Conference napalm::guitar

    I don't know what guage would be suitable, but a common tuning is
    E-major - just tune it to an E chord.  Dobro tunings should work
    just fine, e.g., DADF#AD, GBDGBD.
    
    Bob

	You could try what is called a "raised G" tuning.  This may be
	a little more familiar for someone who is used to a standard
	guitar tuning.  It's basically the G country dobro tuning
	GBDGBD but add a high G to the top, then shift the high GBD 
	strings down one place each and get rid of the low D.  You come
	up with GBGBDG (low to high).  

	The tuning is kinda like a "bar G chord at the 3rd fret on a regular
	guitar, at least on the high end.  You could replace the low B with
	a D if you wanted and it would be just like a G bar chord.

	According to National Steel wizard Bob Brosman this is the tuning
	that David Lindley uses on his lap steels.  For E tuning just 
	shift accordingly, although you may need to change string guages.

	-gary

    
    From lap steels I've seen, I would use heavy gauge (.013, say)
    gauge flatwounds.  If the strings are too light you'll have trouble
    with intonation (i.e. a little pressure with the bar will send you
    sharp)

    re: .3
    
    That makes sense, but also consider the tuning.  A heavy guage bottom
    string cranked up to G could do some damage.

I just obtained an old Oahu lap steel guitar.  It's a cute little sucker.
The body is pretty narrow, and the knobs (I assume they're volume and
tone, I haven't plugged it in yet) are on either side of the rather
Art Deco looking bridge and pickup cover.  It even came with a cute
little amp!  Tubes, even! (not that surprising, I guess, since I think
it was made in the 1940s.  When were transistors invented?)

I have two questions:

1. Does anyone else have any opinions on what's the most "normal" way
to tune these beasts?  Curiously enough, when I got it it wasn't even
tuned to a completely open tuning.  It's tuned (from the bottom)
DADGBD.

2. Does anyone know anything about the history of this critter?

-Hal

    I thought lap steels were usually tuned to an open G?
    
    Greg

    Re. last two
    
    On the Buddy Emmons album "Steel Guitar" (1975), he plays a medley
    which includes an old Hawaiian tune.  The tune begins with what sounds
    like an open strum, and is an E-sounding chord.  I'll check the CD
    tonight, but I think it's about like this:
    
    	E  	F#	G#	B	C#	E
    
    making it a cross between an E9 and an E6.
    
        					Hope this helps!
    						--Eric--
    
    P.S.  I read somewhere that lap steeler Jerry Byrd used to use an A6
    	tuning.
                                                                   

    The most common tuning is in fact open G  (D,G,D,G,B,D). This is
    also referred to as dropped tuning (since 3 of the strings are 
    dropped a whole step lower than standard guitar tuning). The
    Hawiaans refer to this as "Slack key" because the dropped strings
    are a lot more slack than in standard tuning.  Another common
    tuning is open A. Just bump all the strings up a whole step to
    (E,A,E,A,C#,E). This sounds brighter than open G because the
    strings are no longer slack. This tuning might cause problems
    on a regular guitar due to the increased tension on the neck,
    but on an instrument with a square neck it's not a problem. 
     
    Another tuning scheme is open E (E,B,E,G#,B,E). This is essentially
    tuned to an E chord.
    
    These are the most common tunings for 6 stings steels. A9, E9, etc.
    are great if you have an 8 or 10 string steel.  
    
    You should check out the shupp-pierce style bars. The round nose
    is great for grabbing single notes.
    
    Have fun,
    Mark 

    Open A is a cool tuning, especially good for banging away at those
    "Travelin Riverside Blues" riffs all day; good for getting thrown out
    of music stores :-)
    

Thanks, Mark.  The open G tuning you describe is what I currently have
it tuned to.  I'm planning to buy a bar today on the way home.

So what kind/guage of strings do you use on these beasts?

-Hal

    I recommend heavy gauge string ie: .013 to .052.  Anything lighter
    than this will stretch out too much from the weight of a steel bar.
    
    BTW, in a pinch, you can always use a deep socket wrench as a steel
    bar. A Sear Craftsman socket with 1/2" drive works great. Since they
    come in so many differant sizes, it's easy to find the size that works
    best for you.
    
    Mark

    I thought you played lap steel with a bar that had a kind of tang on
    one side of it, so that it fits down in your hand?  Seems like it'd be
    really uncomfortable to use a socket, Cordian bottle, or tubing on that
    style of guitar, since it's not easy to tilt it to play as you would a
    "normal" guitar.
    
    Greg

    Re. .12
    
    The bar with the "tang" is commonly called a Stevens bar; our pedal
    steel player would use one when he'd double on dobro.  These are, I
    believe, the commonest bars to use on 6- or 8-string lap steel.
    
