that later on.
The thing is, this one spoke to me and the Fender didn't, aside
from the fact that I can't justify spending anywhere near $350 on
something that I may give up on in a couple of months, and if I
decide to get something fancier later like an 8-string I'm not
out too much money on this one. The thing about Atomic Music is
that they guarantee a buy-back on anything they sell at any
time, no questions asked, at 70% of what I paid. Just gotta
save the receipt.

I played it for a few minutes when I got home, ran it straight
into the VJ. That pickup is capable of overdriving the VJ hard,
no problem, so I backed off a little bit until I got a sweet
sustain. It sounds pretty good played through that amp!

Anyway, now I've just gotta learn to play the goddamned thing..



Well, as long as you're happy with it. The pickup probably has
plastic bobbin, so if it also has alnico slugs you could move them
to get the string-to-string balance where you liked it. It was
actually curiosity about vintage pickups of the Supro and
Rickenbacher kid that got me interested in lap steels, and from
there electric slide in general. It is still very much "pickups
first" for me in electric guitars. I can't play lap steel anywhere
near as well as Spanish position, but the challenge of it keeps me
trying When I'm feeling really masochistic I have a go on the
8-string. My current favourite is the pawnshop strat with Lollar
Chicago pickup - which I also play lap style sometimes.

From what I've heard so far, the string-to-string balance is pretty
decent. If anything, the low E is a bit weak. but that may be
because I've only played it so far with the fairly thin-walled
glass slide that I use for guitar slide playing. I need to get
myself a couple of hefty bars like this one:



http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dunlop-Lap-Dawg-Chromed-Brass-Tonebar?sku=425259


I've tried a few different things, and the same heavy brass
bottleneck that I use for Spanish position slide works best for me.
Most bars seem too narrow, and something like that Ernie Ball bar at
MF might be too heavy. If I'm playing slide lap style on an ordinary
electric I use a heavy glass bottleneck, to avoid hammering the
frets too much.

Tony D

Hey Tony, if you don't mind my asking, what string gauges do you use
on your open E tuning?

I just swapped out the strings that were on it for a set of my usual
Ernie Ball Skinny Top/Heavy Bottom strings (10-52). Seems to work
out pretty well, I think the other ones that were on there were
heavier gauge, but with the 10-52 set it seems to work better with
my glass slide.

I've played it through three different amps now: the Epi VJ, Fender
Twin, and Marshall JCM-800 2204. Three totally different sounds. It
sounds great ultra-clean, with the VJ's smooth, even-ordered harmonic
distortion, and the Marshall crunch.

I've got it tuned to open Eb now, down a step from open E, because
I'm working on a song now that's in Fm/Ab and it fits in really well.



I use a "universal set" for just about everything, Ernie Ball 10-56
7-string when I can get them. The 13-56 subset works fine in open E.
The bass string is a bit slack and will tune up to A without
breaking. I've tried using a heavier bass string, but the higher
tension seems to be traded against intrinsically duller sound, so
I've abandoned that approach. The 11-58 7-string set would likely be
better, but I don't often see them. I have the 14-58 subset of those
on my Beltona tricone, but tuned down to D (standard intervals) to
prevent neck-bending issues.

The wound third might not be hot enough for your pickup in these
sets, in which case I would try a 12-56 set with plain third or
substitute something like a 0.024 plain. Choosing the right plain
string might require a bit of trial and error to get the balance
between it and the 2nd and 4th strings. The 12-56 option would easily
tune up to open G, using the same intervals as open E, but would be
getting a bit slack if you tuned down.

A floating capo is useful if you want to play in different keys:

http://elderly.com/also/accessories/items/SRGC1.htm

There are few different styles of these, Elderly has a good range.

I've got three good but different sounds, Epi VJ, Blues Deluxe and H&K
Statesman. The Epi and BD sound good with bright pickups, the H&K
with warm pickups like the Lollar Chicago. <g> Everything sound
pretty much the same with OD.

Tony D

Thanks Tony, as I said the 10-52 set isn't bad with the glass slide but
I've got a feeling I'll want something heavier when I get the heavier
tonebar, which I just ordered.

That floating capo isn't a bad idea; I'll keep that in mind.


.

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