The Steel Guitar Forum

FWIW keyboard instruments and bowed strings instruments have gone low-to-high for centuries. Violin, viola, etc. list 4th string to 1st string.

I use 8 (A13, like a Junior Brown C13) and I wish I had 9. I could not go back to 6. I use the low strings a lot for both chords and melodic lines.

I think it depends on the instrument/person matchup. To be a top-flight instrumentalist you must have "athletic" hands for your particular instrument and your brain needs to be wired properly, as it were, for that instrument and for music in general. Some people are successful multi-instru...

Devon, this section is exclusively for guitars played with a steel bar. You need to be listed in the "Other Instruments" section.

That's the length from nut to bridge? That would be beyond long, into the baritone range.

FWIW, the scale that the author of the first article refers to as ("newer, fresher") "jazz minor scale" has been around for ages and is properly known as the ascending melodic minor scale.
That said, there's a lot of good stuff in both articles.

After years of tuning only by ear, I've recently started using a Boss TU-2. I'm satisfied with the results, and it's much quicker than what I did before.

My 8-string (McKenna) resonator guitar has a string length around 24 3/4 to 24 7/8 inches. I think my strings are standard tension. I bought it used and have had it for several years with no problems that I am aware of.

I have heard from Todd (my emails were in his spam folder) and have the info I need. Please close. Thanks.

I'm trying to order a Clinesmith tone bar for my son, but for some reason there is no weight listed for his 1" bar. Are there options? Does anyone have info to share about this?

Also, I have emailed him twice from his website but have no reply (over a week now). Is this typical?

Thanks!

I'm a converted classical guitarist who uses fingernails on dobro and lap steel (I do use a thumbpick, which took a while to get used to). I can't stand those banjo fingerpicks. If a nail breaks I can substitute one or more Alaska piks, which behave somewhat like a natural nail. You might try those....

Does anyone know why there is no weight listed for the 1-inch bars on Clinesmith's website? It's the only one with no weight listed.

I have emailed Todd (twice) and have had no response (a week or more ago). I want to buy a bar but need to know what I'm buying.

thanks.

When I bought my T-8 six or seven years back, the D-8s were bringing more than the T-8s. I think the gap has only increased since. This is based on SGF ads, not the world at-large. Asking prices on S-8s and D-8s have really gone up.

Zither?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-W5ktOR2ts

Glenn, I'm just three half-steps below you--
G A C# E F# A C# E, low-to-high. Gauges are .056 to .015, a standard Scotty's/SIT A6th set

I played that tuning for a while, eventually dropped it down to A13, which fits well with a modified B11 on the other neck. It is essentially the same tuning as your C13.

My Stringmaster is currently a D-8 with no switch, so both necks are hot all the time. Sometimes the sound from the sympathetic vibration is noticeable. I like being able to jump from one to the other without having to mess with a switch each time. I guess a foot switch would be ideal.

Stephen,

yes, thanks, I did, with a C-clamp pressing the plate down a bit. Strangely, I think it may have moved the "dead zone" a bit higher. The sound is better, I think, but still not quite right. I'm going to live with it for now. Suitable for rehearsals but I'm not sure about gigs.

I think it must be the jack, which means I have to remove all those screws in the plate (except the pickup screws). This neck never had an output jack. The one I added is your standard through the body with a nut type guitar jack. Stringmasters have a sort of tap-in jack with no nut and I think I no...

Okay, it's a stand-alone neck that has been removed (nothing has been altered that would be noticed when it's re-assembled as a T-8 down the road). I have a D-8 and an S-8 that originally were/was a T-8. Now, I tried slightly loosening the screws on the plate, no difference. But I detuned the high E...

Fred, it has nothing to do with any of those things. You can hear it with or without amplification. It's part of a T-8 and this neck is the only one with this strange problem. The other two necks sound normal and good. It only happens in this small portion of the middle neck--above and below that ar...

This is not simply a matter of sustain--on the highest strings at the 15th and 16th frets I can barely hear the fundamental tone, but I can hear the higher octave (first harmonic). As you move in either direction away from those frets it gradually normalizes. This is an acoustic phenomenon, nothing ...

What are the minimum requirements for sizes of nut, fingerboard, etc. to have a playable instrument? I'm guessing some overhang is doable, though not necessarily pretty. I'd love to hear from anyone with experience or knowledge of this process. Thanks.

Finish on the insides of my T-8 is not different from the outside. But there are holes for the rods and for the pickup wires. I supposed you could put two more diamonds on to cover the rod holes on the one we're discussing.

Do we know that this one is sporting the original finish?

Michael,

what is the string spacing on your dobro?