Who's made the switch

EugieBaange · Post by **EugieBaange** » 26 May 2000 7:07 am

Just wondering how many of you "lappers"
are former "peddlers" who made the switch
and why. I guess it could go the other way,
too: lappers who've gone to the pedal steel.
I'm a relatively new lapper but I've got
pedals in the back of my mind (far distant
future; the lap is plenty to handle right
now)
Also, thanks for all the advice on steels.
I just got my Dunlop #919 delivered yesterday. What a difference! The mass of the bar makes it so much easier to play without
having to bear down on the strings. The bar does all the work. Cool.
You guys are all cool, too.

=============================================
Thanks all. Some good chatter here (oops! that's another forum) I guess what I was really wondering was: What made you go from
lap to pedal or vice-versa. Were you not getting the sound you wanted, was it too hard? Too easy? That sort of thing. You know, is there a PSG in my future?[This message was edited by EugieBaange on 03 June 2000 at 11:56 PM.]

Chris DeBarge · Post by **Chris DeBarge** » 26 May 2000 9:05 am

What's the size of that bar?

EugieBaange · Post by **EugieBaange** » 26 May 2000 9:27 am

Chris -

That would be:

Model #919:
4.5 oz. Professional, 3/4 x 2-3/4

See: http://www.jimdunlop.com/slides/

- Eugie

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 26 May 2000 10:35 am

Eugie,
This is the Dunlop slide that is colored red in the thumb indent, right?

If so, I use the same bar. I like the length but I wish it were a bit heavier.

I've tried the Broz-O-Phonic. It weighs in
at 5.5 oz. Nice weight, but a bit too long (almost 3").

Any suggestions anyone?

Bob Kagy · Post by **Bob Kagy** » 26 May 2000 12:22 pm

Eugie,

If you include the category of "both", that's where some of us are. When I started, there were only laps. Later I went to only PSG. Now it's both.

Gerald, how many strings are you covering? I like the BJS bars better than anything I've ever tried for a multitude of reasons. But they come in several sizes. I use the 2 7/8 x 3/4 size on an 8 string lap steel (with wide string spacing - some folks would go up a size) and the 3 3/8 x 7/8 size on 10 string PSG. Sorry I don't know the weights, but their feel is excellent IMHO.[This message was edited by Bob Kagy on 01 June 2000 at 11:09 AM.]

G Strout · Post by **G Strout** » 27 May 2000 11:31 am

I just recently purchased my first lap-steel from John Drury. I am just now getting ready to sit down and try to figure it out. Although I am not planning to give up playing "pedal".... I thought that the lap would be an interesting addition......if I can figure it out.And if not...hey it gets damn cold here in the winter, and the lap will fit nicely in the fireplace!

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 27 May 2000 12:25 pm

Long before I played steel, I played blues guitar, and for a while I was really heavily into bottleneck style, I even copped a lesson from Mississippi Fred Mc Dowell back in 1964.

About 2 or three years after I began playing pedal steel, I discovered that all the old bottleneck blues guitar stuff I used to play worked extremely well on a lap steel, so now I play country on a pedal steel, and rock and blues on my Stringmaster.

I've learned how to play rock and blues on my pedal steel guitar too, but it's not the same. As far as I'm concerned they are 2 different instruments.

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 27 May 2000 3:13 pm

When I first started taking lessons, they outfitted us with flat top, round hold guitars with the raised nut at the tuning end. The bar was about 1.5 inches high, flat vertically. I next got a Gibson 6-string lap steel, a real beauty. My Fender triple neck-8 was next, followed by my Bigsby 4-neck. My Emmons dbl-10 has served me well for some 20 years now and yet I find my 7-string Rick (and until stolen by my estranged one....my 6-string Rick)to be most exciting. I never have been able to figure out what it is that makes them so different in the minds of some pickers. One has pedals and one doesn't; on sits on your lap because it's easy to do; the other is too big and heavy so you don't. You play them the same; pick them the same. The Rick is extremely accurate for slants and all so it is a wonderful experience for this lame old wanna-be picker.

Joe E · Post by **Joe E** » 31 May 2000 12:03 pm

As a six-slinger I always played bottle neck. A few months back I bought a pedal steel. I've played it all of about 6 times. My lap steel is used all the time. I think the tunings used on the laps and dobro's lend themselves better to the guitar player.

There's to many things happening at one time on pedals. I'd rather let my creativity (on non pedals) take me to where I'm going.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 2 Jun 2000 7:54 pm

i've played pedal for 30 years....have had a 6 string rickenbacher for several years which just sounds cool, but i can't settle on a tuning to actually start developing with
...so for me non-pedal seems harder...any suggestions on what tuning works all around? (yeah yeah, i know,what style do you wanna play...well...everything)

Andy Alford · Post by **Andy Alford** » 3 Jun 2000 7:11 am

I stared out on a pedal steel but then I met a guy who introduced me to the Hawaiian Steel and that was all it took.