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Guitar News Weekly Edition #204 |
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July 29, 2002 |
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LAP STEELS
By Robert Lee Johnson
Lap Steels have become quite popular. A Unique kind of music can be played on the Lap Steel. More and more lead Guitar Players who work with the stars are playing lap steels in addition to their regular electric Guitar. Six and Seven String Lap Steels are very popular now. Using a 6 or 7 string Lap Steel you can play some great Blues, Rock, or Country. In fact I would go so far as to say that 6 and 7 string Lap Steels are the most popular models at this time. Eight String Lap Steels are being sold, and some ten string lap steels. With 8 or 10 strings, some great Tunings for Jazz and what was once called Pop Music can be played. Slide Guitar gets that special sound that cannot be had with a fretted Guitar. Many Guitarists play bottle neck on their regular Guitar and it sounds great. But there is just something about the sound of a Lap Steel that is absolutely captivating. Many working bands have Steel Guitar Players who use the Pedal Steel Guitar. However, more and more Lap Steels are showing up in working bands that are on the road these days. At one time many Lead Guitar Players also played the Lap Steel. Mel Bay, the great music educator, told me he played Steel Guitar in addition to his regular Guitar Playing. Mel Bay took great pride in his ability to play Steel Guitar. Since there were no Pedal Steel Guitars when Mel Bay Played Steel Guitar, he played a Lap Steel. There are a great number of present Day Non Pedal, or Lap Steel Guitar Makers. All the manufacturers take their business very serious and there are many fine New Lap Steels on the market today. Further down the page I will give you the web sites of many Lap Steel Makers. In the old days of Lap Steel there were about as many tunings as there were Lap Steel Guitar Players. But in today’s world there are not so many tunings being used. Many players are using the Open "E" tuning, and there are a few other tunings that the Lap Steel Players are using. A new group called "Sacred Steel" has some interesting tunings that can be found on this web page: http://www.b0b.com/tunings/sacredsteel.html
DeWitt Scott’s Web Page has some interesting Non Pedal Steel Guitar Tunings. On this web page you can find both pedal and non pedal steel Guitar tunings.
More Lap Steels for sale on the Net Lap Steel Manufacturers http://www.skobrien.com/sshawaiian/Description.htm http://www.gibson.com/products/dobro/1996/newmodels/lapsteel.html Herb Remington Non Pedal Steel Guitars features from one to three Neck Models Full Length Sound Samples of Guitar n the Manzanita Guitars Web Site. Beautiful Music Played on the Manzanita Guitars Sold on the Web Site You can hear the Blues from the Square Neck Manzanita Resonator Guitar on these songs. A perfect example of what can be played on the Lap Steel. Songs are for download on this web page. This web page at Scotty’s Music has some good Lap Steels as well as Pedal Steel Guitars
Lap Steels for sale on Ebay Most often you can find some of the big names in Lap Steels Manufactured in the past. Resonator Lap Steels Square Neck Resonator Guitars are considered by some people to be Lap Steels. If you install a Magnetic Pickup on a Square Neck Resonator Guitar you get a very good Lap Steel Sound. Of course Square Neck Resonator Guitar can be played as a pure acoustic Guitar. I play a Regal Square Neck Resonator Guitar with a Magnetic Pickup installed and love the Lap Steel Sound I get. Resonator Guitars, Square Neck Beard Guitars Square Neck Resonator Guitar Tut Taylor Square Neck Resonator Guitar
Many Regal Resonator Guitars I hope this article will be helpful to you if you should like the sound of the Lap Steel.
Robert Lee Johnson
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