The Steel Guitar Forum

I am new to lap steel. Have been playing dobro for three years. Have a good basic understanding of music theory. Am self motivated and can self teach to a good degree. However, I am stuck in the, "Should I choose 6 string or 8 string?" dilemma. Any assistance you could provide to help guide me would be appreciated. I love blues and to play blues, but my main interests in lap steel are Hawaiian and Western swing/country. I have looked at new guitars like Melbert and Rukavina, but absolutely love the thought of owning a Gibson. Have been in contact with Bob Allen and think his lap steels might be a good choice. Can't reach Ryan Rukavina. Have my eye on an EH-100 6 string and an EH-100 7 string, as well as a BR-3. Any thoughts any of you might have would be appreciated. And sorry for the redundancy of this question...!

I would go with 8!!! You a have a top string a little higher and the same on the the
bottom. You will surprised as you go forward how you will use them.
Joe Elk Central Ohio

I'm with Joe on that. If you like western swing you'll be really glad you got an 8 string (or even 7). You don't even have to string it up with all the strings at the beginning - but I'd give you about a week before you do.

You can always put six strings on an 8-string, but not vice versa. However, a 6-string is easier to find.

I'm in the same choice situation. I have six strings already so I would choose an 8. Good luck!

On the other hand, for some of us less quick folks, 6 isn't bad. I have Dobro, Weissenborn, and a couple of lap steels - all 6 string and tuned GBDGBD. So I can just make music and focus on learning the quirks of the instruments.

Yeah, fancy chords are harder...but the forward, reverse, and split slants I learned for lap steel get those for me and are quite usable on the other instruments.

I did try C6 when I first got a lap steel, but changed my mind...really having a deep intuition for a single tuning has been good for me.

I also now make sure that all instruments are the same scale length, so muscle memory also is easier...

But sure, if Western swing is where you are going, why not get an 8, tuned in C6? Or if you are still at the phase where learning new stuff is quick and easy...

Great feedback! Thanks, everyone. My inclination is to go 8 string or, as David mentioned, even the 7 string. I remember hearing an interview with Alan Akaka who mentioned another Hawaiian player that prefers 7 string to 8 string. But, Steve, I also appreciate your intuition to stay with 6 string and lock things in deeper with GBDGBD and a longer scale. So many choices! The thing I'm a little intimidated by is starting all over with another system like C6 or A6 and having to start seeing the fretboard differently. Though I did play guitar and it wasn't too bad to pick up GBDGBD. When I watch C6/A6 players work the fretboard it seems simple in terms of movement, but complex in terms of what they're actually playing with those simple movements. Does that make sense?

I’m a 7 string fan.
Mine are tuned G9 gGBDFAD, but there a couple really good 7 string tunings based on Dobro G.

EGBDGBD G6 gives you a nice bottom end that’s missing on Dobro & E minor
GBDEGBD is another G6 option

Don Barnhill wrote:I'm in the same choice situation. I have six strings already so I would choose an 8. Good luck!

Don, why are you wanting to go to an 8 string? Just curious.

Allan Revich wrote:I’m a 7 string fan.
Mine are tuned G9 gGBDFAD, but there a couple really good 7 string tunings based on Dobro G.

EGBDGBD G6 gives you a nice bottom end that’s missing on Dobro & E minor
GBDEGBD is another G6 option

Allan, what styles of music are you playing with those tunings? Have you ever tried C6 or A6 on yours with another note choice on the 7th string? I think that's what Alan Akaka had mentioned the other Hawaiian-style player had used. I can't remember what note it was though.

Also, do you feel limited in any way by those tunings?

What 7-string lap steels do you use?

Melbert and Rukavina 8 strings are good choices, just have to get used to string spacing and bullet bars and get Andy Volk's basic C6 book.

You can look at georgeboards.com too. Rukavina seems to have stopped making lap steels, or at least doesn't show any on Reverb any more.

8 string would be my pick (and has been). For Western Swing I think A6 would be the natural tuning to pursue, and in Hawaiian (not that A6 doesn't work as well) C6, or better, the Jules Ah See C13, with B11 as a secondary tuning.

You absolutely can play on a six string though, and many do. If I had to guess what player Alan was referring to that plays a seven string, I'd guess Bobby Ingano, he plays a 7 string frypan as I recall. Some people like the extra strings for extra range up top (high G on C6 for example) but in most of my experience with Hawaiian style, it is usually used for extra range on the bottom. A big .070 gauge string for a low C just sounds huge with some chords! and the low Bb really adds some great options.

I believe that anytime you vary from a straight major tuning you need more than 6 strings.
Otherwise your range is limited.
Erv

I would definitely go with an 8 string model. In years to come you will not regret it.

I started on 6 string lap steel (C6) and moved quite quickly to 8 string and never looked back. I play old Country, Western Swing and Hawaiian styles and use A6 tuning for most of it.

I recently started playing an acoustic 6 string to get closer to Hawaiian styles and I tune (lo to hi):
1. DGDGBD or
2. DGEGBD or
3. GBDGBD.

