Megan Lovell's rig (Larkin Poe)

JB Bobbitt · Post by **JB Bobbitt** » 2 Apr 2020 7:14 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olg70f9HibQ

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 2 Apr 2020 8:22 am

Amen to preferring the sound of dead strings, haha. Ich auch.

Dennis Conklin · Post by **Dennis Conklin** » 2 Apr 2020 5:34 pm

I was surprised to see she uses a TubeScreamer. I have heard on here several times that that has too much mids for steel. Obviously work for her though

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 2 Apr 2020 5:46 pm

Hats off to her. The cradle for her Rick is a concept I've been toying with for years and never acted on. We sitting musical brethren are boring visually. I play my dobro standing.... so why not. I also dig the fact she used the GBD GBD tuning like i do.
Gosh, I wish I were 40 years younger. I'd ask her on a date.

Peter Jacobs · Post by **Peter Jacobs** » 3 Apr 2020 4:07 am

Dennis Conklin wrote:I was surprised to see she uses a TubeScreamer. I have heard on here several times that that has too much mids for steel. Obviously work for her though

Iâ€™ve been fortunate to see Larkin Poe live. That steel, her amp and her technique sounded incredible. Not muddy or honky in the least. She gets a very sweet singing tone that sounds incredible in a band situation.

As another G tuning player (actually Gadd4), I was surprised that she said she uses strings starting at .013 or .014. Maybe I should lighten up my gauges?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 3 Apr 2020 4:13 am

That cradle for her Rick reminds me of Alvino Rey's guitar shape cradle for his lap steels. He made them for a different reason though. He said audiences in the 1930s didn't recognize the instrument he was playing (a lap steel) so he set it into a guitar body to make it more understandable to audiences.

It's interesting that Megan's strings are "several years old" and she's not too picky about the brand of strings she uses. I like that. I kinda feel the same way.

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 3 Apr 2020 4:19 am

Iâ€™m that way about strings, too. Less that way on Pedal steel but my lap steel strings often get rusty before I change em! As for the Alvino Rey things, I get the audience ignorance factor. I started up a band where I mostly play bottleneck slide on standard guitar simply to avoid people asking â€œwhat is that, a dulcimer?â€ Type questions!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 3 Apr 2020 4:23 am

I hear ya, Kevin! I too change the strings on my pedal steel more often than lap steel. Especially in the summer, with all the outdoor gigs.

I was surprised that she said she uses strings starting at .013 or .014.

Me too. And after she said that she played a quick 'string pull' lick, pulling string 1 up 1/2 step. That's probably why she likes a thinner string 1.

Peter Jacobs · Post by **Peter Jacobs** » 3 Apr 2020 5:05 am

You ainâ€™t kidding, Doug. Check out how she pulls the 2nd string throughout the entire song here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob3fY2mIeHA

Chris Bauer · Post by **Chris Bauer** » 3 Apr 2020 6:58 am

Re: Dennis' comment on Tube Screamers. I'm not a fan of them for six string but I love them for steel.

For anyone who doesn't like that TS mid-range sound, though, a great alternative is the Wampler Clarksdale. It's a Tube Screamer-type circuit but with three tone control knobs that give you a super amount of tonal control.

As for old strings on lap steel, YES!

Michael Butler · Post by **Michael Butler** » 3 Apr 2020 7:45 am

Jim Pitman wrote: Gosh, I wish I were 40 years younger. I'd ask her on a date.

you better ask her husband first. ha!

i enjoy their videos. it's great to see and hear their songs. love her lap steel sound.

as far as using a TS, you can always tweak it to what you like.

play music!

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 3 Apr 2020 7:58 am

Their group absolutely rips in concert!
Saw them play a long set at the Portland Blues Festival last 4th of July, and they just plain slayed the audience, took no prisoners, with a smile.

The lead singers guitar tone is really great, too!

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 3 Apr 2020 8:19 am

She's definitely a unique player...few other people playing Ricky bakelites...in bluegrass open G...for rock and blues. She plays primarily like a fretted lead guitarist, not a lot of chords but mostly single string, which is her role in the band (Rebecca Lovell is an exceptional instrumentalist too, on mandolin and guitar, but you rarely hear her solo, perhaps kind of an agreed turf delineation between the two of them?).

I think if she were more of a chordal player, Tube Screamers might start to get too muddy, but for her playing style, it works great. I like a TS for steel too, but only in a rock context (nonpedal).

We saw them in Salina on our way to the Rocky Mountains last summer...definitely a great live show, they've been at this since they were kids basically.

Personally I really enjoy some of their early stuff almost more than their current rock/blues sound...if you like bluegrass check out the second Lovell Sisters album (Time to Grow), and their first stuff as Larkin Poe (Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter EPs, as well as their collab with Thom Hell) is probably my favorite of theirs, if you can find it.

This one has a nice blend of dobro and Ric: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcMQKUndQVA

This one is just good pop, Megan still on the dobro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOW4SCMP4N4

They never recorded this one, but a good song, tasteful playing on it: https://youtube.com/watch?v=dGEjbJkxFhs