Lets see your LAPSTEEL!



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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby drolo » Thu Oct 25, 2018 6:19 am

shikawkee wrote:This has become my main one for portability and function but I also have an 8 string in Weissenborn shape (I also have an 8 string Weissy):

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So it's actually not a pedal steel ?
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby shikawkee » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:11 am

drolo wrote:
shikawkee wrote:This has become my main one for portability and function but I also have an 8 string in Weissenborn shape (I also have an 8 string Weissy):

Image


So it's actually not a pedal steel ?


Well, there's steel and lots of pedals! <g>

For textural/ambient/free improv I prefer the 10 string lap and not pedal steel.
Much easier to travel with and with effect pedals (like yours of course!!) I can control precisely how I want especially with expression pedal controls.
Much easier for prepared guitar too.
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby shikawkee » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:11 am

drolo wrote:
shikawkee wrote:This has become my main one for portability and function but I also have an 8 string in Weissenborn shape (I also have an 8 string Weissy):

Image


So it's actually not a pedal steel ?


Well, there's steel and lots of pedals! <g>

For textural/ambient/free improv I prefer the 10 string lap and not pedal steel.
Much easier to travel with and with effect pedals (like yours of course!!) I can control precisely how I want especially with expression pedal controls.
Much easier for prepared guitar too.
Singer-songwriter, composer and author. I also manufacture and distribute Gary Hall designed and endorsed Lexicon PCM42 mods. Owner of HOSAT Effects. BETA tester for Line 6 and Eventide.
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby coldbrightsunlight » Sat Nov 03, 2018 6:24 am

My el cheapo:

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Is there a big difference using a proper tone bar for these? I'm just using a normal steel guitar slide and it's OK.
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Chankgeez » Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:37 am

It depends on how you wanna play and what you wanna hear when you play. :idk:

If you're happy with a guitar slide, use it. If not, try somethin else.
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby coldbrightsunlight » Sat Nov 03, 2018 9:58 am

Just wondering what the difference is really. More solid tone, more sustain? I'm not unhappy with what I'm doing, very much a beginner at lap steel so figuring it out.
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Chankgeez » Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:14 am

It's probably easier for most people to use a tone bar (and you can do different things with it). I'd say generally you'd get a more solid tone and more sustain with one. The heavier the object you use to stop the strings, the greater returns you'll get in those respects. There's a balance though. Playing with something that's too heavy will make your control much more difficult (and be a detriment to sustain).

The length of the bar also matters. Especially if you wanna use slants in your playing or wanna play across the entire width of the neck. If you're just using the bar/slide to stop only one or two strings at a time (and getting most of your sound from pedals and such & less of it from technique), it matters less so.

Material of the bar/slide also makes a difference is sound. I often play with a pocketknife and because it has a flat playing surface it buzzes against the strings. There're lots of choices though: metal, ceramic, glass, bakelite, wood, plastic, etc.

I'd say, give a proper tone bar a try. Go to a music shop and test out a few. One of 'em will probably feel more natural in your hand.
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Mudfuzz » Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:21 pm

Chankgeez wrote:It's probably easier for most people to use a tone bar (and you can do different things with it). I'd say generally you'd get a more solid tone and more sustain with one. The heavier the object you use to stop the strings, the greater returns you'll get in those respects. There's a balance though. Playing with something that's too heavy will make your control much more difficult (and be a detriment to sustain).

The length of the bar also matters. Especially if you wanna use slants in your playing or wanna play across the entire width of the neck. If you're just using the bar/slide to stop only one or two strings at a time (and getting most of your sound from pedals and such & less of it from technique), it matters less so.

Material of the bar/slide also makes a difference is sound. I often play with a pocketknife and because it has a flat playing surface it buzzes against the strings. There're lots of choices though: metal, ceramic, glass, bakelite, wood, plastic, etc.

I'd say, give a proper tone bar a try. Go to a music shop and test out a few. One of 'em will probably feel more natural in your hand.

Great post :thumb:

Plus.

You can buy bars in different weights.
You can do more oddball things with a bar like roll it down the strings, play without always holding it, use the tip to just play on 1 or 2 strings and so on. The different material thing is important to me... With normal slides a such as bars... I have like 12 slides :lol: out of different materials and lengths... I have 4 tonebars atm: steel, brass, porcelain and glass with a brass core. I still want to get a old style metal one and a agate one like they use in India
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Chankgeez » Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:36 pm

:thumb: Yes, that's true as well.

We've also really said not much of yet as to the style/shape of tone bar: flat, bullet, cylinder, Shubb-Pearse, Stevens bar, etc.
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
Sweet dealin's: here
"Now, of course, Strega is not a Minimoog… and I am not Sun Ra" - dude from MAKENOISE
#GreenRinger
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Mudfuzz » Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:47 pm

Chankgeez wrote::thumb: Yes, that's true as well.

We've also really said not much of yet as to the style/shape of tone bar: flat, bullet, cylinder, Shubb-Pearse, Stevens bar, etc.

all of which give me more G.A.S these days then pedals do.. :lol:
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby coldbrightsunlight » Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:49 pm

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely have a look at what's out there and try a few different ones and see how the shapes fit with my playing. I do think something heavier than what I'm using might sound a bit better, more sustain and less buzzing (though what I'm doing is good enough for rock and roll as the kids say).

I'm trying to practice slants and larger cross-string intervals, the main barrier I have is less technical and more remembering what the notes are. :lol:
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby dubkitty » Mon Nov 05, 2018 1:43 pm

when i was playing pedal steel briefly i used a chromed tone bar that was basically cylindrical with bullet ends. the great thing about tone bars is that compared to regular slides or a Stevens (dobro) bar, they're larger in diameter and give you more of a sweet spot to find your notes and stay in tune.
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Mudfuzz » Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:14 am

I ended up getting a kent armstrong firebird pickup.. I like cheap firebird pickups for slide so I thought I'd try it. I like it.. for this..
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby Chankgeez » Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:35 am

Mudfuzz wrote:I ended up getting a kent armstrong firebird pickup.. I like cheap firebird pickups for slide so I thought I'd try it. I like it.. for this..

Image


:love:
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
Sweet dealin's: here
"Now, of course, Strega is not a Minimoog… and I am not Sun Ra" - dude from MAKENOISE
#GreenRinger
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Re: Lets see your LAPSTEEL!

Postby coldbrightsunlight » Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:01 pm

Nice!!
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