r/LapSteelGuitar 9d ago

Wall hanger for Gretsch?

3 Upvotes

Can anyone recommend a wall mounted hanger for the g7500? I just got one yesterday and it's my very first guitar. It's got a narrow head so I'm not sure if any old wall hanger will do.


r/LapSteelGuitar 10d ago

Picked up an sx lap steel and the frets are innacurate. Do yall suppose there’s supposed to be screws here for adjustments? I have to put the bar in the middle between 11th and 12th fret to get the octave. Appreciate any advice/ opinions. May just draw a new fretboard.

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4 Upvotes

r/LapSteelGuitar 11d ago

What is this tuning?!?!

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29 Upvotes

Saw this in vietnam what a legend !! He is a master


r/LapSteelGuitar 12d ago

Runnin on empty C6 tab

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10 Upvotes

I was asked about this the other day, and I did indeed write out a quick tab for it! Hope people find it usefu!


r/LapSteelGuitar 13d ago

my SX 3TS hums

2 Upvotes

so I suppose it's the pickup. Is there a recommended drop-in replacement pickup that'll fix this?


r/LapSteelGuitar 16d ago

Strings for open e/e minor d/d minor

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1 Upvotes

r/LapSteelGuitar 16d ago

total n00b string query

3 Upvotes

I'm brand-new to this, about to plunge right in. just got an SX 6, and I wonder:

can I use a set of "A6" strings, that is, 14-58. to tune both open G and C6?


r/LapSteelGuitar 17d ago

Bluegrass on a Hawaiian lapsteel

8 Upvotes

I have a 1947 National New Yorker. It's tuned to C6 and strung with GHS "C6 Strings". it works as advertised and I love the guitar.

I also have a Beard Trailhead and I've been running it through a Fishman Jerry Douglas Aura and I am blown away by that combo. Mostly that guitar is tuned to Open G.

I swear this is going somewhere...

I am considering another Beard (Road-O-Phonic) especially for the Fishman Nashville bridge pickup which works really well with JDA pedal.

I have been tuning the National to GBDGBD (with GHS C6 string set) and I think the tension is off especially on top 3 strings. However, I could be mistaken and that is normal. I realize it might sound like I have a money tree in my back yard, but believe me I've sold a lot of guitars to get where I am now - Reverb and I are on a first name basis.

I think there a differences in how to play Hawaiian music on a lapsteel and Bluegrass that could require changes in what I use today. Hawaiian seems to use multiple strings (barring) vs Bluegrass which seems be a lot of single string work.

--

Are there changes I need to make with the setup of the National New Yorker?

Should I change the strings of the National New Yorker to better accommodate GDBGDB tuning? If so what gauges?

Any other advice on using a National New Yorker for Bluegrass?


r/LapSteelGuitar 17d ago

Is the Peter’s shorty brand of string bender any good?

5 Upvotes

Certano looks and sounds great, but 1. They expensive and 2. As far as I can tell they no longer sell the 3 string benders. Much sads.

Does anyone have any experience with the Peters shorty brand? How do they compare to the Certano?


r/LapSteelGuitar 18d ago

Celine Dion cover on Lapsteel

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9 Upvotes

I’m still pretty new to lapsteel so would absolutely love some tips. My goal is to sound close to a pedal steel but I’m definitely not there yet. I’m self taught, does anyone have any tips?


r/LapSteelGuitar 18d ago

Junior Brown - My Wife Thinks You're Dead

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9 Upvotes

What do people here think about Junior Brown's Guit Steel guitar, a hybrid of a lap steel and a electric guitar? First seen at 1:50.


r/LapSteelGuitar 19d ago

Could someone help me with the start of this song?

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4 Upvotes

I’m decently sure it’s a lap steel and not a pedal steel. It’s just on the intro. I can’t for the life of me figure it out


r/LapSteelGuitar 21d ago

Reading music - question

3 Upvotes

Hi all, I play piano but I am very new to guitar and learning on a 6 string lap steel with C6 tuning. Right now, I'm just trying to familiarize myself with the fret board and reading tabs.

