I've been mostly exploring C6, but am open to any tuning!
Welcome to the forum.
Your tuning is really the first decision you need to make. C6, G, D, E, A tuning are a few of the more popular 6 string tunings, depending on what kind of music you are trying to play. While you can learn to play any kind of music on any tuning, certain tunings lend themselves to certain styles more readily than others. If you are interested in hawaiian and country, C6 is a common choice. If you are interested more in rock and blues ala someone like David Lindley or Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe, then you might want to consider Open D or E tunings.
Your next decision is the type of bar you want: a dobro style stevens bar? or a round bullet nose bar. Again, for country and hawaiian a bullet bar is popular, for blues, bluegrass, rock, a Stevens bar is commonly used.
Hope that helps.
I just saw your artist list. Most of the artists you mentioned used Pedal steel players and you can't really get the same sound that you hear on the records from a lap steel. I would highly suggest looking at Lessons with Troy who has a lot of beginner lap steel lessons and tunes he tabs out.
