The Steel Guitar Forum

i'm starting my building of my 1st lap steel & thought i would ask for advice. should i go for a 6,7,or 8? i do plan a couple more projects in the future but i plan on going to a 8 eventually so what does anyone think? i was leaning towards a 6 just for the whole thought that maybe that should come 1st cause if 1 can't get it done (playing wise)on a 6 does it make a difference wheather they have 7,8, or a million strings? just not sure.

All you get with the extra strings is more note choices, and better access to more chord voicings; you will need to consider string spacing, which is usually tighter on an 8. For me string spacing is key but I'd LOVE to have 8 strings right now. Just getting started I'd say that you should get what you are going to want to play and start there, adding later just slows you down. Get an 8, learn to use what's there and you can decide what you like.

Build a 8 string with wider spacing like Rick Aiello builds. You can always play it as a 6 or 7 string if you want. But you will have the choice of all three.

Hi Gary
I am new as well. I started with a six and quickly went to an eight. As keith mentioned the string was alot narrower so I altered the spacing to match my six, .402, slightly wider than 3/8ths. Then the problem was the pick up width. The stringmaster eights have a spacing of about 5/16 (Someone correct me if I'm off that). So I had a eight pole made to telecaster spacing .440, that leaves lots of room for adjustment by angling the pick up. It also has a ton of gain. Hope that's helpful.
Mark

Gary Lynch wrote:Build a 8 string with wider spacing like Rick Aiello builds. You can always play it as a 6 or 7 string if you want. But you will have the choice of all three.

Exactly. If you have too many strings you have the choice to not use them, but if you have too few you can't add them. I myself would never build a lap steel with fewer than 8 strings.

Or a twin course 8

basilh wrote:Or a twin course 8

...touché

i have had very deep thoughts of a double course 8 & also a 10 string . i haven't been able to come up with a good tuning for a 13, any thoughts?

I built only one six string, back in the 50s. Most have been seven string except for an eight string that someone ordered. Eight strings are nice, but I like seven, and don't care for six. Everyone has their favorite number of strings it seems. Whatever works for you is the correct number.

One of the advantages of having 7 or 8 strings is that you can get a richer variety of chord inversions. These can permit more variations in style and harmony. Of course, the compromise is reduced spacing between the strings. But, as Jerry Byrd used to say, you learn to master the guitar you have....

Kay Das wrote:...the compromise is reduced spacing between the strings...

This doesn't have to be a problem. If you're designing and building an instrument from scratch you can use whatever string spacing you like.

Dion Stephen wrote:i have had very deep thoughts of a double course 8 & also a 10 string . i haven't been able to come up with a good tuning for a 13, any thoughts?

I'm currently in the process of building a double-course 8 course instrument, which is 16 strings, as Basil alluded to. A 10-course double course instrument would have 20 strings, and the fingerboard would be very wide. That in itself is not a problem; the lute and theorbo have very wide necks; the problem is that you're either using unison courses or octave courses. Unison courses, as I've found out by building them, don't achieve much with lap steels, so, turning to octave courses, you have to have octaves right from the first course down to the last. On a 10-course instrument the 7th through 10th courses would be so low that they need bass guitar strings, or lower. It's just not the sound that the Hawaiian guitar is expected to produce...

Eight.

If they get in the way remove the top and bottom. Or, remove the bottom 2.

You will always be happy with 8.

IMHO

6 string pickups are easy to get and cheap. 7-strings are less easy and not as cheap. 8-string pickups are pretty hard to find. Are you making your own pickups too?

Gary Shepherd wrote:6 string pickups are easy to get and cheap. 7-strings are less easy and not as cheap. 8-string pickups are pretty hard to find. Are you making your own pickups too?

I haven't had much trouble finding used 8 and 10-string pickups so far. I guess if I keep talking people into making 8-string instruments I'm creating my own competition for parts !