Am Having a Blast with a Lap Steel

[zombywoof]

A few months back I picked up an Oahu Tonemaster lap steel. It was cheap, pretty and has that killer strings through pickup which I figured, if nothing else, could always find its way into a another guitar Also came with a cool Lifton-like looking case.

Funny thing happened. I started goofing around with it and found I really liked playing the sucker. I actually don't have a clue what I am doing but have played slide for enough decades to find my way around. I play in Open E, D, G, and C and slap on two slides - bottle on my first finger and a Will Ray Stealth slide on my ring finger. Plugged either into an old Magnatone or Silvertone Twin Twelve that pickup is just what the doctor ordered for some gutbucket blues.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g5/zombywoof51/Guitars/Maggie002.jpg

[nmiller]

Nice steel and equally nice amp! That Valco string-through pickup is renowned in the world of steels.

[Quarter]

Nice score, those long scale Tonemasters can sound great. And whats cool is Lollar is making a sweet reproduction of the Valco string through pickup.

[sfarnell]

I did almost same thing. I bought a '57 Supro lap steel and figured that I could always use the pickup to make a Ry Cooder style guitar. The Supro also has the string through pup (are they basically the same????). Well, the lap steel is going nowhere. I don't really know how to play it like someone who knows what they're doing, but I can still get some killer down and dirty tones out of it. I just bought a few DVDs to learn how to play it properly but most of the guys who make these DVDs use C6 tuning and I think that I'll get more use out of open E and D.

[GregoryL]

Nice Magnatone by the way.

I've also been playing a lot of lap steel lately. Picked up a korina Gibson Skylark last year ... it rings like a bell.

[Quarter]

The Supro also has the string through pup (are they basically the same????Yea, those were made by Valco and are found on many different models and brands of that era.

Picked up a korina Gibson Skylark last year ... it rings like a bell.Korina / limba makes a great lap steel. I'm doing a couple black limba steels right now and in the rough the bodys have a great ring and resonance to them. One is going to get a birdseye fretboard and P90, have not made up my mind for #2 yet.

.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/quarterbend/Cody-002/Cody-002-2.jpg

[mad dog]

Zombie:

Me too ... same steel! Picked this tonemaster up a few months ago:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t150/mad_dog_pix/4726_oahu_1.jpg

It's quite beautiful, and the pickup is butt-kicking good. Strung it in a C6 variant. I'm determined to do it right this time. Have been hacking away in open E on a 30s Gibson (EH-185) for some time. To little effect. So time to get serious. But of course as soon as this arrives I develop a bad case of tennis elbow in the left are, hard to hold the bar at all. So the next lap steel chapter has been delayed a bit.

BTW, that wacky looking magnatone of yours ... it's post hip.
MD

[zombywoof]

The strings go through the pickup???

splain it to me Lucy


Here it be:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g5/zombywoof51/Guitars/Supropickup.jpg

[zombywoof]

Zombie:

Me too ... same steel! Picked this tonemaster up a few months ago:

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t150/mad_dog_pix/4726_oahu_1.jpg

It's quite beautiful, and the pickup is butt-kicking good. Strung it in a C6 variant. I'm determined to do it right this time. Have been hacking away in open E on a 30s Gibson (EH-185) for some time. To little effect. So time to get serious. But of course as soon as this arrives I develop a bad case of tennis elbow in the left are, hard to hold the bar at all. So the next lap steel chapter has been delayed a bit.

BTW, that wacky looking magnatone of yours ... it's post hip.
MD

Hey Mad Dog - good to hear from ya. You are still loving those Maggies I am guessing. The little M-2 works well with the Toemaster cuz it tends to break up real easy. The combination of the guitar and amp tend towards a real gritty sound. Got to admit though, I kinda favor the sound of the Tonemaster plugged into a Silvertone Twin Twelve with the two channels jumpered.

[mad dog]

I have to check again, but I don't think the strings go through the p/u on my Tonemaster.

MD

[Quarter]

I have to check again, but I don't think the strings go through the p/u on my Tonemaster.

MD
Not all Tonemasters have the Valco string through pickup. Here is Megan Hickey of The Last Town Chorus playing a very early Tonemaster on a nice cover of Modern Love.
I love the tone in general and the solo at around the 2:10 mark is sweet.

.
sAypnmdiCEk

[jackevorkian]

Earlier Tonemasters didn't have the Valco string through pickup. Here is Megan Hickey of The Last Town Chorus playing a very early Tonemaster on a nice cover of Modern Love.
I love the tone in general and the solo at around the 2:10 mark is sweet.

.
sAypnmdiCEk

What do you suppose she has that tuned to? I can't seem to settle on a tuning to really dig into. C6 is a little too Hawaiian, but nice for slants. Open E just sounds too bluesy, but it's probably the most intuitive. I need something to cover country-ish/alt country/americana/psychedelic.

Open G? Or the modified Gilmour version: D G D G B E

[mikefair]

I kinda settled on E for tuning. It's an easier transiton for a guitar player, I think.

[GregoryL]

C6 is a little too Hawaiian, but nice for slants. Open E just sounds too bluesy, but it's probably the most intuitive. I need something to cover country-ish/alt country/americana/psychedelic.



Interesting - I find C6 perfect for this style ... I need my minor triad.

Are you strumming the whole 6 chord, rather than just picking out the major or relative minor chord tones?

[stevieboy]

I play in Open E, D, G, and C and slap on two slides - bottle on my first finger and a Will Ray Stealth slide on my ring finger.

That sounds pretty interesting, with the slides on your fingers. Have you tried a regular tone bar? I imagine there's things you can do with one you can't do with the other, and vice versa.

[zombywoof]

Yeah I own a palm slide and I want to try one of those bullet nose jobs which look to be somewhat easier for playing single notes.

But the sound of the glass on the strings is hard to resist while the ring slide makes playing single string runs pretty easy. Again, I don't have a clue how to play a lap steel and am making it up as I go.

[zombywoof]

Lordy Have Mercy, if this don't make ya pick up a lap steel nuttin' will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=TAbbgSKUZB4

[mad dog]

The heavier bar is great for tone and ultimately (when you get comfortable enough) for control.

Actually, watching that clip makes me want to put my steel back in the case!

[Quarter]

Lordy Have Mercy, if this don't make ya pick up a lap steel nuttin' will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=TAbbgSKUZB4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch#%21v=TAbbgSKUZB4)
Thats a great clip, had not seen it in a while :)