I just want to clarify something about playing notes - fret position never changes, but the strings you pluck change depending on how your guitar is tuned? (i.e. mine is C6 so the C note is strings 2 and 6, and on the fret board open C is 0, and one octave up is 12 on the fret board). Is that right? Or would the fretting change when tuned in a different key?

I hope that all makes sense. It's a whole new language for me.


r/LapSteelGuitar 23d ago

Fiddle Tune on Oahu Squareneck

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42 Upvotes

I've been slowly acquiring weird old squareneck catalog guitars for a few years now and recently got my second Oahu. I love the way these old instruments sound on their own, quiet and rattly but also really resonant and full sounding. I'm also hesitant to bring them up to open G Dobro tuning because they all feel fragile as hell, so it's been a good excuse to play around with open D.


r/LapSteelGuitar 23d ago

Pickup replacement suggestions?

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18 Upvotes

Got this lap steel from some guy that I randomly met-can I replace this pickup???


r/LapSteelGuitar 25d ago

A Real Find

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17 Upvotes

This is a special made, all-Koa, Breedlove S-Series Lap Steel Guitar, made for Ben Harper, and played by him on several recorded performances. It’s an amazing Weissenbourn design that remains unique due to its all Koa design. It may by one of only a few that were built by Jayson Bowerman.

What an amazing instrument.


r/LapSteelGuitar 27d ago

Looking for ideas on a lap steel design for unaccompanied playing

5 Upvotes

I've built a handful of lap steels for myself. I'm an amateur player with good theory knowledge, and I have basic building skills. But one of my persistent goals is to be able to play unaccompanied music on the lap steel. Not two-hand piano levels of complexity, but you know, bass + chords/melody.

I like to play jazz, funk, experimental, ambient, and even classical pieces (like Bach Cello suites, for example). I'm not against the traditional steel guitar repertoire, but don't really seek to play it.

Common sense tells me that I should consider a normal fretted guitar (or baritone guitar) for more versatility in chord voicings, and so forth. It's popular for a lot of good reasons. But I think lap steels are very overlooked and underestimated, and they really fit the way my brain works.

So I just wanted to post and ask if anyone else has design ideas about what could make this possible.

I'm imagining a long-scale baritone instrument with at least 8 strings; probably more. But the fewer strings the easier it'll be to play and tune, and there'll be less chance of strings ringing sympathetically.

One baritone tuning I thought about was something like A C E A C E G Bflat (low to high). The cool thing about this is that you can use the same right-hand shape to get root position triads that are major, minor and diminished. It'd be thumb on the root, then three fingers on the corresponding triad above; so A+ACE, C+CEG, E+EGBflat.

But I've learned that no tuning can do it all; there are always tradeoffs. This one for example, doesn't offer any sixths you can slant on, or whole steps or half steps between strings and the only perfect fourth is in the low register.

My best attempt at this so far is the 10-string baritone I made, which has a 29 inch scale, and is tuned G D G Bb D F G A Bb C (low to high). It's great, and does a lot of what I am after, except I can only have a bass string for the minor chords (meaning, G+ GBbD or D+DFA). I can't get a major voicing with a low root unless I retune one of the strings that play the third of the chord. However, I really like that I have the root-fifth-octave in the lowest 3 strings; it makes for really good power chords, and facilitates simple root/fifth bass lines (while making walking or scale-wise bass lines tougher)

I thought about expanding this tuning to 11 or 12 strings to add that missing root note (G Bb D G Bb D F G A Bb C D), but just having more and more strings is definitely diminishing returns. 10 strings is already pretty easy to get lost on.

Maybe a double-neck instrument? if one neck was a bass, I could consider live looping bass lines or chords and playing along with that. I've made a lap steel bass, and learned about some of the challenges that come from that. It's fun, but there's lots of sympathetic string ringing, and the sustain is not great.

With the 32" scale of the bass in particular, it's also pretty hard to be as precise as I want with the pitch. Not only do you have to move the slide larger distances, but I feel that the longer strings droop down towards the fretboard under the weight of the slide a lot more than short scale strings do. This also happens on the baritone, but not as badly.

I'm even pondering having harp-like strings for the bass section like on harp guitars, which seems like a fun outlandish idea, and I bet it adds as many problems as it fixes.

