Poll re lap steel tunings book idea

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 24 Jun 2008 4:40 am

I'd appreciate your opinions on this idea. After 20+ years of collecting lap steel info I have gathered a slew of useful info about steel guitar tunings. I was thinking of producing a 9" x 5" "Guitar Case Guide" to non-pedal tunings. This slim softbound book would fit into a steel guitar case so players would have all the info needed re tunings & string gauges at hand. I'd essentially be compiling info from many sources into one handy guide. I'll probably also throw in some history and anecdotes. Please let me know if this would be of interest via the poll below.

Hmmm. Can't get the poll option to display. Please just post a reply. Thanks!

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 24 Jun 2008 7:31 am

I voted "Yes, that's a good idea (as long as there's a photo of me in it)" in The Invisible Poll.

Great idea Andy!

Steinar

Charley Wilder · Post by **Charley Wilder** » 24 Jun 2008 8:00 am

Good idea Andy! The gauges will really help. As will both six and eight string tunings. Also identify the tunings. By that I mean something like: "this is the popular C6th tuning", etc. Don't forget a lot of G tunings!!!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 24 Jun 2008 8:32 am

Great idea, Andy. That would be a very useful guide. I agree with Charles about the string gauges, or maybe just a string gauge Chart showing the entire range of notes/gauges for non-pedal steel.

It might also be useful to list which tunings are available Without Changing Strings... what tunings a player can access from a given tuning. For example, one grouping of tunings could include: C6, B11, Leavitt, etc. because they share common string gauges, and can be accessed without changing strings. Another group might be the E tunings (E, E7, E13) which use thicker strings.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 24 Jun 2008 9:16 am

That'll have to be a pretty thick book to beat the collection of tunings I've got stored away. But there might be one I don't have, so go for it!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 24 Jun 2008 9:58 am

It would be important to focus on the practical tunings and their variations and not include every single possible tuning. In my view, only about 5-10% of the tunings listed in Paul Bigsby's famous "60 Modern Tunings" book were actually being used by working pros. That said, some of these tunings will be eventually lost to history if they aren't formally documented and only exist in someone's file drawer ... "Grampa had all this steel guitar stuff in his files but what do we do with it now that he's gone" ?

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 24 Jun 2008 10:12 am

I vote "yes." The history and applications of the various tunings would be interesting even to those of us still struggling to learn one tuning.

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 24 Jun 2008 2:02 pm

Andy, that's an excellent idea.
I'll definitely take an autographed copy!

BTW - don't forget this one: G6 - hi2lo E B G D G D
That's a good transitional tuning for a guitar player getting started on steel.
The top 4 strings are the same as a guitar, you have a major triad and a minor triad with a straight bar, and a big 5151 power chord on the bottom 4.
And when you lower the E to D you get low bass G.
When I got my first lap steel many years ago I tuned it like that.
Then I played it at the gig the same night without getting fired . .

John Bushouse · Post by **John Bushouse** » 24 Jun 2008 3:05 pm

Add me to the "yes" votes.

Bryan Bradfield · Post by **Bryan Bradfield** » 24 Jun 2008 3:24 pm

I like Doug Beaumier's two suggestions:
Groups of convertible tunings.
A single chart of notes and gauges.
To add to the gauge chart, I would like to see scale length considerations for gauges.

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 24 Jun 2008 3:54 pm

Groups of convertible tunings is a very good suggestion.
I've done that to some extent on this TUNINGS page.
The gauge chart would also be an important feature - one of the most commonly asked questions is: "what gauges should I use?"

Gary Stevenson · Post by **Gary Stevenson** » 24 Jun 2008 5:10 pm

I vote YES

Mitch Druckman · Post by **Mitch Druckman** » 24 Jun 2008 6:04 pm

A great idea. I'd buy one.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 24 Jun 2008 6:05 pm

John Ely's string guage chart is interesting because it suggests different guages for the same note depending on the scale length of the guitar. That'd be a good feature. Also, I've found that even though resonator guitarists have long scale guitars, they tend to use the string guages that John suggests for short scale guitars. Something to mention?
I'd certainly buy the book even though at this stage I'm a one tuning player. You never know. And besides, it's just one of those subjects that ya just can't let go of.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 24 Jun 2008 6:32 pm

I wouldn't recommend it for every tuning, because then it could turn into dictionary thickness, but I think a nice feature would be some fold-out pages of perhaps the most popular six to eight tunings with the fretboard diagrams of the all the notes on each fret up to the 12th fret.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 24 Jun 2008 6:33 pm

...is that they are merely physical guides at best, and not definitive.
Everyone has their personal style and sounds that depict what they want from their strings. Some like very heavy strings, other's - whatever. I go for fairly to extremely light on some (but still retaining tonal integrity), way out of the norm from what can be found in any listings. You'll never find a chart that OKs using 16 gauge on the top 4 strings of an 8 str. tuning, but it works superbly for me, and others have used it similarly to their great benefit.

Shari Kane · Post by **Shari Kane** » 24 Jun 2008 6:42 pm

I'm a go!
It could be handy to have fretboard charts for the different tunings too, just a thought.

Rich Hlaves · Post by **Rich Hlaves** » 24 Jun 2008 8:53 pm

Very good idea! I'm fairly new to steel guitar and this would be a great help. I've kind of started my own in a small spiral notebook I can toss in a case. I'd buy one in a hearbeat.

Will Houston · Post by **Will Houston** » 24 Jun 2008 9:04 pm

Great idea. Thats a YES

Jim Strawser · Post by **Jim Strawser** » 24 Jun 2008 10:07 pm

I vote yes, where do i sign up and pay for a book? I think this will be a great addition for all artist no matter what their level is. Is why i like this forum, its composed of members who consider each other family!!

Chris Drew · Post by **Chris Drew** » 24 Jun 2008 11:47 pm

That's a yes vote from me too.

Tunings that are possible on the same set of strings is definately a good idea, and fretboard maps too.

Count me in for a copy!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 25 Jun 2008 12:52 am

...only about 5-10% of the tunings listed in Paul Bigsby's famous "60 Modern Tunings" book were actually being used by working pros.

I agree, Andy. There were some odd tunings in that booklet!

I wonder... how many "popular and useable" non-pedal tunings should be included in a small, concise "Guitar Case Guide"? That's a tough call. I can think of at least a dozen often used tunings... and I'm sure there are more. Sometimes having 'too many options' confuses the user.

Andy, it might also be a good idea to list the most common usage of the tunings, i.e. C#m7 "Hawaiian", E "rock/blues", Leavitt "jazz, standards", G "bluegrass", etc. Not to say that a tuning is limited to one style, but it would point beginners in the right direction.

Such a Guide would be very handy! I often meet "newbie" 20-something lap steel players in our store. Two came in just this week. The most common question is... "how should I tune it?"

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 25 Jun 2008 2:20 am

Thanks, everyone; very useful feedback and good ideas for making it useful to players.

George Manno · Post by **George Manno** » 25 Jun 2008 3:53 am

Yes from me and because I live in Cook County, Illinois, that counts as 2 votes\\

G

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 25 Jun 2008 5:41 am

Hi Andy,

Great idea. And I know you will do a fine job.

Best,

Bob

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Poll re lap steel tunings book idea

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