The British Steelies Society

Hi all,

I have played standard guitar for 10 years and after being more than a little inspired by Kelby Ray of the Cadillac Three (check them out if you haven't) I decided to dive fully into the Lap Steel world. I've been teaching myself and am ready to drop it in a few songs with my band but wanted a little advice:

1. I know the idea is to sit down but has anyone found a good (affordable) solution to playing standing? I've explored keyboard stands but find they don't offer enough support. I don't mind sitting, but the gigging circuit can throw up some interesting stage spaces and would be easier to stand to save space and also make it easier to switch between my tele and lap steel.

2. I've pretty much worked out parts myself but when it comes to improv and general playing, I could do with some lessons to improve my technique / fully learn scales etc. Does anyone know if there is a teacher in the North-West area (I'm based in Chester) or even online? Failing that, if someone can recommend me some good learning material that doesn't revolve around playing amazing grace repeatedly that would be great!

Thanks in advance!
Rory

Welcome to the forum Rory.

You could gaffa tape it to your Tele, like some kind of sticky Junior Brown

Nonsense aside, I'm sure you'll get good advice here.

Is your steel valuable or vintage?

If you don't mind screwing a few holes in it, you could use a bracket like this to attach it to a microphone stand.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pulse-TFT-LCD ... Swh-1W6vMX

You can also get legs which you could attach but they would have to be spread out enough to give some stability and will then take up space on stage. Any solution with 3 or 4 legs whether attached to the guitar or a separate stand will cause problems on a small stage and you may find it is in the way when you're playing your Tele.

If I'm playing a single neck, I usually just have a stool handy and play it on my lap and put the stool as out of the way as I can when not using it. Of course if you're planning on swapping instruments mid song you'll need it on a stand of some kind.

Get a Keyboard X stand

If you want to stand up.

Plus it doesn't take up tons of room.

All other stands will require more space.