The Steel Guitar Forum

Thanks for those replies! I should be able to get this done today.m As to the question about tone and pressing down. The strings are not currently on the same plane which was leading to buzzing on some strings. I call this "bad tone" and pressing down made the problem better. We'll see how...

I just got my first dobro, a used wechter scheerhorn and I'm enjoying playing it, but last night I noticed that I was having to press down pretty hard with the bar to get good tone, so much so that I was getting a little wrist pain. Today, I was examining the guitar under a strong light and I figure...

I really love my paloma bullet bar. It sounds close enough to steel, but its much fatter and lighter so I get around the steel faster and have less hand fatigue. The prices are fair, although shipping can take a little while depending on when you order.

That's it exactly, I want better control for hammer ons and pull offs. The Paloma is okay, but I want something I can grip a little better. Do you think the Paloma Stevens bar would make a good dobro bar?

So, I just got my first dobro (thanks again to everyone for their advice) and now I need some thoughts on tone bars. I have really big hands and I've had trouble with tendinitis over the years. I have mostly addressed this issue by using very thick tone bars. For lap steel, I currently use a Paloma ...

Wow, I neglected this thread for a week and y'all ran wild. Thanks so much to everyone for all their thoughts and advice. I learned a ton. Just to let you know how it all panned out, I did buy the wechter. The price was right and I liked it when I looked at it. Also, I HATE buying new instruments if...

Like I said, mixed. Not universally positive or negative:

http://www.resohangout.com/archive/18607

I'm certainly leaning towards the wechter. Now I just need to unload my bass. Anybody want an American Standard Jazz bass?

Gents: Those are both valuable replies. Thanks for your thoughts. I'd be happy to hear from anyone else on this topic as well. I should mention that the seller would throw in a Fishman Nashville bridge pickup for another 100, but I don't know if I can swing that. More food for thought, here's the ow...

I'm about ready to buy my first resonator, a square neck. I already play lap steel and I want to learn dobro. I'll have about $500 to spend, but no more. One of the local shops stocks the Gretchs: the Boxcar ($350) and the Bobtail ($500), both new. I also found a guy on Craigslist with a Wechter Sch...

So, I built my first steel (a six string) a few years ago and now I'm getting ready to get started on an 8-string. I just assumed that I would make it a console steel, but it occurred to me that I'm not sure what the advantages of console steel are. I assume that you can have it up little higher (ob...

I'd be shocked if you could notice a difference. The removal of wood should be negligible compared to the overall mass of the body and screws shouldn't matter at all if they are screwed in tightly. Having the legs attached would add mass to the whole thing, and THAT could matter somewhat, but I doub...

Hmm. Thanks to everyone who has replied so far! To be clear, I only play rock sometimes and country other times. Maybe 1/2 and 1/2. I get what people are saying about the C# on top and I didn't realize that concept was at work in the Emmons setup. You really do learn something new every day. I may d...

"Have you considered trying C#4 as an "inside out" first-string possibility instead? You could still get the added 13th / add'l minor triad, but you'd have better close-voicing possibilities along with a nice little pentatonic run there if you wanted it." I think you're gonna nee...

So, I've been playing a 6 string lap steel for some time now and I'm getting ready to move up to 8 strings. I currently tune my steel like this: (low to hi) BDF#G#BE, which is E9. I know that I want my new tuning to be: (low to hi) BD E F#G#BE. Note the addition of an E between the D and the F#. But...

John: I'm so glad you like it! The graphic design element was easier than you might think. I did most of it in MS Word. I was surprised at how many good graphics tools are in there now. Anyway, I hope the book is useful to you. I totally envy pedal steel players. I really hope to get a pedal steel s...

okay, let's try that again:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/14381741/E9%20 ... ginner.pdf

Okay, now it works for me. Would someone else give it a shot and tell me if it works for them?

Thanks!

(I also fixed the link in the initial post, so they should both work).

Yup. Now it doesn't work for me either. Let me fix that.

So, a while ago, I started tuning my lap steel to E9 (instead of the E7 tuning I had been messing around with for a long time). Well, changing that one string totally opened up the instrument for me. There are TONS of chords and voicing possibilities in E9 and this tuning is especially well-suited t...