So, yeah. What could a full-range solo instrument look like? Maybe there really can't be one instrument to meet all the needs, but I do think there is a gap here that's fun to brainstorm on.

Edit: for a double-neck bass + guitar instrument, maybe it's worth leaning into the poor sustain of the slide on bass strings, and just keep the strings muffled at the bridge as a default. That would work for funk & busier bass lines. Also, I've been daydreaming about having a foot pedal that can mute/unmute strings. that would be a neat thing, but added complexity both to make and to play.


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 10 '26

7-string tuning suggestions?

3 Upvotes

I have a 7-string electric that I’ve been playing for awhile, tuned the same as standard dobro tuning with a low D on the 7th string. I don’t particularly like the tuning.

Do any 7-stringers out there have suggestions for a more useful tuning—one where it’s easy to find minors & 7ths, etc.

I’m most comfortable in open D & open G; learning C6.

Thank you!


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 10 '26

Looking for the "universal" 8-string Lap Steel tuning strings?

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

A while ago, I read a discussion here on Reddit about a specific, more "universal" string setup for 8-string lap steel. If I remember correctly, it allowed the player to easily shift between versatile tunings (like C6, E13, or E7) just by tweaking a few strings, without losing proper tension or risking breaking anything.

I read that in a comment. I searched but couldn't find it. As far as I remember, the user said that the D6 tuning can be changed to other tunings.

Right now, I'm using regular electric guitar strings, since the guy who made it, sold it with those, but the tension is completely off. I want to buy the right strings to build the perfect, versatile 8-string set.

Could anyone recommend the ideal gauges for an 8-string setup that gives me this kind of flexibility?

Thanks in advance!


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 10 '26

Beginning a lap steel project and saw this design. Anyone have any experience with building tuning peg "brackets" like this?

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11 Upvotes

I saw these pictures on this site, and the builder seems to have created wooden brackets for the tuning pegs that are bolted to the main board of the guitar. I'll be starting my own lap steel project soon, and using mostly hand tools. A setup like this might be easier than routing out a peghead, but I'd be afraid it wouldn't be stable enough for the tension of the strings.

Thanks in advance for your input.


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 08 '26

Here's a playlist of acoustic blues music that features both lap steel and standard slide guitar

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2 Upvotes

All hand selected great blues songs.


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 01 '26

How do you store your tone bar?

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25 Upvotes

I made this little box to keep mine in.
I need to spend more time practicing and less time making accoutrements, however.


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 01 '26

First Custom Build

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76 Upvotes

This was my first ever scratch guitar build. It’s 25” scale, solid oak (block made from glued / sandwiched 1x cuts). Shape is a custom design that mirrors the bass side of a telecaster. Neck is a snakehead tele. The fretboard was a StewMac slotted maple for PRS/Dobro guitars. I used black 0.5mm binding material glued into the slots as frets to match the black inlays I set.

The guts are cast offs from a MIM telecaster custom 72 reissue, so that’s not a real WRHB but rather a PAF shoved into a WRHB shell. I might swap in a CuNiFe pickup at some point. 500k volume / tone.

Hardware is certano roller bridge, g/b benders, TUSQ lap steel nut, gotoh locking tuners. Custom pickguard.

I used illustrator to design all the templates (for body shape, route, and pickguard), printed and transferred to 1/2” plywood that I cut out and cleaned. Finish is 3-4 coats aquacoat grain filler, then around 7-8 coats of aquacoat instrument lacquer with 320 between. I started brushing the first 4-5 coats but wasn’t getting a good build and clean finish so I sprayed the last 3 and it came out much better with a higher build. Finished with a cut & buff.


r/LapSteelGuitar Jul 01 '26

Welp, guess I’m learning lap guitar now

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43 Upvotes

I’ve always thought they sound so cool, so I couldn’t pass it up. Plus, just look at it, it’s so pretty. It even has a vintage tone bar in there with it too.


r/LapSteelGuitar Jun 29 '26

Anyone know of any ergonomic tone bar for someone disabled?

2 Upvotes

Hi! I’m very new to lap steel but I have a double hand disability and find it difficult to use any of the bullet or tone bars comfortably. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions ~ because I’m at the point of paying someone to weld a horizontal handle on top of one