The Steel Guitar Forum

tonight i hotwired a little pickup onto the 4 string lap bass i am making just to do some testing and so far so good! i will install some bass pickups when they get here in the mail. i turned on an Ipad so you guys could see the first attempt. i just went to youtube and pulled up some tracks that are minus bass and tried to play along. i put on a used set of flat wounds and later on will try some other types of strings.
had fun just trying some different bass grooves. sorry for the long video and the audio is just the ipad mic, but you can get an idea of the potential. thx! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gueMPOKK95s&t=265s

Great playing & beautiful instrument Bill! You actually made me like YMCA.

Sounds great Bill well done

That's awesome! Congratulations on your idea and making it a reality. And thanks for the demonstration of how to play lap steel bass.

Steve Atwood wrote:That's awesome! Congratulations on your idea and making it a reality. And thanks for the demonstration of how to play lap steel bass.

when you get your 10 stringer, i expect to hear YMCA!

That should be easy, I'll just copy what you did. Look for my video in the year 2525.

What tuning are using ?That bass lap steel is so cool and the playing is awesome. I have a friend who was a guitar player and cut 3 of his fingers off on a table saw. Still has his middle finger and thumb. He might be able to doodle with something like this. Thanks

Robert Colaninno wrote:What tuning are using ?That bass lap steel is so cool and the playing is awesome. I have a friend who was a guitar player and cut 3 of his fingers off on a table saw. Still has his middle finger and thumb. He might be able to doodle with something like this. Thanks

Tuning is just like bass guitar....EADG.

Which hand?

Thanks Bill , It's his left hand. He can hold a bar with some effort. He is getting a prosthetic soon. I showed him your video and he was amazed.

Robert Colaninno wrote:Thanks Bill , It's his left hand. He can hold a bar with some effort. He is getting a prosthetic soon. I showed him your video and he was amazed.

that's great. I'm sure you've showed him Billy Hew Len for inspiration?
I have a guitarist friend that lost most his fingers on his left hand at the second knuckle from frostbite, his right hand is messed up too. It was years and alot of hard work but he can play quite well now, most people dont even know he's handicapped.

Very innovative, cool stuff, Bill.

Wow that's so cool, Bill! Great project and terrific playing. Chapeau!

Thanks for posting.

I was not expecting this. When I read your post re the building of a lap steel bass, I really did not get it! Having watched you play this instrument I totally understand where you are coming from. A new concept to me and very well played. Bill, you are clearly a very good bass player as well as a very good steel player. Kudos!

Kudos on the build and the great playing, Bill! That is deeply cool.

That is/was great, Bill!

Love to see/hear more of the bass once finished to your satisfaction...

When I was playing a T-8 Stringmaster, I had bass strings on one of the necks.
Erv

Erv Niehaus wrote:When I was playing a T-8 Stringmaster, I had bass strings on one of the necks.
Erv

Did you have a 30 “ scale? If not, it would only sound like too big a string for too short of a scale as does 99% of all the steel guitars with scales between say 22-25” tuned down to low E in the electric /acoustic bass zone. 30” is the least I would use. 32-34 would sound and feel even better, but you would have to work a bit harder playing it.

At 30”, you can use a heavier string for a good string feel and sound and keep the fret spacing to a good playable comfort zone.

My Stringmaster had a 26" scale.
Erv

I really enjoyed the video. The fretless, string-bassy vibe was great!