What would be your ultimate non-pedal steel with Benders?

[Paul McEvoy]

I've been away from the steel world for a long time. I'm making guitars now, mostly Selmer style Django guitars. (I'm at https://www.instagram.com/paulmcevoyguitars/ if you're interested).

I bought two nice chunks of maple a long time ago to make some lap steels but never got around to it.

I was wondering lately about making a real swiss army knife steel guitar, something that could do a lot, but it's been a long time since I really knew how people were tuning things.

Anyway, just wondering:
If you could have as many or as few strings as you wanted, plus as many palm benders as you wanted, what tuning would you use to have the most versatile lap steel you could think of?

[Earl Foote]

My Duesenberg Fairy Tail Split King is it for me. I have seen some with three palm levers, but in my opinion that's too much to manage, plus anything with more than six strings is too much to manage. I'm happy with it just like it is.

This is just my opinion, we are going to be all over the map on this

[Jack Hanson]

This is just my opinion, we are going to be all over the map on this

Agreed.

For me, a seven-string lap steel with a relatively wide string spacing and no benders whatsoever is the ultimate lap steel. And I can get by just fine with six strings. If I need an instrument that sounds like a pedal steel, I will play one of my pedal steels.

[D Schubert]

Ultimate non-pedal steel? Maybe an impossible dream, or a different dream for every player.

[Michael Kiese]

I think duesenberg already built it.

6 strings with either 2 or 3 palm benders.

Use either Martin Huch’s open E tuning or Luke Cyrus Goestze’s tuning.

[Glenn Wilde]

A Frypan and my left hand ring finger

[Paul Strojan]

I have a Jackson Slide-King eight string guitar with two wrist levers that is tuned G#, E, B bend to C#, G# bend to A, F#, E, D, C#. I like it but there is a reason God gave us feet. Here is an idea for a guitar that uses Scruggs tuners to move between the various tunings that a C6 pedal neck has.

C6 F9(13) D9 A7 A11

D
E +F
C +D
A +B
G -F#
E -Eb
C -C# -C#
A
F -F#
C D

[John Drury]

I've been away from the steel world for a long time. I'm making guitars now, mostly Selmer style Django guitars. (I'm at https://www.instagram.com/paulmcevoyguitars/ if you're interested).

I bought two nice chunks of maple a long time ago to make some lap steels but never got around to it.

I was wondering lately about making a real swiss army knife steel guitar, something that could do a lot, but it's been a long time since I really knew how people were tuning things.

Anyway, just wondering:
If you could have as many or as few strings as you wanted, plus as many palm benders as you wanted, what tuning would you use to have the most versatile lap steel you could think of?

Duesenberg! Hands down!

[Paul McEvoy]

Sorry I never followed up, but can't do better then a Dusenberg? More strings?

Just wondering.

[D Schubert]

Paul, unless you're building a custom "dream guitar" for one individual player, I think you'd be wise to build a great-sounding good-looking steel with 6 or 8 strings. Maybe multiple pickups, trick electronics, and even leg sockets. And then allow adequate space in/around the bridge for an aftermarket installation of a Duesenberg and/or Certano bender to suit the end user.

[Allan Revich]

…
For me, a seven-string lap steel with a relatively wide string spacing and no benders whatsoever is the ultimate lap steel. And I can get by just fine with six strings. If I need an instrument that sounds like a pedal steel, I will play one of my pedal steels.

I too prefer to get my extended chords via a seventh string, usually reentrant.

I suppose if I really wanted something “ultimate” with benders, it would be built by Todd Clinesmith, and the benders would shift me from major to minor and/or between the 1 and 4 chords. The tuning would be based around an open D or open G.