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Author Topic:  Centered at the 15th fret?
Dom Franco


From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
Post  Posted 18 Apr 2014 2:56 am    
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Lately I have had some trouble playing in the higher octaves on lapsteel.
I have always centered the steel evenly on my knees, figuring that the 12 fret should be in the middle... right?

Maybe I am just playing in the high register more, or my wrists are getting old but it's getting painful to play up there.

It's much easier with the steel guitar on a stand rather than on the lap, partly because I have more belly clearance!

But recently I have been "CENTERING" myself to the right of the 12th fret... more like the 15th or so,
and this does the trick.

My bar hand has far more reach to the left anyway and now I can play up high without discomfort.

I am performing much more often now as well as practicing daily and playing at Church on Sundays.

I also play pedal steel, but there is not much I can do about it being locked in by the knee levers.

Dom

Very Happy
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Tom Snook

 

From:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 19 Apr 2014 11:44 am    
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Dom, this came up a while ago in another thread.What I do is angle the steel on your lap,
Bridge end towards your hip,tuners towards your knee.Try it,you'll like it Very Happy
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Jerome Hawkes


From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 19 Apr 2014 11:56 am    
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i was always taught to center your belly button with the 15th fret for this exact reason.
when i first started out, i did the 12th fret center or even just "wherever" it happened to lay - i didn't realize how important this is for many reasons. Reece Anderson was one who turned me on to going over everything like a pilot would do his pre-flight check before you played.
often, if i'm having a bad day on steel where nothing is working, i will go back thru this checklist and find something out of whack and thus fixing the problem - more than not its i'm not sitting in 'my spot'
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Ray Montee


From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
Post  Posted 19 Apr 2014 12:39 pm     For we olde timers.................
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Having learned on a round-hole, flat top acoustic guitar.....

We had no option for positioning the guitar on one's lap. None of this gobble-de-gook about this fret or that, this small or large belt buckle or whatever.

You simply put the ARCH of the guitar where the body and neck are joined up against one's LEFT KNEE.

Everything else just sorta fell into the proper place. When I play my Ric's on my lap, I do much the same thing. By doing so, the frets are all comfortably where they belong.

Oh Oh.........I only intended to underscore but one word not the entire post. SORRY~
THANK GOODNESS WE didn't have to argue which fret should in line with one's belly button or Adams apple.
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Jerome Hawkes


From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 19 Apr 2014 1:19 pm    
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"and we LIKED IT!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbU4Cb4A4-o
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'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II
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Jim Williams

 

From:
Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!
Post  Posted 20 Apr 2014 11:22 am    
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I put mine as far to the left as I can, depending on which steel I'm playing. I have a bit of a belly to contend with Smile
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GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal.
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