Hello from way out west and string spacing

Gerald K. Robbins · From: South Coast Oregon, USA

Hi,
This is my first post.
I do not see any "intro" threads, so I'll start here.
Quick bio : Old guy, 75, guitar in the 60's,Some slide. Banjos in 80's to present.
Also a builder and fixer. Many experiments.

New to lap and pedal steel . Recent flood of vidios.
That led to trading a good mandolin, plus some cash, for a Weissenborn.
That led to "assembling" some un-used banjo parts, and a guitar neck, to into a lap-slide-jo.
Works fine for the amount of $ spent. None. just some time. Tuned to open D.

That led to building a 6-string lap steel from some parts on hand, a chunk of 2 x 10 fir,
and a brass door hinge for benders on 2 and 3.
The fretboard is poster board with clear plexie on top. Had a set of tuners. and a pick up.
Needed to buy a set of strings and one pot for volume. Total cash outlay, $11.oo

Works great, again considering the cost, it's a great investment.
No finish yet, just sand smooth and stain. Will disassemble soon to clearcoat and polish.

Now for a question. This is not an easy transition or addition. I have trouble finding the melody notes.
Also have trouble finding the right string, as the hand position is very different from banjo.

So I am wondering about the string spacing. Is there a 'standard" for lap ? How about 10 string pedal ?
Are those closer togethor ?
If I made new nut / bridge with somewhat closer string spacing, will I have a better time finding the "right" string?

Well, I guess that's 4 questions, but on one subject.

kentr

Gerald K. Robbins · From: South Coast Oregon, USA

Hi,
I found the answer to the string spacing question by entering the question into the search bar at duck duck..
That led me back to The Steel Guitar forum and a post from May 2009.

11/32 is the most common spacing at the changer.

When I made the bridge for the lap steel I used a banjo bridge for refference,
and wound up with 13/32.

Might not seem like much difference, but it will be easy enough to
make a new nut and bridge with careful attention to using 11/32 spacing,
Then trying that.

Thank you Steel Guitar Forum for so much info.

kentr

George Piburn · From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico

Your research is close but not quite there.

For an open E-D-G type tunings a modern standard is 3/8 (.375) at the nut and .390 at the bridge

C6-A6 type tunings .340 nut (11/32-ish) and .375 3/8 at the bridge.

Pedal steels are an entirely different spread. If you ever get to that level of making a pedal steel, then go back here to the builders corner and ask about it then.

Side note, GeorgeBoards strongly suggests using some sort of a roller nut and bridge with palm pedals. The nut and bridges you have shown are "Pushing Mud Uphill" in terms of friction and string breakage , no good for string return to true pitch after a bend action. As well as discussed by Master Builder - Player Bill Hatcher, the strings will be literally Sawing the notches on your nut and bridge.

Of course we sell some , but that is another story.

Hope this helps you George Boards
_________________
GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel

Gerald K. Robbins · From: South Coast Oregon, USA

To George P,
Thank you kindly for your reply.
I have read the "Georgeboards' story from the link.
The legacy left is wonderful and inspiring, but one I could never come close to.
Most all of my "building" has been somewhat crude, quick, and low end.
Read, "not much money" and with used and recycled materials.

That doesn't stop me from trying, or getting enjoyment from the things I build.

It would be great to play on a great, and properly built instrument, but there is just no $ available
for such things.
Also, at 75, I will not be playing pro anywhere.
The DIY lap works fine for here at home.
I have played mostly banjo for years now, and the slide steel seems very foreign.
Just started to learn slide this month. Right now it feelslike being given a box of "pick up sticks" to build a house with.

I also assembled a "Lap slide jo" from spare parts. This works great for practice whils sitting in my fav' chair,
Was having trouble finding strings and thought spacing might help.
Now I find that what I was having the most trouble with was not being comfortable with the low D in open D tuning.
So I changed it out for a high D, like the first , where I can use it as a drone or a passing note more like the 5-string.
Now with a more comfortable right hand, the center 4 strings are not so hard to find.

Thanks again for your reply.
So sorry I cannot afford one of the last beautiful "Georgeboards" on Reverb.

Just for laughs, here is a pic of my new lap - jo.

Chris Clem · From: California, USA

Forum Index > Builders' Corner		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: