Lap steel advice....

Coleman Trainor · Post by **Coleman Trainor** » 21 Jul 2020 2:24 pm

Hi Folks.....

Been reading for a while, so this is a first post.

I am new to lap steels and all instruments for that matter. Was discouraged early on by bad instruction so I put off my interest in guitar. Lately bought a rogue lap to see if I could play (arthritis). It is comfortable and I enjoy practicing. Then I acquired an Asher junior electric. I really like the guitar but now want to add an acoustic. I love the tone of the oahu parlors with slide.
Which brings me to my question:
What is it that gives them that particular tone ? Kind of messy, twangy and not as articulate as a brand new instrument. Is it string weight, tuning, scale length, old materials and construction technique ? Or what ?
Does anyone have thoughts on how to find a guitar with "that" sound.

Sorry for the vague questions......don't know how else to put it.

Coleman

Best to all.......

Jim Graham · Post by **Jim Graham** » 22 Jul 2020 4:03 am

Listen to some music with resophonic (AKA dobro) guitars, your description kind of describes the sound those have.

Steve Marinak · Post by **Steve Marinak** » 22 Jul 2020 5:14 am

If you have some links to audio examples, youtube, or spotify, etc. I am sure the folks on this board would be able to pinpoint the type of acoustic guitar being used. When you say "messy and twangy", my first guess is a resophonic style guitar. Probably a Dobro.

Nic Neufeld · Post by **Nic Neufeld** » 22 Jul 2020 5:38 am

I agree, if you can post some youtube examples of the sound you are thinking of, that'll help us pinpoint. I agree resophonic guitars have a bit of that bright twangy sound...although it certainly depends on the instrument/player/style, for instance, this video of a tricone sounds dark and smooth (yes, I am a bit jealous of it!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzi8COiWVBA

Coleman Trainor · Post by **Coleman Trainor** » 22 Jul 2020 3:32 pm

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the responses... I've listened to reso's, but I'm looking for a bit simpler sound. Sorry to be ambiguous.
I've included a couple clips to define what I'm looking for. Maybe that will help identify an instrument. I'm guessing 20's parlor's....
Thanks for listening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j00yl_EJUGQ

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTdSjvi27Oo[/img]

Jim Graham · Post by **Jim Graham** » 22 Jul 2020 6:10 pm

In videos 2 and 3 they are both playing parlour guitars, which are basically smaller acoustic steel string guitars. The Oahu in the second video was a square neck set up for playing slide only. The third may have had the strings raised for slide playing. You can buy an "extended nut" cheap and put it over the existing nut with no modifications to the guitar that will raise the action for slide playing.

Glenn Wilde · Post by **Glenn Wilde** » 22 Jul 2020 7:52 pm

I would buy the Oahu that's in the classifieds if i wss wanting that sound. The student models are birch and have that cool old boxy bluesy tone.

Chase Brady · Post by **Chase Brady** » 23 Jul 2020 5:15 am

Weren't many of the old Oahus and similar ladder braced?

Gene Tani · Post by **Gene Tani** » 23 Jul 2020 5:21 am

Extender nut which you can slip on, just be careful about the guitars finish if it's a nice instrument

https://www.steelguitarshopper.com/micr ... rsion-nut/

Glenn Wilde · Post by **Glenn Wilde** » 27 Jul 2020 2:29 am

Chase Brady wrote:Weren't many of the old Oahus and similar ladder braced?

The two i have now ( 65k and 66k) are, as are several student models i've owned in the past. Some of the very top of the line models, the one's with all the fancy inlay were x braced iirc, these guitars are impossibly rare and very expensive though and not what i reckon we're discussing here.
P.s. the Oahu student i was referring to is on the Reso hangout classifieds, i dont know if its been listed here.

Ben Birdsall · Post by **Ben Birdsall** » 4 Aug 2020 11:57 am

Almost all Oahu squarenecks were ladder-braced; I believe only the early "jumbo" Nick Lucas-sized ones were x-braced. (I have a ladder-braced squareneck 71K and a Recording King-branded x-braced Nick Lucas-style Spanish neck guitar. Both are great but sound very different.)

I suspect the sound you're looking for comes from the ladder-braced tone. It's not as nasal as the full dobro sound but not as sweet, for lack of a better term, as an x-braced guitar. I find smaller ladder-braced guitars are a bit more aggressive with the old country bluesy boxy sound, while the larger ones like the bigger Oahus (and old Stellas etc) have a similar but deeper, smoother sound. They're all great, and I like them for how they're different from the x-braced sounds almost every guitar has. Most of the old flattop squareneck guitars are ladder-braced, and most every one I've run across (except for the student-model Oahus with those terrible metal bridges) sounds awesome.

Coleman Trainor · Post by **Coleman Trainor** » 22 Jan 2021 5:54 pm

Sorry for the delay in responding for so long.....had a bit of a health concern.

Nothing much has changed guitar-wise. However, I did find a 1931 Slingerland. It sounds almost too sweet....beautiful tone.

Anyway the overarching point of this post is to thank all those who took time to respond with such considered opinions.

Thank you, again - Coleman

Gene Tani · Post by **Gene Tani** » 23 Jan 2021 2:16 pm

90 year old guitar... amazing, really a piece of American history (assuming it was made in US)!

Do you have photo?

Thanks.

Coleman Trainor · Post by **Coleman Trainor** » 23 Jan 2021 3:20 pm

Hi,

Crafted in Chicago by The Slingerland Musical Instrument
Manufacturing Co. 20's---40's.

If you'd like....[url]http://slingerlandguitar.com/.

I'd be happy to post a photo but after resizing and uploading I get an http address and no photo. I'll try and figure it out and post later.

Coleman Trainor · Post by **Coleman Trainor** » 23 Jan 2021 3:25 pm

Apparently having trouble replying.

Slingerland Musical Instrument Manufacturing Co. Active between 20's to 30's. I think they still make drums.

Tried resizing but can't get the images up. Will try in a bit.

Coleman

Gene Tani · Post by **Gene Tani** » 24 Jan 2021 12:03 pm

I appreciate the effort, I love old guitars. And yes, it's a Gibson owned brand like Dobro and many others

https://www.slingerlandguitar.com/

Coleman Trainor · Post by **Coleman Trainor** » 25 Jan 2021 3:28 pm

Hi Gene,

If I did this correctly, the link below should take you to a DropBox folder with a couple photos.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/thcghi7uwuj9 ... y58Oa?dl=0

Let me know if it works - cheers

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