The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm in the process of putting together an 8 string lap steel with a Hipshot Guitar b bender and drop D lever. The drop D lever will be used to raise / lower the d to e string. I plan to tune the instrument to standard dobro tuning on the inside six strings. What should I tune strings 1 and 8 to?

I would put maybe a low E on the bottom, and a reentrant A or C on the top. Or a high E on top if you like the 6th sound. Or a high F on top if you want a dominant 7th, etc.

I’d look at it as, XGBDGBDX, and ask myself what’s missing? What comes to my mind is a 6th/m7 and a dominant 7 or maybe a M7.

You’ve taken care of the 6 with the drop D lever that can raise the D to E. Still, a “permanent” E string might be nice on the bottom. Then perhaps an F on top, or even a high G.

I’m sure there is lots of interesting fun to be had experimenting.

High G on top, also returnable to E, F, F# for special occasions? Probably have to use a 0.010 or 0.011 string, which might sound thin and whiny.

It's not in your plan, but an E in the middle (GBDEGBD) is worthy of consideration. Gives you the traditional A6 or C6 intervals, but lower.

Any time you have a G chord, a low E is interesting just because it makes the G into an Em7. Of course E is also the 6th of G so doubling it higher up gives options if you like the 6th tunings. If I could get a nice dominant 7th chord that would always make me happy.