First time lap steel player.

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 31 Oct 2011 3:02 pm

I just joined the forum today and hopefully I can learn a lot here! I am 31 and I have always loved the steel guitar from the old 60's & 70's Country (It always sounded better than the lead guitar IMO!)
Anyway I really wanted to learn pedal steel guitar but after researching it I found it might be a little bit more than I could handle as a beginner, but would love too be able to play a pedal steel one day! I was looking around for good lap steel guitar for a entry level player and found the Rogue EA-3 and after researching some more I found this forum and saw that it was not a very good choice! So I went ahead and purchased a Rouge Jersey Lightning! in white because it was $139 vs. $199 for colored!

I bought a planet waves slide and some dunlop finger picks as well as a new MXR M169 Carbon copy analog delay, I have a amp but it is a old late 60's Univox tube amp with a Jensen speaker it was my fathers he had when he was a teenager, I thought I could replicate the old 60's and 70's lap steel sound using the analog delay and tube amp. If anyone has any good basic beginner information I would greatly appreciate it as I am green as green can be!:lol: If anyone knows of any good DVD lessons?
I wish I had more time I would go take lessons from Louie Popejoy as he is only about a half hour from my house! Thanks again and really appreciate any input!

Robert Jette · Post by **Robert Jette** » 31 Oct 2011 4:10 pm

Welcome to the forum! You'll find a tremendous wealth of information here. For the style of music that you're looking to play, I can recommend Cindy Cashdollar's "Western Swing Steel Guitar" dvd's, Mel Bay Presents Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method (book & cd), & Mel Bay Presents Don Helms (Hank Williams songbook & cd). Pretty sure that those 2 books are available here on the Forum at steelguitarshopper.com. That should keep you busy for quite a while.

Mitch Crane · Post by **Mitch Crane** » 31 Oct 2011 4:15 pm

Welcome David ! You're a 'yougin' around these parts !

Great to have you here. You'll find ALL your lap steel answers here for sure. Great people and an endless supply of information.

Bruce Terrell · Post by **Bruce Terrell** » 31 Oct 2011 5:14 pm

My only advice as a 2 - 3 year advanced learner is, get used to finger picks! I practice with them all the time but when the time comes to play live, I sometimes choke and go bareback! Not always tho. Also, get used to the different tunings. I've found that some tunings have a mathematical logic to them which require serious study. Other tunings (C6) are so intuitive that you can just start playing and get a good sound. There are so many good players on this site that you learn something good every time you log on. Good luck!

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 1 Nov 2011 2:11 am

Bruce Terrell wrote:My only advice as a 2 - 3 year advanced learner is, get used to finger picks!

I agree! I never could wear them because they would dig in to my fingers and cuticles. But I ordered some of the coated National finger picks from the late Andy Hinton and found that I could wear those.

Good luck!

Steve Ahola

P.S. I should be getting my white Jersey Lightning on Thursday. I think that the white looks best- more like the vintage steels that it resembles.

Mark Roeder · Post by **Mark Roeder** » 1 Nov 2011 8:03 am

Welcome David
This is the place .... if I hadn't found the forum I'd still be on square one....thanks to all the shared info I have advanced to square two.
I have one of those Univox tube amps, I think it isfun to play through, but then I have this funky accordian amp I love playing steel through......have fun!

John Faulkinbury · Post by **John Faulkinbury** » 1 Nov 2011 10:53 am

Welcome David. I just recently joined the forum myself after seeing that there is a great wealth of information to be gained here from a lot of very nice and knowledgable people. I have Cindy Cashdollar's "Western Swing Steel Guitar" dvd's and love them.
Steve. I have the white Jersey Lightning. I changed out the strings that came with it to a guage that was more C6th friendly. I plan on changing the tuners also. that being said I love it.

Good luck David with your new Jersey Lightning and Happy Playing !

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 1 Nov 2011 11:16 am

I just got my Dunlop finger picks in today they are all plastic Large size and man the thumbpick fits alright but the fingerpicks are WAY too small! Is there a trick to these maybe heating them up a bit to spread them out so they will fit?

Ron Simpson · Post by **Ron Simpson** » 1 Nov 2011 3:28 pm

Plastic finger picks can be reshaped in boiling water. The pick is placed in a small strainer, and emersed in a pan of boiling water. When the pick begins to open up, remove the strainer, and reshape the pick to the size you need.

If the picking portion is good for you, it can be held with pliers, and only the finger wraps can be immersed in the water.

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 1 Nov 2011 3:58 pm

Thanks for the tip Ron!

Brian Hunter · Post by **Brian Hunter** » 1 Nov 2011 4:34 pm

Hey David, I am over here in Indy and jumped from guitar after 30-some years to steel last February. Welcome to the funnest obsession you could ever imagine. LOTS of good info here!

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 1 Nov 2011 5:04 pm

Yeah I have no experience on guitar, I am totally green!

good to see another Hoosier!

Randy Cordle · Post by **Randy Cordle** » 1 Nov 2011 5:06 pm

Welcome aboard, David. You don't have to be too anxious to jump on pedal steel. I just played a show in Central Illinios and was joined by a lap steel player from St. Louis named Bob Briedenbach.
I can't imagine anyone improving on the sound that he got with a 6 and 8 string lap. If you closed your eyes there's no way you could tell he wasn't on pedal steel. I was in awe! I know Bob plays a weekly gig in St. Louis, but I 'm spacing on the name of his band. I urge EVERYONE to go out and hear Bob!

OK, Got it. Bob plays with the Western Satellites, voted best Traditional Country Band by the local St. Losis Riverfront Times.