Most of the self-learn material I have is for 1 or 3 but I prefer 2 because of the E which makes it a G6 tuning which I am more familiar with. But regardless of which tuning, I really miss having 8 strings. That fat minor chord at the bottom is great on blues numbers and having major and minor chords with inversions that 8 strings give you is so useful in any musical style.

\ paul

Rick DeTroye wrote:

Allan Revich wrote:I’m a 7 string fan.
Mine are tuned G9 gGBDFAD, but there a couple really good 7 string tunings based on Dobro G.

EGBDGBD G6 gives you a nice bottom end that’s missing on Dobro & E minor
GBDEGBD is another G6 option

Allan, what styles of music are you playing with those tunings? Have you ever tried C6 or A6 on yours with another note choice on the 7th string? I think that's what Alan Akaka had mentioned the other Hawaiian-style player had used. I can't remember what note it was though.

Also, do you feel limited in any way by those tunings?

What 7-string lap steels do you use?

Rick, I play mostly blues, plus some free improvisation. No country, no Hawaiian. No jazz standards. Not much pop or rock. So I don’t use either of those G6 tunings, they were suggested to me by some members here when I got my fist 7 string, a National New Yorker. The ONLY tuning I’m currently using is my G9 with the reentrant G string. It is perfect for my (admittedly limited) repertoire. This tuning gives me Majors & minors, plus dominant 7 and 9, and diminished chords under a straight bar. I lose 6 and minor 7 chords. Sixes sound “off” to me in classic blues, and minor 7s are my “compromise loss“ in exchange for the gains.

I no longer own the National, but have Rickenbacher B7 and a custom Fouke Industrial 7 string. My six strings are tuned either GBDFAD or gGDFAD.

Rick DeTroye wrote:

Don Barnhill wrote:I'm in the same choice situation. I have six strings already so I would choose an 8. Good luck!

Don, why are you wanting to go to an 8 string? Just curious.

Hi Rick,
I love the way the steel pedal sounds in almost every situation. So my thinking is it would be nice to have an 8 to get out of the 6 string box. I have several 6 strings and wanted to try an 8 string lap steel..
Good luck!
DB

Rick, If you are in Portland, there is a very nice 8 String Rik Lap Steel at Strum Guitars. It is one of the nicest Silver Body 8 String Lap Riks I have seen. I played it and it sounds real good. It is very solid. Not like some of the hollow 6 string ones I have seen.

I'm a 7 string fan. I use A7 most of the time on a Ric B7 for bluesy country stuff. It's very easy to switch between these 4 useful tunings on a 7 string:

A6
A C# E F# A C# E
The classic western swing "High G" C6, but tuned down a step and a half.

A7
A C# E G A C# E
From A6, tune the F# up to G, and you get a "dobro" tuning, a step higher with a handy b7 on the middle string. Good for blues and bluegrassy sounds.

C6
A C E G A C E
From A6, tune the F# to G and both C#'s to C, and you get 7 sequential strings of the standard pedal steel C6 tuning.

C6/A7
A C# E G A C E
From A6, tune the F# to G and the higher C# to C, and you get the tuning Jerry Byrd used on many recordings. Has an easy to grab dominant 7 chord.

If I were going to start over I would start with a 10 string lap steel, string it up with a set of C6 strings with a high G.
I have found that I want the extra range to play Hank or Johnny.

Very happy with my Melbert. I bought it used and have wasted tons of Robert's time talking about modifications, but in truth it does everything I need right now. What a nice dude. The thing is a brute.

I'm not an experienced player by any means but I'm happy that I have an 8. Actually a 9 would be my preference, Jules Ah See with a high G.

Of course if you find a nice 6 string, you could play only that and never be bored. Limitations are good.

I just would avoid buying a rogue or a cheap chinese import, I have one and it blows.

I play GBDGBD dobro as my main instrument. I recently set up a 6 string lap to G6 using (low to high) BDEGBD. This allowed me all of my high 3 string dobro slants, plus the same fret positions as dobro.

That said, if I was to purchase a new lap steel, I’d do a 7 string and get that root back on the bottom, GBDEGBD. Makes the switch from G dobro as easy as it can be. That’s just my opinion, you can make music on any tuning with any amount of strings.

As a beginner, I think focusing on the top 4 strings is really the easiest way to learn. You can play everything you need with the top 4, and really only dive into the lower strings when you're doing more advanced stuff. Just consider the tunings! On the top 4 strings C#m7 is the same as F#m9, B11 is the same as A6, C6/13 is the same as D9, etc. So really either a 6 string or an 8 string is fine until you want to start diving into more chord voicings and jazz IMO. There's so much to learn on those first 4 strings it could take you years!

I own and play both 6 and 8-string guitars and, while there's a lot you gain with adding two strings, over the years I've discovered that I'm drawn to the purity and simplicity of 6-string instruments. I also enjoy the challenge of finding interesting ways to arrange a tune within the limitations of 6-strings. That said, if you can afford to do so, I would definitely try to own both 6 and 8-string instruments.