    						--Eric--
    
    P.S.  About the only other bars available are, to my knowledge, the
    standard pedal steel bars; and these are often too long and heavy for
    lap steel (my Sho-Bud bar weighs six ounces).  My recommendation: try
    the Stevens bar first.

 	The standard bar used on lap steels for years was the bullet 
    steel. Many players still use bullets. You hold them between your
    index and ring finger with the middle finger above the bar. This
    is not that much differant from using a piece of tubing, socket,
    etc. except for the rounded nose. 

	I've emassed a pretty cool collection of steels and slides
    over the past few years. Here's a run-down:

	Steels

	Dunlop bullet steels - I've got two sizes, "Heavy" and "Real Heavy".
	These are ground/polished stainless steel. 

	Stevens Bar - From the side view, these are shaped somewhat like
	a mushroom. Easier to hold, but harder to tilt than a bullet.

	Shubb-Pierce Bar - Shaped like a Stevens bar, except that it has a 
	1/2 round nose with an indentation for your index finger. These are
  	the best of both worlds, easy to hold onto, and easy to tilt for
	grabbing single notes.

	Student model steel - Stamped out of 1/4" thick steel. Much lighter
	than a bullet. The nice thing about the thin profile is you can see
	if you are directly over the fret or not. Helps beginners maintain
	good intonation. I would guess the one I have is from the 40's.

	Roy Smeck Bar - Solid brass tube with concave end. Very easy to 
	hold and tilt. "My favorite steel". I doubt I'll ever find another
	one like it. Probably from the 40's as well.

	Slides:

	Acousti-slide - Solid brass tubing featuring tapered shape. I've got
	2 sizes. These work great with my (round-neck) Dobro.

	Corcidin Bottle - The non-tapered shape is fine for instruments that 
	have flat fingerboards, but doesn't work as well on radiused boards.
	
	Mateus Wine bottleneck - These work great with radiused boards
	like Strats, or Teles. Ry Cooder's favorite slide.

	Like everything else in life, you just can't have too many differant
	Slides and Steel bars. I'm always looking for new ones. If anyone
	comes across a source for these (especially old steels) please drop
	me a line. I'd love to find another Roy Smeck bar.

	Mark

    Mark, did you make the Mateus Wine bottle slide yourself,
    or did you pick it up already done?
    
    ps I am impressed.  That's about the coolest slide collection
    I've come across.

    
    	Yeah, Mark, you've got some cool slides there! I'm a sucker for
    slide guitars, and I've been debating picking up a lap steel for
    a few months now. I'd also like to get a hold of some "vintage" slides
    so if anyone knows of a source, clue us in!
    
    
    
    Brad
    

    
    You oughta try Dobro style tuning sometime,as you can get pretty
    melodic without having to skip all over the place.It's GBDGBD,and
    a lot of standard lap steel tunes fit right in there (as well as Dobro
    tunes)
    
    		Jim.
    

	I have 2 of the Mateus bottleneck slides. They are sold 
    ready-made under the name "Big Heart" slide. I bought them 
    from MacDuff's Music. I'm pretty sure he has more of them in 
    stock. 

	My understanding is that the home-made bottlenecks are
    made by dipping a piece of sting in lighter fluid. You wrap
    the soaked string around the bottle neck and light it. Allow
    it to burn until all of the lighter fluid is burned and then
    cool the bottle under the faucet. Once the bottle is cooled,
    the bottle-neck *should* separate from the bottle with a gentle
    tap. Don't be too surprised if the bottle breaks on the first 
    attempt. It may take a few bottles to get one good slide. The 
    edge of the glass needs to be ground to eliminate sharp edges. 
    Just don't attempt this after drinking all of the wine :^).
    
   	I'm far too lazy to go through all of this work. I bought
    mine ready-made for ~$8.50 each.

	I forgot to mention, I also have 2 glass slides. One is 
    fairly thin glass, while the other is very thick. These seem to
    work well with flat top acoustic guitars. 

	Mark	

Speaking of slides I bought one of those latch/lake brass slides from musician's
friend. This is the first slide I ever bought that actually fits my finger
comfortably. Very nice indeed.

dbii ex glass slide bigot

    I made my slide (had mine made!) from a Cornish mead bottle, while at
    University - one of the lab technicians helped out using a diamond saw
    to cut the bottle neck at suitable places, and providing the material
    (forget what) to grind the sharp edges.

    I even marked it "Rocky made this" and the date, with a diamond tip
    pen.

    Mind you, I never have played slide too well!  But I use it to great
    effect on a song "Crazy Man Michael" arranged by me for my "folk?"
    band, using one of the ground edges to get a sustained and eerie
    singing series of notes at start and finish of the song.

    Could become a collectors item in the dim and distant future.....

    So I protect it using a couple of "custom" made corks with wide flanges
    stuck in each end (when I'm not using it, that is!).

    Aahhh, the joys of eccentricity....

     Andrew