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/bestof/2 ... l-1463179/

James Nottage · Post by **James Nottage** » 2 Nov 2011 9:52 am

Welcome, David. There are more of us in Indiana than you can imagine!

James Nottage

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 3 Nov 2011 11:14 am

Well my Rogue Jersey Lightning came in today!! and I received my slide as well so it looks like I get to do some pickin' tonight!

Hal Braun · Post by **Hal Braun** » 3 Nov 2011 11:41 am

Also, using finger picks is "IMHO" not a necessary requirement. While I use a thumb pick, I cannot stand finger picks, plus I like the "meatier" sound you get from your fingers bare. I also like being able to feel the string positions. (I don't use a pick with my regular guitars either). Your mileage may vary.

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 3 Nov 2011 12:39 pm

Fingerpicks vs Bare Fingers:

There are advantages to both. I think that for classic steel guitar the metal fingerpicks are part of the sound and allow for a wider dynamic range. But as Hal pointed out there are advantages to playing without them. And it also allows you to mute the strings with your fingertips. I find that with modern high-gain rock/blues settings bare fingers give you much more control over the sound.

So I think that it is good to be able to play with both. I could never wear metal fingerpicks because they'd dig into my cuticles, But after getting some of the coated ones from Andy Hinton I haven't left home without them. Since he has passed away I've been coating my own picks with Plasti-Dip.

Steve Ahola

Twayn Williams · Post by **Twayn Williams** » 3 Nov 2011 1:01 pm

Steve Ahola wrote:Fingerpicks vs Bare Fingers:

There are advantages to both. I think that for classic steel guitar the metal fingerpicks are part of the sound and allow for a wider dynamic range. But as Hal pointed out there are advantages to playing without them. And it also allows you to mute the strings with your fingertips. I find that with modern high-gain rock/blues settings bare fingers give you much more control over the sound.

Propik Finger-tone

If you have nails like a classical guitar player, the difference between picks and bare is much less. FWIW, I always have more dynamic control and range without picks than with picks. But for that classic sound, you really need to use picks. And if you're playing an acoustic steel, picks will definitely allow you to play harder and louder.

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 3 Nov 2011 3:22 pm

Well I have picked on it for a couple hours and I did my best tuning it but I tuned it to G, I have a guitar pitch pipe how do I tune it to C6 sorry if this is a dumb question but as I said before I am green as all get out!!!

I actually think the fingerpicks help in my case because I have some BIG fingers! (I am a big guy 6'8 300 lbs!) I really am picking up using the bar but as far as picking a tune WOOOW I am far, far off!!! lol now as far as making noise! I am good at that!

Stephen Abruzzo · Post by **Stephen Abruzzo** » 3 Nov 2011 4:35 pm

Get yourself a good chromatic tuner......it will save you endless headaches.

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 3 Nov 2011 4:38 pm

Chromatic tuner, I will pick one up! Thanks!

I have found a few different variants on Ebay I found a Korg pedal, one that looks like a handheld, one that clamps on the head, I suppose they all will work fine but would the pedal tuner be more accurate?

Tom Pettingill · Post by **Tom Pettingill** » 3 Nov 2011 5:01 pm

For a decent clip on tuner, I really like my Snark that I picked up last year
http://www.amazon.com/Snark-SN1-SN-1-Tu ... 321&sr=8-1

Robert Jette · Post by **Robert Jette** » 3 Nov 2011 5:04 pm

My favorite 6 string C6 tuning from hi to low is E,C,A,G,E,C. Much easier to do with a chromatic tuner. I prefer a chromatic tuner pedal because it's always in your cable "chain" between your guitar & amp. You can find a decent, inexpensive, brand new pedal at just about any music store, or online at places like Musicians Friend, 123 Music, etc.

David Hughes · Post by **David Hughes** » 3 Nov 2011 5:27 pm

Thanks for the input guy's! I think I will go with a pedal tuner!

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 3 Nov 2011 11:38 pm

I got my RJL late this afternoon- Woohoo! Mine had heavy strings on the bottom, I have no idea what tuning that they had in mind. I wonder if they just grabbed what was handy... Here are the gauges from low to high (as measured with my digital calipers.) The suggested pitch are from the chart on John Ely'd site:

Code: Select all

056 048 034w 024p 018 015
E   G   D    G    C   E

If your gauges are anything like what I got you do not want to tune the 6th string to C or the 5th string to E for C6th tuning. Here are the approximate gauges for C6th:

Code: Select all

036/8 030/2 024/6 020/2 017/8 015
C     E     G     A     C     E

I have this theory that each lap steel has a tuning that it really likes (yes, lap steels are alive

). It seems like each lap steel ends up getting tuned to something other than what I had planned. Like I wanted to use my 1948 Gibson Century 6 with an open E tuning for blues. Nope, my Century wanted to be tuned in C6th (with an occasional foray into A6th).

I wasn't sure how I wanted to tune my RJL but it was certainly anything but Open E. I was thinking about using it for the top 6 strings of one of the 8 string tunings that I like- maybe E13th or E9th. So much for my plans- at least for me this steel wants to be tuned in Open E.

Steve

P.S. The nuts securing the tuners on the headstock were loose- I guess that they must have misplaced their 10mm socket in the factory...

The humbucker pickup is decent enough- I might just leave it in rather than swap it out with something I have around. I kinda like the tone control where it is- you can adjust it with your palm while you are playing. And Rogue was kind enough to use the rounded top Tele knobs rather than the ones with the sharp edges.

I was surprised to find that it came in a really nice tweed gig bag- and with a halfway decent guitar cord.

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First time lap steel player.

First time lap steel player.

1st timer, Indiana