The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm looking for a lap steel (or maybe two) and I could use some advice. I'll use it (them?) for two types of music. One is the blues/rock 'n roll Elmore James E-tuning stuff but I also like to play swing stuff and jazz standards, so I'd really like to try some of that on steel.

So... would I be better off with a 6-string for the blues thing AND an 8-string for the other stuff, or would an 8-string work well for both? I'm not on a real tight budget, so the cost of a second guitar isn't a real detriment. Thank you.

I'd recommend a 6-string for the blues stuff, not because it can't be done on an 8-string (just listen to the Sacred Steel players and you'll hear plenty of evidence of that), but there's something about that basic 6-string major tuned rawness that just can't be beat for blues.

An 8-string in a 13th tuning would be great for the swing/jazz stuff.....

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

A six-string for blues and an eight-string for your jazz type stuff sounds good. The six-string with its nice wide string spacing and no annoying sixths or sevenths in the way, and the eight string with its greater number of potential voicings for more flexibility when playing songs with complicated chord changes.

I'd probably go with a double neck steel, though--a double-eight, that is--and set up one neck as my "jazz" neck and another as my "blues" neck" with a nice extended range and maybe a sixth or seventh in there somewhere. Heavier to carry around, but more flexible, and you can turn on both necks at once and give yourself a kind of sixteen string superguitar.

-Travis

Don't underestimate the power of six strings for any music form. I have been using a double six lap steel as my main guitar for the last six years playing a wide variety of music from western swing to jazz and blues. E major (E-B-E-G#-B-E) and A6 (C#-E-F#-A-C#-E) (both listed low to high), work incredebly well side by side to the point where you can play both necks as one guitar! Try it out if you get the chance and see what you think. Happy pickin'.