Anybody play lap steel?

[SalsaNChips]

I have always liked the sound of 6 string lap steel guitar, especially through a good amp with a bit of drive on it. Country music certainly, but mostly for rock/ blues and church music. Always one of those "one day I will do that" things that never seemed to materialize.

Well a couple months ago I finally decided to do something about it and after doing a lot of research on lap steels, settled on a nice tobacco sunburst Asher Junior. Yes, made in China, I know, as opposed to the "real" Asher’s that are made in the States which are beautiful to behold, considered some of the best lap steels out there and run around $2000.00 (as opposed to $550.00 for the Junior). Way too much for me as a beginner -- I figured, get the Junior and if I take to it, sell it and upgrade (sort of a "try it before you spend any *real* money" policy).

Have it in open D and having a lot of fun so far. Open D is great for major power chords, not so much for minor stuff. Considering switching to C6 tuning, which I understand will give me some options for slants and stuff, more nuanced (if a lot more "Hawaiian" sounding). Got a good book on C6 tuning which I have yet to crack open and spend any real time with. Soon, I hope.

Anyway just wanted to see if any other members here play lap steel or enjoy listening to it.

 

[swarfrat]

I've never really put the effort into getting decent at slide but ... I have been playing a lot lately with distorted two note voicings - and it seems like it would translate well to slide. You can do a LOT with just two notes, playing thirds, fourths, fifths, and 6ths (3-r)  I've also not messed with C6 tuning, but the fact that you have that 6th interval built into the same position could come in really handy.

 

[Great Ape]

Hey Salsa---Far out that you should mention Lap-Steels, and Bill Asher in particular! After a six month wait, he just sent me pics of the koa Electro Hawaiian
that I commisioned. Needless to say, it's breathtaking...I'll post pics sometime tomorrow--stay
tuned...(Yep, I really said that). I play in open E, D, & C6, And primarily blues, and I know this
guitar will cause an abrupt increase in playing/practice time.

 

[Great Ape]

OK, here's the Asher Electro-Hawaiian Lap-Steel; Flamed koa, herringbone binding, etc. Quite a work of art.

 

[Updown]

HOLY CRAP  !!

:blob7:    WOWZA              .... that's incredibly good looking.               

Arh har .... now I can see where you get your guitar builds inspiration from.

That thing is just .... Pure Magic  :icon_thumright:  ..... Congrats    :hello2:

 

[Great Ape]

Damn, you're funny, man!! BTW, I had the same reaction to
that black quilt top Strat you built! Don't wanna twist this thread, but thanks for the response,
heh, heh.....Greg

 

[bagman67]

I picked up a cheapy Recording King lap steel recently, and I must say in my extremely limited experience, C6 is a lot more fun than open-D.  Of course, I like that Western Swing-Hawaiian tonality a lot, and if you don't, you may find it unpleasant.  Note that C6 requires a much different gauge of strings to tune correctly and give you string tension that approaches what you'd get in open-D.


Congrats on your new toy!

 

[Tonar8352]

I have a 1953 Fender Champ lap guitar in Mother of Toilet Seat. It is a lot of fun and I am no way close to being competent on it. It has one of the most killer sounding pickups I have ever heard.

By the way the Asher is absolutely beautiful!!!!!!! 

 

[SalsaNChips]

That picture Great Ape posted is a US Made Asher Electro Hawaiian Model 1. They are some of the best 6 string lap steel guitars made. You can find more info on them here:

http://www.asherguitars.com/index.php?page=electro-hawaiian-lap-steel

They run about $2000.00 (depending on finish and options). First class instrument. A bit over-kill for me seeing as I am a newbie at lap steel (but know a *little* about slide and open tuning from guitar).

Asher makes a less expensive "Junior" model, imported (yes, China) but made to their specs. That is what I got (around $550.00). Very decent quality, sounds great. A nice instrument for learning. If however, I start to get any good at it, I will upgrade to a US made Asher ASAP.

Here is my Asher Junior in tobacco sunburst:

Through my full Rig, with a tube/solid state overdrive, touch of reverb and delay, in open D, it is a kick to play. I messed around with "Amazing Grace" in D this weekend and had a blast

Now I need to quit messing around and get serious with learning C6 :\

 

[stubhead]

I've been playing pedal steel for a decade or so, and fiddled around with converted sixes for a while - I've been pretty much a demon slide player for a long, long time. I haven't been posting much lately, because I've been playing my "new" guitar: a 12-string MSA SuperSlide. This one:

I haven't had time to take pictures of my own, too busy playing. If you know anything about steel guitar, this used to belong to Tommy White, the staff steel guitarist at the Grand Old Opry. I've got it in Reece Anderson's suggested tuning so far:

68  54  42  36  30  24  22w  17  14  13  18  15
D    F    A    C    E    G    A      C    E    G    B    D

The D on the bottom is kind of a flyer, on my C6 10-string pedal steel the normal string is a C. It's got the two "chromatic" strings on top like an E9th steel. I've just charted it out and started drawing up the chords - Reece says that WITHOUT slants, it'll get

C major
C 6th
C major 7th
F major 7th
A minor
2 suspended
G major
G suspended
G minor
That's just at the "zero" fret. And the forward slant possibilities - well, it's a beast. MSA has been making steels off and on for 40 years or so, here's the founder playing "lap" steel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTHjpQ3CkfY&feature=related

If you have a serious interest, you need to hook up with the Steel Guitar Forum.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/index.php

they have a lively non-pedal section... as much as I like Warmoth's, that forum has the highest ration of working musicians to amateurs I've ever seen. If you ask a question about "What guitar did Paul Franklin play with Dire Straits" it's likely to be answered by Paul Franklin, "What tuning did Buddy Emmons use on..." Emmons may answer. There's a whole world of non-country people there too...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Dave+easley+international+steel&oq=Dave+easley+international+steel&gs_l=youtube-reduced.12...379188.390520.0.393539.31.31.0.0.0.0.266.3794.0j29j2.31.0...0.0.NQL00ZA9c0I

chew through the examples in THIS thread:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=208507